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The Athens of the North: from the North Bridge to Calton Hill
Hume and Adam Smith place Enlightenment writing and ideas on a walk between the North Bridge and Calton Hill.
Writers and the City in Edinburgh: audio walks
What did Edinburgh's writers write about it, and what did the city do with them?
4 walks with different starting points and stories. Compare their maps, stops and duration, then choose where to begin.
Explore these walksEdinburgh's literary life has addresses, walks and neighbours. Following this theme puts writers alongside the city they inhabited and the memory they left behind. The routes connect literature with urban life: what was written about a place, how writers lived there, and how the city later chose to remember and tell their stories.
In “The Athens of the North”: Hume and Adam Smith place Enlightenment writing and ideas on a walk between the North Bridge and Calton Hill.
In “Burke, Hare and medicine”: The surgeon linked with Sherlock Holmes connects the world of medicine with the creation of a literary character.
In “Canongate and Holyrood”: The night the town dragged the captain of its own guard out of prison, and the gate London wanted demolished as a punishment, with the bell that still hangs in a tower.
Choose from 4 independent walks in Edinburgh. Open the one that interests you to see its map, stops and approximate duration before deciding. You don't need to do them all or follow this selection's order; each walk has its own starting and finishing points.
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Burke and Hare and Edinburgh Medicine
The surgeon linked with Sherlock Holmes connects the world of medicine with the creation of a literary character.
Canongate and Holyrood: the other Royal Mile
The night the town dragged the captain of its own guard out of prison, and the gate London wanted demolished as a punishment, with the bell that still hangs in a tower.
New Town: from St Andrew Square to Stevenson's Street
This walk starts in St Andrew Square, with two powerful Dundases and a lighthouse engineer's crane, and a street named after a saint as a joke at David Hume's expense.
Edinburgh, before you go
A stone city built on hills, with a castle above it and weather that keeps changing. Cobbled streets and narrow stairways reward walking, provided your shoes have grip and your coat has a hood.
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