Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
At the foot of the Royal Mile.
An introduction to the setting of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, at the eastern end of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.
On this page
Read the street
The palace stands at the bottom of the Royal Mile, at the opposite end from Edinburgh Castle, and its gardens lie within Holyrood Park.
A guide can give context without turning a place into a backdrop. Notice how the palace front faces the city, how the abbey ruins sit behind it and how the hills of the park rise beyond.
Layers of building
The tower begun by James V in 1528 is the oldest surviving part of the palace; most of the rest was rebuilt for Charles II from 1671.
Begin with a detail and ask who built it, who used it and how it has changed. A photograph alone cannot tell you that.
A royal chapter
The palace shows one side of Edinburgh: a capital whose royal history runs the length of a single street, from the castle to Holyrood.
Look at the meeting of the two: the formal palace front, and the ruined abbey and open parkland behind it.
Make room for context
Pair this reading with the palace’s history and the Journal. This is an introduction for visitors, not a claim that our team manages these places or represents the people who run them.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
