Most UK visitors arrive by train, and it is by far the easiest way in: Edinburgh Waverley sits right in the centre, in the dip between the Old and New Towns, so you can walk to your hotel with your bags. If you fly, the tram and the Airlink 100 bus both run from the airport to the centre in around 30 minutes, with the tram single about £7.90 to Princes Street and the Airlink about £6 to Waverley Bridge; the Airlink runs 24 hours, which helps with early or late flights. Book flights →

For a short break, base yourself in or just off the Old Town (around the Royal Mile and Grassmarket) or in the New Town north of Princes Street. Both put almost everything in this itinerary within a 15-minute walk, so you never lose time crossing the city. Drop your bags and head straight out rather than trying to do too much on a first evening. Search hotels →

The gentlest possible first stop and the best free view in the city. It is about a 10-minute walk from Waverley and only five to ten minutes up the steps from Regent Road to the top, where the unfinished, Parthenon-style National Monument and the Nelson Monument sit against a full panorama of the castle, the Old Town skyline and Arthur's Seat. Time it for late afternoon or sunset if the sky is behaving.

Walk over to the Royal Mile, the long spine of the Old Town that runs downhill from the castle to Holyrood, and follow it in the softer evening light. Duck into a few of the narrow closes and wynds that branch off it, the steep little alleys and courtyards that give the Old Town its atmosphere, without trying to see everything; you will come back to this stretch properly tomorrow.

Drop down to the Grassmarket, the wide cobbled square directly below the castle, for an unhurried first dinner. It is lined with pubs and restaurants sitting under the floodlit castle rock, so you can wander until something looks right rather than needing a reservation on your first night.