UK
Scotland
Edinburgh

Old Town

Old Town is the original settlement of . At its core is the Royal Mile, the long street descending east from Castle Crag to Holyrood Palace. This medieval city was cramped for space so it built higher and higher, and stank higher still, hence its nickname of "Auld Reekie".
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Photo: David.Monniaux, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Photo: PerryPlanet, CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • Type: Suburb
  • Description: name popularly given to the oldest part of Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh
  • Also known as: “Old Town of Edinburgh” and “Old Town, Edinburgh”
Photo: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Places of Interest

Highlights include Edinburgh Castle and National Museum of Scotland.

Photo: Stephencdickson, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a historic castle in , . It stands on , which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcolm III in the 11th century, and the castle continued to be a royal residence until 1633.

Museum
Photo: Maccoinnich, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The in , Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture. It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum, with international collections covering science and technology, natural history, and world cultures.

Library
Photo: Marcok, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the has reading rooms where visitors can access the collections.

Places in the Area

Nearby places include New Town and Stockbridge and Canonmills.

Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.
of is 250 years old, in contrast to the Old Town settled for over a thousand years. It was laid out on a grid pattern in the late 18th century with elegant Georgian townhouses, and the intervening loch was drained to become Princes Street Gardens.

Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.
are two districts of immediately north of . The main tourist draw here is the Royal Botanic Garden. There's also an eclectic variety of independent shops and some great places to eat and drink.

Neighborhood
Photo: Saffron Blaze, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is an area in , the capital of , lying east of the city centre, at the foot of the . The area takes its name from , which was the Church of the Holy Rude. includes the following sites:…

Old Town

Latitude
55.94957° or 55° 56′ 59″ north
Longitude
-3.19145° or 3° 11′ 29″ west
Elevation
302 feet (92 metres)
Open location code
9C7RWRX5+RC
Open­Street­Map ID
node 1867328561
Open­Street­Map feature
place=­suburb
Geo­Names ID
7644905
Wiki­data ID
Q591133
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover Old Town from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Armenian to Vietnamese—“Old Town” goes by many names.
  • Armenian: “Էդինբուրգ”
  • Basque: “Edinburgheko Hiri Zaharra”
  • Basque: “Edinburgoko Hiri Zaharra”
  • Belarusian: “Стары горад, Эдынбург”
  • Belarusian: “Стары горад”
  • Catalan: “Ciutat antiga”
  • Catalan: “Ciutat Vella d’Edimburg”
  • Catalan: “Old Town”
  • Chinese: “愛丁堡舊城”
  • Danish: “Old Town”
  • Dutch: “Old Town”
  • Esperanto: “Malnovurbo”
  • Estonian: “Old Town”
  • French: “Old Town”
  • Galician: “Cidade vella de Edimburgo”
  • German: “Altstadt”
  • Hebrew: “העיר העתיקה באדינבורו”
  • Hebrew: “העיר העתיקה של אדינבורו”
  • Hebrew: “העיר העתיקה”
  • Hindi: “ओल्ड टाउन, एडिनबर्ग”
  • Hindi: “ओल्ड टाउन”
  • Irish: “Sean Bhaile Dhùn Èideann”
  • Italian: “città vecchia di Edimburgo”
  • Italian: “Città vecchia di Edimburgo”
  • Japanese: “エディンバラの旧市街と新市街”
  • Japanese: “エディンバラ旧市街”
  • Portuguese: “Cidade Velha de Edimburgo”
  • Russian: “Старый город”
  • Russian: “Старый Эдинбург”
  • Scots: “Auld Toun, Edinburgh”
  • Scots: “Auld Toun”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Sean Bhaile Dhùn Èideann”
  • Sindhi: “اولڊ ٽائون، ايڊنبرا”
  • Sindhi: “پراڻو ٽائون، ايڊنبرگ”
  • Sindhi: “پُراڻو شهر، ايڊنبرا”
  • Sindhi: “پراڻو شهر، ايڊنبرگ”
  • Slovenian: “Staro mesto, Edinburg”
  • Slovenian: “Staro mesto”
  • Spanish: “Casco antiguo de Edimburgo”
  • Spanish: “Ciudad vieja de Edimburgo”
  • Turkish: “Old Town, Edinburgh”
  • Turkish: “Old Town”
  • Ukrainian: “Старе місто”
  • Urdu: “اولڈ ٹاؤن، ایڈنبرا”
  • Vietnamese: “Old Town, Edinburgh”
  • Vietnamese: “Old Town”

Places with the Same Name

Discover other places named “Old Town”.

Localities in the Area

Explore places such as The Mound and St James Quarter.

Edinburgh: Must-Visit Destinations

Delve into New Town, West Edinburgh, Leith, and South Edinburgh.

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About Mapcarta. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors and available under the Open Database License". Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Old Town”. Photo: PerryPlanet, CC BY-SA 3.0.