An Edinburgh Valentine's Day Itinerary That Doesn't Require a Romantic Partner
3rd Feb 2025Calling all singletons, friends and... oh alright, partners too!
Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples. Treat yourself—and your friends—to a day full of love and love gone wrong during a Valentine’s Day weekend in Edinburgh.
We’ve crafted the perfect Valentine’s Day itinerary for those looking to celebrate their singlehood, their partners or their friends. Read on to discover what’s on in Edinburgh.
10am: First things first, double check your booking for the Sin in the City tour
This tour is all about love gone wrong—perfect for a Galentine’s Day treat, as a celebration of singlehood, or for couples who love a good laugh. We recommend booking in advance, though!
Delve into the hilarious and cheeky side of history to discover stories of some of Edinburgh's most rampant past residents. Their saucy scandals will have you in stitches.
Book in advance here.
11am: Wander down the Royal Mile looking at marriage lintels
Marriage lintels are stones, often above doorways, engraved with a newlywed couple’s initials and date of marriage. You’ll find lots of examples up and down the Royal Mile.
Our favourites can be found in Advocate’s Close, at John Knox’s house and hidden away on the Edinburgh World Heritage building in Bakehouse Close.
But while these marriage lintels may appear to be eternal memorials of true love, some of the buildings also hold scandalous secrets. What would you say if we told you the lintel in Bakehouse Close once marked the entrance to a Victorian brothel?
12pm: Pop into Clarinda’s Tea Room for a quick lunch
Named after Agnes ‘Clarinda’ Maclehose, there’s no better place to stop on Valentine’s Day. Clarinda, despite never consummating her affair with Robert Burns, acted as a romantic inspiration for the poet.
Clarinda, of course, was married at the time, though separated from her husband. She did, at one point, have to remind Burns of this fact via poem:
Your Friendship much can make me blest,
O, why that bliss destroy!
Why urge the odious, one request
You know I must deny!
Burns went on to have an affair with her maid, which resulted in a son. A tangled web of love, these two!
2pm: Visit Holyrood Palace
Holyrood Palace is the perfect place to explore sites of doomed relationships. It was here that Mary, Queen of Scots lived with her second husband, Lord Darnley. Darnley was later murdered by her third husband, James Hepburn.
Darnley himself wasn’t innocent, though. A year before his own death, Darnley had Mary’s private secretary and friend, David Rizzio, murdered. The reason? He feared an affair between the two.
It’s said that you can still see the blood in the royal apartment floor where it happened.
7pm: Edinburgh underground ghost tour
Not everything has to be cosy on Valentine’s Day! Why not step into the Blair Street Underground Vaults for a ghost tour?
Hear stories about people like Johnny One Arm, whose divorce in 1688 sparked the beginning of his downfall. And if you choose a Doomed, Dead & Buried tour, you can even visit the place where poor David Rizzio is said to be laid to rest.
Book in advance here.
There are so many things to do in Edinburgh for Valentine’s Day, whether you’re looking to celebrate your singlehood, your partner or your friends. From salacious stories of the past to an Edinburgh underground ghost tour, fill your diaries the holiday weekend.