Curedi two

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

An alternative to Curedi one, that removes some of its plotting errors, avoids all flights of stairs, and is more off-road for the final 2km. The start is easily accessible from Curriehill station, and for roughly the first half follows the Water of Leith Walkway (formerly the Balerno Branch railway line), before joining the Union Canal towpath (also on the John Muir Way) to Lochrin Basin in Fountainbridge. From there it follows a quiet back route past the EICC and the back of the Sheraton Hotel to Rutland Square and the West End. Finally the route passes down Princes Street, with a diversion down into Princes Street Gardens (NB opens at 7am, closes at dusk), before passing through East Princes Street Gardens and then arriving at Waverley Station. Apart from the final section, the route follows National Cycle Network route 75. A very green, quiet/traffic-free and pleasant route, gently downhill for most of the way, with no stairways (though a few steep'ish slopes) and a good surface for nearly the whole way. One tricky point (e.g. for wheelchair users, buggy pushers, cyclists etc.) is the Slateford Aqueduct that only has a narrow, cobbled, towpath - so patience and care needed at that point (see photos)

An alternative to Curedi one, that removes some of its plotting errors, avoids all flights of stairs, and is more off-road for the final 2km. The start is easily accessible from Curriehill station, and for roughly the first half follows the Water of Leith Walkway (formerly the Balerno Branch railway line), before joining the Union Canal towpath (also on the John Muir Way) to Lochrin Basin in Fountainbridge. From there it follows a quiet back route past the EICC and the back of the Sheraton Hotel to Rutland Square and the West End. Finally the route passes down Princes Street, with a diversion down into Princes Street Gardens (NB opens at 7am, closes at dusk), before passing through East Princes Street Gardens and then arriving at Waverley Station. Apart from the final section, the route follows National Cycle Network route 75. A very green, quiet/traffic-free and pleasant route, gently downhill for most of the way, with no stairways (though a few steep'ish slopes) and a good surface for nearly the whole way. One tricky point (e.g. for wheelchair users, buggy pushers, cyclists etc.) is the Slateford Aqueduct that only has a narrow, cobbled, towpath - so patience and care needed at that point (see photos)