Princes Street
Edinburgh's main shopping street has almost no buildings on one side — the south drops away to gardens and an open sightline straight to the Castle.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Edinburgh offline.
James Craig designed this 1.2 km street in 1770 as the outer edge of the First New Town, deliberately facing Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town across the valley. The open south flank is structural, not accidental — it was the plan from the start.
What to look for
- No.95 — the only surviving original-format building, set back from the street with stairs down to a basement and up to the ground floor, two storeys and an attic above
- Princes Street Gardens filling the valley between New Town and Old Town, framing the Castle view
- Trams running the length of the street — most of Princes Street is closed to private cars, open only at the east end
Most of the street is tram, bus, and taxi only; private vehicles can only enter from the east end at Leith Street.
Princes Street is one of 28 sights worth the detour in Edinburgh, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Edinburgh pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Edinburgh
- Edinburgh CastleAttacked 26 times over 1,100 years — research calls it the most besieged place in Great Britain.
- Holyrood PalaceScotland's working royal residence since the 1500s — the actual rooms where Mary, Queen of Scots lived are open to walk through.
- The National (Scottish National Gallery)Since 1912, two near-identical neoclassical buildings have stood side by side on The Mound — visitors have been walking into the wrong one ever since.
- National Museum of ScotlandDolly the sheep, one of Elton John's extravagant suits, and a Victorian cast-iron hall — all under one free roof on Chambers Street.
- Murrayfield StadiumScotland's largest stadium opened in 1925 with a Grand Slam win — 70,000 people watched it happen.
- St Giles' CathedralA prayer book read here in 1637 caused a riot that sparked a rebellion pulling three kingdoms into war.