Why go
The district view makes it easier to match a day to the experience you want. Choose Old Town for the Royal Mile, New Town for its Georgian plan, Stockbridge for streets and the Botanic Garden, or Leith for a port setting. Portobello, Duddingston, the Pentland Hills and Murrayfield all need separate time beyond the central core.
The full story
Old Town is Edinburgh's medieval heart. Its main line is the Royal Mile, which runs from the Castle to Holyroodhouse, with many of the best-known historic sites close to it. The experience is concentrated but not flat: closes, courts and lower streets make it easy to spend longer than expected on a short map distance. New Town forms the other half of the central contrast. Its late-eighteenth-century Georgian layout offers broad streets, regular facades and the commercial axis around Princes Street. Stockbridge and Canonmills lie north of it, where independent shops and the Royal Botanic Garden give a calmer change of pace. Leith has the character of an independent-minded port and works best as a destination in its own right. To the east, Portobello adds a beach setting and Duddingston has the feel of an older village. South and west of the centre, student areas, the Pentland Hills, the zoo and Murrayfield pull in different directions, so they deserve their own time rather than being attached to an Old Town circuit.