Edinburgh in 6 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
Six Days: The Free Trio, the Castle, Leith and One Coastal Day
Six days extends our 5-day budget plan with a coastal, entirely free day at Portobello Beach and Cramond, no day trips out of the city required. Days 1 to 5 are unchanged from that plan; Day 6 is new. This is also the spine our 7-day plan extends once more. Prefer a tighter trip? Our 2-day version covers just the Old Town and the Castle.
Book these before you go:
- Edinburgh Castle skip-the-line ticket , 30-minute online slot, GBP 23.50 (walk-up GBP 26)
- Old Town or New Town accommodation , locked in before the new Visitor Levy start date (details at edinburgh.org )
- Royal Yacht Britannia ticket , GBP 21, if the Leith day includes it
- Real Mary King’s Close , guided groups only, GBP 25
| Day | Focus | Approx. spend (no room) |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Royal Mile, closes, Calton Hill (all free) | GBP 20-30 |
| Day 2 | Edinburgh Castle + National Museum of Scotland | GBP 35-45 |
| Day 3 | Arthur’s Seat + New Town + Princes Street Gardens (all free) | GBP 20-30 |
| Day 4 | Leith, Water of Leith, optional Britannia | GBP 15-40 |
| Day 5 | Mary King’s Close or Grassmarket shopping | GBP 15-40 |
| Day 6 | Portobello Beach + Cramond (all free bar lunch) | GBP 15-25 |
Day 1: The Free Old Town
Morning: start at the Castle esplanade for the view (not the ticket yet) then walk the Royal Mile downhill, ducking into free closes like Advocate’s Close along the way. Stop at St Giles’ Cathedral (free entry, donation welcome) for the stained glass and the Thistle Chapel.
Midday: a takeaway haggis roll from a Royal Mile stall runs GBP 6-8, or hit a pub lunch deal (GBP 10-15, noon to 3pm) instead of paying dinner prices at lunchtime.
Afternoon: climb Calton Hill, 10 to 15 minutes from the east end of Princes Street, free, for the best low-effort Castle-and-skyline photo in the city.
Evening: dinner and a cheap pint (GBP 4-6) in a Grassmarket pub below the Castle rock.
Day 2: The Castle and the Free Museum
Morning: your booked 30-minute Castle slot (current hours at edinburghcastle.scot ). Budget 2 to 2.5 hours, including the National War Museum on the same ticket. More on ticket tiers and what is inside is in our Edinburgh Castle guide .
Afternoon: the National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street, free general admission (confirmed at nationalmuseums.scot ), permanent collection only. The rooftop terrace is one of the better Castle views in the city.
Evening: a wee dram flight at an Old Town whisky bar (GBP 5-12 a measure) instead of the GBP 24 Scotch Whisky Experience tour.
Day 3: Arthur’s Seat and the New Town
Morning: hike Arthur’s Seat, 45 to 60 minutes each way from Holyrood, genuinely steep in parts and free the entire way. Good boots matter more here than in flatter capital cities.
Afternoon: Princes Street Gardens (free) below the Castle rock, then the Georgian grid of the New Town, Charlotte Square and George Street, for window-shopping rather than spending.
Evening: dinner in Stockbridge, a short walk from the New Town and consistently cheaper than the Royal Mile’s tourist-menu frontage.
Day 4: Leith
Morning: bus or walk to Leith (Lothian single GBP 2.40, or capped at GBP 5.70 if you have used the bus already today), then the Water of Leith walkway, free, for the port district’s food and drink scene without the Old Town crowds.
Afternoon: the Royal Yacht Britannia at Ocean Terminal, GBP 21, self-guided, 1.5 to 2 hours, is the one genuine splurge on this day; skip it if the budget is tight and spend the afternoon in Dean Village instead, free.
Evening: dinner in Leith, which has a real food and drink scene at a fraction of Royal Mile prices.
Day 5: One Paid Extra and the Grassmarket
Morning: Real Mary King’s Close, GBP 25, guided tours only, if the underground 17th-century streets interest you; otherwise the Vennel Viewpoint gives the same postcard Castle photo for free.
Afternoon: Grassmarket and Victoria Street shopping, away from the Royal Mile’s marked-up souvenir frontage.
Evening: dinner and a folk music pub, with one more day still to come.
Day 6: Portobello and Cramond, the Free Coastal Day
Morning: a Lothian bus (GBP 2.40, or free if your day cap already kicked in) out to Portobello Beach, Edinburgh’s Victorian seaside, for a walk along the promenade and a cheap chippy lunch.
Afternoon: Cramond village and the Cramond Island causeway walk, free, tide-dependent (check tide tables before you set out; the causeway floods and strands walkers most years). The walk out and back takes roughly 1.5 to 2 hours depending on how far you go.
Evening: Greyfriars Kirkyard (free) on the way back into the centre, then a final Old Town dinner.
How much do six days in Edinburgh cost on a budget?
Excluding accommodation, expect roughly GBP 155-215 across six days, the same core spend as the 5-day plan plus one cheap seaside lunch and bus fares for the Portobello and Cramond day. Hostel beds run separately.
Is a sixth day worth adding if I am not doing day trips?
Yes, if you want a full free day that is not the Old Town again. Portobello and Cramond cost almost nothing beyond a chippy lunch and a bus fare, and neither requires the multi-hour commitment that a Highlands or Stirling day trip does; see our Edinburgh as a Scotland base guide if you do want to add one of those instead.
Getting around: the same Lothian Buses fare applies across all six days, flat GBP 2.40, capped at GBP 5.70 daily on one contactless card. Details at lothianbuses.com .
Pack proper rain layers for all six days, and check the Cramond Island tide times before you commit to the causeway walk; getting stuck on the island is a genuinely regular occurrence, not a scare story.