Pentland Hills, near Edinburgh
Midlothian and Edinburgh walks offer a fantastic diversity of walking opportunities, many of them suitable for children.
When you think of walking in Scotland you would be forgiven for conjuring up visions of majestic mountains, brooding skies over steep hillsides of blooming purple heather or remote trails weaving past glassy lochs. Scotland does offer all that but it has much more than the standard scenes straight out the tourist brochure and the good news is you don’t have to travel for hours from the big towns to find it – walks in Edinburgh and Midlothian have loads to offer.
Edinburgh is Scotland’s capital and embraces the title in every capacity. Here is a city that has its share of splendour and custom, a rich and intriguing past with many impressive historic buildings and monuments to show for it and a bustling modern heart. The Midlothian countryside around Edinburgh is also varied and full of history, beauty and adventure, full of walks to try! Edinburgh and Midlothian are fantastic places to visit with children and there are some great Edinburgh walks as well as in the surrounding Midlothian countryside. This is Scotland though, so do be prepared for those Edinburgh walks to take you up the occasional hill…!
Below you will find a growing selection of Edinburgh walks and Midlothian walks suitable for those with babies and small children. Please check the suitability grading before heading off on your walk as some of the walks are not for the buggies or the beginner baby backpacker!
A selection of other walking websites offering suggested buggy and accessible Edinburgh walks and in wider Midlothian are listed here:
- Visit Scotland has a list of suggested walking ideas for all abilities in Midlothian. Parents with pushchairs or looking to avoid hills might want to try walking along the Union Canal and discovering another side of Edinburgh or the Penicuick to Roslin railway walk, ending at the historic chapel made so famous by the Dan Brown’s ‘Da Vinci Code’ This route is also perfect for those looking for quiet cycling with young children with details of the route from Sustrans.
- Historic Scotland has put together a visitor leaflet for Holyrood Park and Arthur’s Seat – the iconic extinct volcano that looms over Edinburgh and its surrounding parkland that gives a taste of Scotlands lochs and mountains, all within minutes from the bustle of the city. Some paths are suitable for pushchairs though you’ll need a bit of muscle to get up some of those hills!
- Midlothian Council have put together a booklet of 16 walks in the Midlothian region, several of which are graded ‘easy’ and therefore suitable for those looking for flat or pushchair friendly walks. They offer a great selection from historical mining themed tours in Newtongrange to Midlothian country park roaming. Download it from their website here.
- Walk Highlands provide a list of suggested Midlothian walks of varying difficulty and terrain, as well as some Edinburgh walks. Although you can’t search by pushchair suitability, the walk descriptions do give a clear idea of the terrain and if they would accommodate wheels or not.
