Hiking With Kids - Arthur's Seat

Edinburgh's Wee Hill




What is it?


Arthur's seat is a small hill, 250m in height, which is located in the city of Edinburgh. This can be walked in a couple of hours and is particularly suitable if you are walking with children, and on a good day you can get great views of the city and beyond.

Getting There




The start of the walk can be easily accessible from Edinburgh Waverly train station. Walking from the station to Holyrood park will take about 40 minutes. There are buses that will travel past this area, including the tourist sightseeing bus. If travelling by car then there are plenty of car parks to stop at. We were lucky enough to park opposite the Scottish parliament building. There are plenty places to visit around this area, including the afore mentioned parliament building, the palace, which has free toilet facilities and Dynamic Earth science centre. 

Where to go

This Way

The track can be muddy


There is a well worn path up to the summit of Arthur's seat. To choose the correct path, take the track that is heading away from the parliament building and head up towards to the ruins of an old Abby. 
From there continue up the track. Once you reach the plateau, look for the metal fence and follow that up to the summit. This is useful if you are walking in typical Scottish weather. It gets rocky near the top so be careful not to slip in wet conditions. 

Follow the Fence

What else can you see?
It took is just over 2 hours to get up and back down to the car, not bad for a family of 6. This is an ideal walk to spend a little time out and about. The views are worth the walk, weather dependant of course. 

Well earned birthday treat

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