George IV Bridge carries traffic across a deep chasm between the Royal Mile and the Grassmarket. It is supported by massive, vaulted stone arches hidden from the street level. Thomas Hamilton designed this structure in the eighteen…
Waverley Valley and Bridges
This self-guided walk traverses the dramatic bridges and historic steps connecting Edinburgh's medieval Old Town and neoclassical New Town, highlighting the engineering feats that joined a divided city.
Listen to this tour in the Mira app →
1. George IV Bridge
2. South Bridge
South Bridge carries the road across a deep, narrow ravine that once separated the old city from the southern suburbs. Nineteen arches support the structure, though only one of them remains visible from street level. When builders…
3. North Bridge
The North Bridge features a row of massive stone arches that span the steep, narrow valley separating the Old Town from the New Town. Completed in seventeen seventy-two, this structure replaced a treacherous, muddy causeway that trapped…
4. The Scotsman Steps
The Scotsman Steps consist of one hundred and four marble stairs connecting the Waverley Station area to the North Bridge. They were built in nineteen hundred and six as part of the Scotsman newspaper offices, designed to give staff a…
5. Edinburgh Waverley
Edinburgh Waverley sits in the deep, narrow valley that separates the medieval Old Town from the grid of the Georgian New Town. It is the only mainline railway station in the world named after a novel, taking its title from the Waverley…
6. Waverley Bridge
Waverley Bridge rests on a massive stone foundation that spans the deep ravine once filled by the Nor Loch. It supports a road deck held up by intricate iron girders, connecting the high ground of the Royal Mile to the newer developments…