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Edinburgh guide

West Princes Street Gardens and the spires beyond

From the gardens under the Castle rock past the Ross Fountain and a Georgian steeple to Usher Hall and the three spires of St Mary’s. It suits a first visit to the quieter West End.

Princes Street has two faces. The shops line one side, and on the other the ground falls away into a long green valley under the Castle rock. This walk starts in that valley and then turns west, into the streets where Edinburgh put its churches and its concert hall.

The gardens

West Princes Street Gardens were once a private garden for the New Town's proprietors. The council took the ground back in 1876 and laid it out as a public park, on land left by the draining of the Nor Loch. Walk the lower paths with the Castle rock overhead, and pick a bench on the grass if the weather allows.

West Princes Street Gardens
West Princes Street GardensParkWalk the lower paths and look up at the Castle rock. Linger on a bench before heading west through the gardens.Photo: Mike McBey, CC BY 2.0

The fountain

Follow the path west and the Ross Fountain rises ahead, a tall cast-iron fountain with figures round its basin. Daniel Ross, an Edinburgh gunsmith, gave it to the city and it was first installed in 1872. It was restored in 2018. Stand back for the whole thing, then step in for the detail.

Ross Fountain
Ross FountainAttractionCircle it once and look for the carved figures. A short stop, best for a photograph.Photo: James F, CC BY 1.0

The steeple

Leave the gardens at their west end and The Parish Church of St Cuthbert is just across the road. The church itself is by Hippolyte Blanc and dates from 1894, but the steeple is older: it was raised in 1789 and 1790, and the builders kept it. Inside there is a Tiffany window of David and Goliath. Check the church's website before you plan to go in. Then follow Lothian Road south.

The Parish Church of St Cuthbert
The Parish Church of St CuthbertPlace of worshipLook up at the Georgian steeple, older than the church it stands beside. Go in if the doors are open to see the Tiffany window.Photo: Soofiaruth, Public domain

The concert hall

Usher Hall opened in March 1914. The whisky distiller Andrew Usher paid for it, giving the city £100,000 for a concert hall. Its curved walls were unusual then, and reinforced concrete made them possible. Walk round the curve rather than past the front, then go west through the West End streets.

Usher Hall
Usher HallTheatreWalk round the curved walls and look at the classical front. Go inside only if you have a ticket for a concert.Photo: Kim Traynor, CC BY-SA 3.0

The three spires

The walk ends at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, designed by George Gilbert Scott and consecrated in 1879. The main spire is 90 metres high. Two sisters, Barbara and Mary Walker, left the site and the money for it. Inside, look for Eduardo Paolozzi’s Millennium Window, from 2000.

St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral
St Mary's Episcopal CathedralPlace of worshipStand across the street to see all three spires, then go in to find Paolozzi's window. Visiting times are on the cathedral's website.Photo: Farwestern Photo by Gregg M. Erickson, CC BY 3.0

Gardens, steeple, concert hall, cathedral: this corner of Edinburgh is a place where gifts, from a distiller, a gunsmith and two sisters, shaped what you walk past. Head back east along Princes Street when you are done.