Grassmarket

Tucked beneath the southern cliffs of the castle, the Grassmarket is one of Edinburgh's liveliest squares — and one of its most notorious. For 400 years this was the city's cattle and horse market, and from 1661 to 1784 it was also the site of public executions. The pub called The Last Drop marks the spot with dark humour. The most famous survivor was Maggie Dickson, hanged here in 1724 for concealing a pregnancy — she woke up in her coffin on the way to burial, and since the law considered her sentence carried out, she lived on for decades as "Half-Hangit Maggie." A pub still bears her name. The Grassmarket was also a haunt of Burke and Hare, the 1820s murderers who sold their victims' bodies to the anatomy schools. Today the square is far more welcoming: historic pubs, boutiques and café terraces, with one of the best views up to the castle ramparts. When you've taken the square in, walk east to the end of it. There a curving, colourful street climbs away on your left — that's our next stop, and it's worth every metre of the hill.