Edinburgh has a mountain in the middle of it. Holyrood Park is 260 hectares of volcanic
hill inside the city, and it sits between the Old Town and the sea. Round it there is the
Water of Leith walking a wooded valley from Balerno to the docks, the Union Canal running
dead level out to the west, and Portobello's promenade three miles from the Castle.
The range here is the widest of any town on this site. Measured against terrain
data across the nine routes below, the gentlest carries four and a half metres of climb
per kilometre and the hardest twenty-six — the promenade at one end, Arthur's Seat
at the other, and both inside half an hour of Waverley.
19 named features9 examples belowFirth of Forth, Edinburgh
Nine routes in Edinburgh, nine different requests
Nine, drawn on demand
After dark
Asked for“an easy 5K by the water”
Portobello Promenade
Portobello Promenade is a 5.3 km loop on the seafront east of Edinburgh, and the flattest of the nine at 24 m of climb. Sand on one side, the prom on the other, and the Figgate Burn to bring you back inland at the far end.
Distance5.3 km
Ascent24 m
Steepest3%
On path14%
Confirmed lit46%
Firth of ForthPortobelloSeafront
Why this one
There is barely any climb to place: 24 m across 5.3 km, and never steeper than 3%. 3% of it doubles back on ground already covered, and it stays within 1.1 km of the start.
The Union Canal towpath from Lochrin Basin is a 10.3 km loop out of Edinburgh on a waterway built without a single lock. The towpath is level and bridged the whole way and crosses no road at all; coming back through Polwarth does.
Distance10.3 km
Ascent99 m
Steepest3.6%
On path5%
Confirmed lit87%
Union CanalTraffic-freeFountainbridge
Why this one
65% of the climbing sits in the middle third — you start flat and you finish flat. 4% of it doubles back on ground already covered, and it stays within 1.1 km of the start.
Holyrood Park and Arthur's Seat is an 8.3 km loop over the hill in the middle of Edinburgh, the hilliest of the nine at 217 m of climb and the most off-road at 51% off tarmac. Crag path, hill grass and the summit, and almost none of it is lit.
Distance8.3 km
Ascent217 m
Steepest11.9%
On path51%
Confirmed lit39%
TrailArthur's SeatSalisbury CragsDaylight only
Why this one
60% of the climbing is in the last third. It finishes uphill, which is worth knowing before you set off. 51% of it is off tarmac, more than any of the other eight.
Asked for“something short, right through the middle of town”
The Old Town and Calton Hill
The Old Town and Calton Hill is a 6.5 km loop from Edinburgh Castle through the middle of Edinburgh, down the Royal Mile and up onto Calton Hill for the view back along Princes Street. Short, central, and 103 m of climb in it.
Distance6.5 km
Ascent103 m
Steepest6.9%
On path2%
Confirmed lit83%
Edinburgh CastleRoyal MileCalton Hill
Why this one
51% of the climbing is in the last third. It finishes uphill, which is worth knowing before you set off. Only 2% of it leaves tarmac, less than any of the other eight — it is the one to run when you do not want to pick your feet up.
Waverley and the New Town is a 10.3 km loop from the station in Edinburgh, out through the New Town and Inverleith and back along the Water of Leith. It passes within 19 m of a public toilet, which is what was asked for.
Distance10.3 km
Ascent123 m
Steepest7.1%
On path13%
Confirmed lit83%
WaverleyNew TownToilets
Why this one
The climbing is front-loaded: 47% of it inside the first third, so the run flattens out as it goes. 4% of it doubles back on ground already covered, and it stays within 1.3 km of the start.
The Water of Leith from Dean Village is a 12.6 km loop out of Edinburgh along the river, upstream through Colinton and back. The walkway follows the water in a wooded gorge that is invisible from the streets a few metres above it.
Distance12.6 km
Ascent168 m
Steepest7%
On path18%
Confirmed lit79%
Water of LeithDean VillageColinton Dell
Why this one
66% of the climbing sits in the middle third — you start flat and you finish flat. 4% of it doubles back on ground already covered, and it stays within 1.5 km of the start.
The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links is a 7.5 km loop on the open ground south of the Old Town in Edinburgh, out through Marchmont and back along the tree-lined walks. Level, overlooked on every side, and busy with other runners well past dusk.
Distance7.5 km
Ascent67 m
Steepest4%
On path9%
Confirmed lit96%
The MeadowsBruntsfield LinksMarchmont
Why this one
The climbing is spread evenly — no third of the route carries more than 37% of it. No part of it is run twice — the loop never comes back on itself.
Blackford Hill and the Hermitage is an 11.0 km loop from the observatory hill south of Edinburgh, with 199 m of climb and 13.2% at its sharpest pitch. Up over Blackford, down into the Hermitage of Braid, and back over the top a second time.
Distance11.0 km
Ascent199 m
Steepest13.2%
On path37%
Confirmed lit41%
Blackford HillHermitage of BraidTrailHilly
Why this one
47% of the climbing sits in the middle third — you start flat and you finish flat. 1% of it doubles back on ground already covered, and it stays within 1.7 km of the start.
Asked for“half marathon without repeating a kilometre”
Edinburgh half marathon loop
The Edinburgh half marathon loop is a 21.3 km run from Holyrood Park, and the only one of the nine that gets you race distance without repeating a kilometre. Round the hill, out to the sea at Portobello and back through Duddingston, with 260 m of climb.
Distance21.3 km
Ascent260 m
Steepest10.2%
On path18%
Confirmed lit54%
Half marathonHolyrood ParkFirth of Forth
Why this one
61% of the climbing is in the last third. It finishes uphill, which is worth knowing before you set off. It goes further out than any of the others, 2.8 km from the start at the far point.
Each of those nine started as one sentence. Tell RunFlex the distance, the surface and when you need to be back, and it draws one from your front door — not from the middle of Edinburgh, and not from a list of runs other people have already done. If it isn’t right, say what is wrong and it draws another.
You describe it, it draws itA sentence in, a route on real streets out. Say “make it flatter” and it redrafts from what you already have.
It shows its workingEvery route above opens on the measurements it was judged against — where the climb sits, how much of it you run twice, what it never gets further than.
Then it goes to your wristOne tap sends it to the watch, which navigates turn by turn on its own GPS.
Running here after dark
Edinburgh is dark by 16:25 in December, so from late October most weekday runs here
happen at night. Every other route site tells you a run “feels safe”.
RunFlex reads the lighting recorded on the streets
themselves — the ways surveyed as lit, and the ways surveyed as unlit —
and matches them to the roads you would actually be running. Where nothing has been
recorded it says so, rather than counting silence as lit.
Coverage in Edinburgh is strong across the New Town and the south side and stops at the parks. The Meadows loop runs 96% on ways recorded as lit and 4% recorded unlit; Holyrood Park and Blackford Hill come back 54% and 53% recorded unlit, which is why neither is offered for an after-dark ask. Where the lighting cannot be confirmed, the app says so instead of guessing.
What you get here that you don't get from a route list
Side by side
Other route sites
RunFlex
What you get
Routes other people ran, in a fixed order
A route drafted for the run you asked for, tonight
Where it starts
Wherever that person started
Your front door
Why this route
No reason given
The scoring is on screen while it drafts
If it is wrong
Scroll to the next one
Say what is wrong and it redrafts
On the run
Your phone, in your hand
Turn by turn on your watch, phone left at home
Who has run it
Thousands of people, and the mud and the closed gate are in the comments
Nobody. It is drawn fresh, so you are the one finding out
That last row is the real trade. A library of routes has been tested by other runners
and a drafted route has not. RunFlex bets that being able to say what you want tonight
is worth more than that.
Leave the phone at home
Send any route above to an Apple Watch and it navigates on its own GPS, turn by
turn, with a tap before each one. The run syncs back when you are home. None of
the other sites on this search can do that, because none of them are an app you
run with.
What you can run to from the middle of Edinburgh
All inside 6 km of the Castle
Water
Water of LeithUnion CanalFirth of ForthDuddingston LochSt Margaret's Loch
Hills
Arthur's SeatSalisbury CragsCalton HillBlackford HillCorstorphine Hill
Parks
Holyrood ParkThe MeadowsBruntsfield LinksInverleith ParkPrinces Street Gardens
Traffic-free
Water of Leith WalkwayUnion Canal towpathInnocent Railway Path
Landmarks
Edinburgh CastlePortobello PromenadeDean Village
Daylight in Edinburgh, month by month
Sunrise to sunset
The other thing that shapes a run here is how much light there is. The sun sets at
15:37 in mid-December and 22:00 in
mid-June, so the same after-work hour is a summer evening or a
night run depending on the month.
Computed for Edinburgh at 55.9530°N 3.1880°W, on the 15th of each month in 2026.
Times are local — British Summer Time where it applies — and the clocks
go back on 25 October 2026, after which sunset on the Monday is
16:45. First and last light are civil twilight.
The numbers behind the chart
Month
First light
Sunrise
Sunset
Last light
Daylight
January
07:49
08:33
16:11
16:55
7h 37m
February
06:59
07:37
17:16
17:55
9h 39m
March
05:51
06:28
18:16
18:53
11h 48m
April
05:27
06:07
20:19
20:59
14h 12m
May
04:10
05:00
21:19
22:09
16h 19m
June
03:24
04:26
22:00
23:02
17h 34m
July
03:51
04:47
21:48
22:44
17h 01m
August
05:00
05:43
20:49
21:32
15h 06m
September
06:06
06:44
19:30
20:07
12h 46m
October
07:06
07:43
18:12
18:49
10h 28m
November
07:06
07:48
16:05
16:47
8h 16m
December
07:50
08:37
15:37
16:25
7h 00m
Try it on your own run. Say the distance and the surface, and RunFlex drafts it from your front door — not from the town centre, and not from a list.
Holyrood Park is the obvious start, and the most dramatic: Arthur’s Seat rises 250 metres straight out of the city, with a road loop round its base and trail over the top. For flat and traffic-free, the Water of Leith Walkway runs from Balerno to the sea. The Meadows is the flattest ground near the centre, and Portobello gives you two miles of promenade beside the Firth of Forth. All nine routes above start in Edinburgh, and RunFlex will redraw any of them from your own front door.
Where can I run 5K in Edinburgh?
Portobello Promenade is the obvious flat 5K in Edinburgh: paved, traffic-free and beside the water, with a mile and a half each way needing no navigation. The Meadows is the central alternative, though its paths are short enough that 5K means repeating them.
Is there a traffic-free running route in Edinburgh?
The Water of Leith Walkway. It runs twelve miles from Balerno to Leith on a mostly sealed path, following the river below street level for much of it, so long stretches carry no road crossing at all. The Union Canal towpath does the same running west out of Fountainbridge.
Where can I run in Edinburgh without a car?
Every route on this page starts inside Edinburgh, so none of them needs a car. Waverley station is ten minutes from Holyrood Park and the foot of Arthur’s Seat, and Haymarket is a similar distance from the Water of Leith at Roseburn.
Where is Edinburgh parkrun, and what should I run the rest of the week?
Edinburgh parkrun is at Cramond Foreshore at 9:30 on Saturday, flat and beside the Firth of Forth. Portobello parkrun runs on the promenade. Midweek, Edinburgh Athletic Club and Corstorphine AAC both train in the city, and Hunters Bog Trotters run off-road out of Holyrood Park.
What is the flattest run in Edinburgh?
The flattest run in Edinburgh of the nine on this page is Portobello Promenade, at 24 m of climb over 5.3 km and never steeper than 3%. The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links is next, at 67 m over 7.5 km. Both figures are measured off the drawn line rather than estimated from the map.
How hilly is Edinburgh?
Edinburgh is rolling rather than hilly. Measured across the nine routes on this page, the flattest carries 4.5 metres of climb per kilometre and the hilliest 26.1, and the steepest single pitch on any of them is 13.2%. The climbing sits in the valley sides rather than in any one hill.
When does it get dark in Edinburgh?
In Edinburgh the sun sets at 15:37 in mid-December and 22:00 in mid-June. The clocks go back on 25 October 2026, and sunset on the Monday after is 16:45, so from late October most weekday running here happens after dark. The month-by-month figures are in the table above.
Nine of an unlimited number. Yours is not drawn yet.
Say the distance and the surface. RunFlex drafts it from your door and sends the one you pick to your watch. Ask again tomorrow and you get a different one. Free early access while it is being built — no card, and no price to pay yet.
RunFlex is built by Rob Gotlieb, who runs. The nine routes above were
drafted by RunFlex from the Edinburgh street and path network, measured by the same
services the app uses, and read by a person before this page went up. Nobody has run
them end to end — that is the trade in the table above.
If something here is wrong, and on a page of nine drafted routes something
eventually will be, tell us and it is fixed on the next build rather than sitting in a
comment thread.