Edinburgh in Autumn. Wonderland. Colinton Village and Railway Tunnel Murals. 2025

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Village window box with Halloween theme. This made me smile.  Another bus visit to Edinburgh from Glasgow but as I'm flexible in my plans, having intended to do another one of Edinburgh's seven hills and a sunny day predicted I changed them on arrival as I found both cities still misty and it looked like it would linger. Typical autumn weather in Scotland.

Edinburgh Castle. As I might not see much of the city up a hill I instead jumped a number 10 bus to Bonaly on Princes Street. I would go to nearby Colinton instead as I knew a series of impressive murals had been painted there in Colinton Tunnel and in Cuddies Lane in the village.

Lothian buses have been named National bus driver operator of the year and I can see why. Most of the stops have an automated bus list which tells you when they are due, where they all go, and how long to the next one. It's the same inside each bus with each stop mentioned out loud and visually on a screen. With an over 60s or under 22, national entitlement card etc it's free. You just need to stand at the correct bus stop on the right street. Full 'Edinburgh Bus Routes' are available to look up online and the attached route map shows you where they go through the city, including bus stops. Easy. ( Lothian buses. Bustimes.org is the best one for me.) I'd already used the 10 bus to get to Wester Craiglockhart and Easter Craiglockhart Hills so I was feeling almost like a local by now. I got off at Rustic Cottages bus stop in Colinton.

From there it was only a short 10 minute walk down to Spylaw Park and the Water of Leith. Full autumn colours on show. A Collins Edinburgh Street Map is handy to have as well.

Several murals exist in Spylaw Park...

 These are two of them.

But the real prize is a short distance away and is signposted, situated up stairs at the east side of Spylaw Park and above the Water of Leith on the north bank. Colinton Railway Tunnel is part of the Water of Leith walkway/cycletrack and I've cycled through it in the 1970s/1980s period when I was exploring Edinburgh back then for the first time, mainly on my own. 

It is quite a long curving tunnel and inside is a wonderland of different murals set to the Robert Louis Stevenson poem, which I must admit I had never heard before now but it is a good one.

Full mural info here. Mural painted by a local Edinburgh artist and friends as it entailed a huge amount of work just to prime it, scraping and filling in gaps to create a smooth surface for the mural to go on. Because it is inside a tunnel and covers every surface it has a huge visual impact and I came out the other end thinking I had viewed one of the true modern wonders of Scotland.  

Artist on the bridge. It's a matter of personal taste of course but give me something like this every time rather than a pile of bricks, an unmade bed, or a paint dribbler. It must have took ages... but a real achievement. Up until now Glasgow has been the mural city, with many full sized gable end commissioned iconic works but arguably it needed a mural trail, not having a hilltop castle, a skyline of volcanoes, or a well preserved ancient street layout at it heart. Murals have arrived late in Edinburgh and indeed I've still not seen many in the city centre district but this has certainly put Colinton Village on the mural map.  A small car park is near the murals off Gillespie Road, B701 and about a dozen cars were already parked up when I arrived plus a dozen local families with their young children were already inside.  

Not surprised it's popular. It is magnificent art on show. And it's free for now. No car park charge... yet. 

I would recommend anyone to see this... and you have the Water of Leith walkway/ cycletrack running in both directions, a scenic village to explore, and wooded dells/ valleys to walk through.

The stonework/ bridge over The Water of Leith at Colinton.

Words to the RLS poem, a prolific Edinburgh author who also produced classic books like  Kidnapped, Treasure Island, and The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Troubled by ill health all his days he only made it to 44 years of age yet made a huge mark on popular culture, worldwide.

This giant mural is a massive tribute to his talent and also the modern artists, funders, and helpers who created it. 

All the young children in the tunnel loved it as well, shouting out together to see if it had an echo and jumping up and down in excitement.

Crowd at the train station.

Going through the tunnel on foot.

The magic realm.

Mushrooms and Toadstools.

Witch and Dragon.

Scottish Piper.

Not content with that the same local artist, friends, funders, and helpers have also created a village mural in Cuddies Lane in Colinton a short walk away. So I went there as well.

Village info board.

This was also a delight in even finer detail, some of it painted on wood or plastic panels by the looks of it.

A cracking mural trail.

Colinton Village Life. This is just a few of the images.

Colinton Village in past days.

So I made the very best of a misty day in Edinburgh and also got a walk along the Water of Leith walkway down to Slateford, filling in yet another jigsaw piece of modern Edinburgh.

I discovered this talented young violinist around five years ago when this video came out and had never heard this catchy song or band before so I was delighted and impressed all round. A young adult now she is an internet sensation with loads of videos and cover songs. But this still remains my favourite. Boldly marches up to the camera and stuns with a confident delivery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEPVwM9ruIo&list=RDoEPVwM9ruIo&start_radio=1 

Craiglockhart. Slateford to Edinburgh City Centre via The Union Canal.

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Craiglockhart Parish Church and the No 4 bus to Hillend. This bus takes you to the Pentlands and Hillend Ski Slope. You can get it on Princes Street and Haymarket. If you are on the Glasgow Citylink 900 bus getting off that at Haymarket saves you time as the no 4 goes up Dalry Road nearby. To get to Craiglockhart to do Easter Craiglockhart and Wester Craiglockhart Hills I jumped on a 10 bus on Lothian Road to Craiglockhart Sports Centre. After climbing both small hills I still had time to do something else so I walked down past this church then Craiglockhart Avenue to Slateford Road and the Union Canal. The Water of Leith passes through here as well at the Water of Leith Visitor Centre but that is a longer winding river walk. The Union Canal takes a much straighter line into the city centre so that's the route I picked.

It's a pleasant walk on a sunny afternoon and quiet... not many bikes or other walkers this far out. Feels like open countryside here but still within the city limits.

A bit further on passing Meggetland District.

Further on again the Union Canal passes twin parks. Harrison Park West and H P East, almost identical large squares of open ground, seen above. If it hadn't been for the park signs I would have guessed it was all the same park. An easy stone's throw separates them.

Harrison Park East... maybe. Maybe not. It's definitely one or the other. Nice to wander through both anyway on a lovely late September afternoon in Edinburgh.

Back on the Union Canal again and a boathouse.... where according to a sign they also teach youngsters to kayak. I have noticed on all my trips that Edinburgh is more middle class with more upmarket districts than Glasgow. Less down to earth and in your face. More posh and genteel in a way. This is not a criticism just an observation. Traditionally Glasgow was always twice the size of Edinburgh, coping with a huge influx of unskilled heavy industry workers from the Scottish Highlands, Scottish islands and Ireland as well, attracted by the River Clyde shipyards, factories, and steelwork type jobs. As a result of the city doubling its population every ten years until it surpassed one million residents a vast ring of 1950s and 1960s council housing estates grew up surrounding the inner city. Edinburgh also has rough, working class housing estates ( and I've been in them all over the decades :o) but it also appears to have far more nice areas than Glasgow has despite being traditionally half the size. Glasgow has reduced its population considerably since its 1930s- 1960s peak while Edinburgh has increased its population year on year, catching up with a shinking Glasgow. Also the huge tourist numbers year round in Edinburgh's streets must bring a lot of extra money in for the Scottish capital, I'd imagine. At some point in time it may even overtake Glasgow as the largest Scottish city as with heavy industry and shipbuilding greatly declined Glasgow has no real reason to grow larger.

Colourful modern buildings in Edinburgh along the Union Canal. Edinburgh also seems to favour round towers on its buildings and odd floor numbers. Tenements and Hi Rise flats being 3, 5, 7, 9. 11. 15, more often than not whereas Glasgow has 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 up to 22,24. 28 etc. Glasgow has far more residential high rise flats than Edinburgh and most of Edinburgh's 70 plus high rise flats have been demolished whereas Glasgow still has loads left despite pulling down dozens since the 1960s. And they climbed much higher, at one time the Red Road flats ( now gone at 28 and 31 floors) were the highest residential flats in Europe.

  Passing the Fountainbridge District on the Union Canal. I like these flats due to the colour arrangements.

Even the local high school here is bright and modern.

Not so keen on this style though. All the modern apartments recently in both cities look like this from the outside. Square, no frills, no embellishment or decorative extra features. Typical early 2010 to 2025 look. Boo!

The Union Canal ends with a row of house boats at Fountainbridge Basin surrounded by modern apartments with more going up as I passed. 

Still to be occupied this set of flats.

Note more round towers. Edinburgh must have dozens by now. A city feature.

Fake and real swans watch all the activity bemused. A happening area.

 Many of these places I've been to before, five to ten years ago, but the new housing stock everywhere makes it exciting and unpredictable as to what you will find that's different and unexpected.

Edinburgh Castle from a bus window. With the Union Canal at an end here I jumped on a passing bus for a few stops and got off at the West End to go into Princes Street Gardens.

Edinburgh Castle walls. Taking full advantage of it's natural ring of vertical cliffs on nearly every side this castle, (and Stirling Castle) must have been a daunting prospect for any enemy forces hoping to conquer it. Head on up the Royal Mile to the front gates being the only real option.

Early Autumn on some of the trees.

Edinburgh's National Gallery Roof. It was £17 even with my ticket for the Andy Goldsworthy exhibition on here. Even though I'm a fan I declined the offer. 1... as I've seen a lot of his work already outdoors. 2... time was not on my side to do it full justice. 3 I was already knackered from my walk so far. 4 It was far too good a late afternoon to spend it indoors. 5 it would have meant getting back to Glasgow in the dark and cold far later than I intended.

Weary and footsore but happy I padded back to the bus station for the long journey back to my house, eventually getting in 3 hours later due to heavy traffic and road works all the way home. Very glad I was not driving it myself. City link bus drivers are the real stars.

Princes Street Gardens view. Late afternoon September sunshine in 2025. National Gallery on right of photo. 

The famous floral clock in the gardens below Princes Street. The end.