Hiking Arthur’s Seat at Sunset

A video guide for hiking Arthur’s Seat during Scotland’s magical golden hour.  

Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh may be a popular tourist spot, but climbing to the top is by no means a piece of cake (er, should we say, a scoop of pudding?). The hike itself takes about 1 to 2 hours, not to mention the oh-so-many photo stops along the way.

We decided to hit up this hike right before sunset to capitalize on my favorite hour, golden hour. Frank, my brother, my parents and I promised each other that if we made it to the top (let’s be real – there were no ifs about it) we’d celebrate with a big pint of beer post-hike.

Despite a few casualties – pulled groin, near slips, etc. – we did get to the top by sunset, and it’s something I’d absolutely recommend for anyone visiting Edinburgh. Arthur’s Seat does get filled up around sunset, but there’s plenty of sunshine to go around. If you do hit up the seat at sunset, know this: The skies get dark pretty quickly, so you’ll want to head back down ASAP to avoid that whole hiking in the dark thing.

Oh, and those beers we all vowed to drink? Done and done – within 10 minutes of our time back on level land.

Here’s a quick 4-minute video of our hike to the top, and apologies in advance for the heavy breathing you may hear along the way. (I told you – it’s tougher than it looks!)