Edinburgh City Centre, Holyrood Park, Portobello Tour

This guided cycle ride (2.5 to 3 hours, 18 km) lets you sample the rich diversity which Edinburgh has to offer and which is best experienced on a bike: picturesque cycle paths, a few of the iconic sites in the heart of the city, verdant Holyrood Park and a coastal promenade.

We start by heading west from our office along a designated cycle path and then emerge in the New Town area, just ½ mile from the city centre. After a short, steep climb through residential streets in this UNESCO World Heritage Site we cross Princes Street (from where you can see Edinburgh Castle and Princes Street Gardens) and head down the lower section of The Royal Mile, experiencing some of the history of the Old Town, towards Holyrood Palace and the Scottish Parliament.

The scenery then changes as we enter Holyrood Park and pass Arthur’s Seat on the way to another quiet cycle path, which follows the route of a disused railway line back down towards the coastline. We finish with a spin along Portobello Promenade and then back to Leith.

There’s simply no better way to see the dramatic and contrasting cityscape of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.

Cycle track and some road also. Mostly off-road on cycle paths but please note this tour does take us through the heart of the city and some busy roads are unavoidable. We walk some of this as we tell you about the places we are seeing, and no one should feel worried about this section as we can go as slowly and carefully as necessary.