Hills in Edinburgh - Hills in The Centre of The City

Hills in The Centre of The City

Edinburgh is also traditionally thought of as being a hilly city, because of the number of hills in or close to the city centre that walkers and cyclists have to contend with. Many of the city's streets are long or steep slopes — first time visitors to Edinburgh will often be taken aback by what seems like an almost endless sequence of uphill streets. Chief among these is the Royal Mile which rises continuously from Holyrood House to Edinburgh Castle for approximately a mile. Others include -

• Dundas Street and Hanover Street, which rise steeply from the Water of Leith to a summit at George Street, then descend slightly to Princes Street, before climbing the very steep Mound to join the Royal Mile
• Several streets in the New Town which run parallel to Dundas Street and Hanover Street for part of their length, including Frederick Street and Castle Street
• Leith Walk, which rises continuously from just above sea level at Leith, to a summit at Princes Street.
• A number of short and very steep streets in the Old Town, including Victoria Street, Candlemaker Row, and Infirmary Street.

The many height changes have led to several roads crossing other roads on bridges, which was relatively rare in pre-20th century Britain. These include Waterloo Place above Calton Road, George IV Bridge over the Cowgate and Merchant Street, South Bridge over the Cowgate, and Castle Terrace over Kings Stables Road. There are also several staircases accessible to pedestrians only, linking streets at different heights, including Playfair Steps between the Mound and Princes Street, Jacob's Ladder between Calton Road and Regent Road, and the News Steps, between St Giles Street and Market Street.

Outlying hills include the climb from Tollcross to Bruntsfield and beyond Morningside to Fairmilehead, and Liberton Brae.