On our day out in Edinburgh, we took a walk along the Royal Mile, an iconic stretch of cobblestone street stretching 1.8km through Edinburgh Old Town.

The Royal Mile has long been a ceremonial route connecting two royal residences. It starts at Edinburgh Castle and winds down the hill to Holyrood Palace, the King’s official Scottish residence.

Known as the ‘spine’ of Edinburgh Old Town, it has been a bustling commercial precinct for hundreds of years. In medieval times it was confined within the city walls, and up to 40,000 people lived here in overcrowded conditions.

Today the Royal Mile is a vibrant tourist precinct, and its many multi-storey tenement buildings which once housed all kinds of merchants and manufacturers, are now shops and dining establishments to cater for the crowds.

However, beyond the souvenir shops and trendy cafes there’s a real sense of history here. A wander along the main thoroughfare, and exploring some of the many narrow alleyways, makes it easy to imagine what life might have been like here in the early days of Edinburgh.