Dean Village should not be here. A deep wooded gorge with a river and old mill buildings, ten minutes' walk from the busiest shopping street in Scotland. It ground the city's flour for centuries, then went quiet.
Now it's one of the most photographed places in Edinburgh. By late morning there's a queue on the footbridge for the picture. So go before 10am, and come in the old way.
Start above it
Walk out along Queensferry Street from the West End to Dean Bridge. Thomas Telford finished it in 1831, more than a hundred feet above the river. Don't cross it. Look over the left hand side. That's where you're going.
Bell's Brae
Take the steep cobbled lane on the left before the bridge. Until Telford, this was the main road north out of Edinburgh. Near the bottom, look for a carved stone of 1675 showing the tools of the Baxters, the bakers who ran the mills.
The photograph
Follow Hawthornbank Lane upstream to the iron footbridge. This is the view. The red sandstone block with the clock tower is Well Court, built in the 1880s as model housing by the owner of The Scotsman. He lived on Rothesay Terrace, high above, and liked what he saw.
Early morning gives you the clearest reflections. If you have a camera, shoot from the bridge and slow the shutter to 1/15s or below. The water turns to silk.
Bring your own coffee
There's nowhere in the village to buy so much as a coffee. No souvenir shops, no tourist cafés. That's part of why it feels the way it does.
People live here too. Keep your voice down and keep off the doorsteps.
Where to go next
You have two good options.
Downstream. Follow the Water of Leith through the village and under Dean Bridge to St Bernard's Well, a little round temple of 1789 with a statue of Hygieia, goddess of health. The water was said to cure most things and to taste foul. Stockbridge, and coffee, is five minutes on.
Uphill. Cross the footbridge and climb Dean Path past Dean Cemetery, where William Playfair is buried, to the two national galleries on Belford Road. Both are free. Paolozzi's Kitchen at Modern Two does lunch.
The full 4 km route, galleries and riverside path included, is walk five in Ten Walks Around Edinburgh.
Walk it with StoryLed
Dean Village is a morning on your own. The Old Town is better with someone pointing at things. The StoryLed Old Town walk takes six guests at most through the closes and courtyards off the Royal Mile. Three hours, led by a resident of twelve years.
