Cathedral · Edinburgh · City of Edinburgh

St Giles' Cathedral

St Giles' Cathedral is a church of Scotland cathedral in Edinburgh. It counts as a category A listed building. Top of the 167 other places within 15 km is Edinburgh Castle, 600 m off.

Photo: St Giles' Cathedral, 瑞丽江的河水 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Where

In Edinburgh

inside the locality

How well known

Top 2%

#94 of 8,556 places we list

Warmest months

Jun–Aug

highs of 18–20°C

In brief

Cathedral in Edinburgh

One of the best-known places to visit in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

#94 of the 8,556 museums, castles, gardens and other attractions we list, by how widely it is covered (30 Wikipedias). About ↓

Inside Edinburgh

St Giles' Cathedral is inside Edinburgh’s locality, with 110 more places to visit within 5 km. Towns near it ↓

Category A listed building

On the official list of protected heritage; Edinburgh has 4,435 listed buildings in all, on its History page. About ↓

Written from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, NRS’s localities and Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

When to go

Seasons and weather

In Edinburgh the warm season is June to August, with highs of 18–20°C.

Jan7° / 1°69 mm

Feb8° / 2°55 mm

Mar10° / 3°49 mm

Apr12° / 4°45 mm

May15° / 7°52 mm

Jun18° / 10°69 mm

Jul20° / 11°73 mm

Aug19° / 11°75 mm

Sep17° / 9°57 mm

Oct13° / 7°79 mm

Nov10° / 4°68 mm

Dec7° / 1°70 mm

Green months are the warmest. Typical afternoon highs and night lows in Edinburgh, and rain in a month. Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for Edinburgh. Opening times change through the year: check before you go. Edinburgh’s full climate →

About

St Giles' Cathedral

Its story is told in 30 languages on Wikipedia.

Edinburgh’s listed buildings and monuments →

Type: Cathedral
Listed: Category A listed building
Wikipedias: Covered in 30 languages
Town: in Edinburgh
Official site: stgilescathedral.org.uk

Facts: Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors).

The map

Locating St Giles' Cathedral

The places near St Giles' Cathedral are numbered on the map in the order below.

Towns near it

Nearby towns

Edinburgh tops the 8 for size, at 493,794 people. Each town here links to its own guide.

1 · It’s in town

Edinburgh

493,794 people · 150 places to visit

2 · 6.5 km southeast of it

Danderhall

3,389 people · 21 places to visit

3 · 8.1 km south of it

Loanhead

7,007 people · 16 places to visit

4 · 8.8 km east of it

Musselburgh

21,476 people · 21 places to visit

Compare the 8 towns

Town	Where St Giles' Cathedral is	People	Places to visit
Edinburgh	It’s in town	493,794	150
Danderhall	6.5 km southeast of it	3,389	21
Loanhead	8.1 km south of it	7,007	16
Musselburgh	8.8 km east of it	21,476	21
Bonnyrigg	10 km southeast of it	18,088	16
Dalkeith	10 km southeast of it	15,125	18
Wallyford	11 km east of it	4,493	13
Mayfield	12 km southeast of it	14,259	15

Make a day of it

Close to St Giles' Cathedral

Also close at hand are 3 art galleries, 2 museums and a castle, among 167 within 15 km.

Castle · Historic Environment ScotlandEdinburgh Castle600 m away 2

Big drawArt galleryNational Gallery300 m away · 661K visitors a year (2021)3

Historic housePalace of Holyroodhouse1.2 km away 4

MuseumNational Museum of Scotland300 m away 5

Art galleryScottish National Portrait Gallery700 m away · 313K visitors a year (2015)6

Abbey or prioryHolyrood Abbey1.3 km away 7

Art galleryScottish National Gallery of Modern Art2.3 km away · 458K visitors a year (2015)8

MuseumThe Scotch Whisky Experience300 m away · 239K visitors a year

Within 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.

Your questions on St Giles' Cathedral

Where is St Giles' Cathedral?

St Giles' Cathedral is in Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, inside the town’s locality.

What is St Giles' Cathedral?

Church of Scotland cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

When is the best time to visit St Giles' Cathedral?

June to August are the warmest months in Edinburgh, with afternoon highs of 18–20°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).

Is St Giles' Cathedral a listed building?

Yes: category A listed building.

What else is there to see near St Giles' Cathedral?

Within 15 km: Edinburgh Castle (600 m), National Gallery (300 m), Palace of Holyroodhouse (1.2 km) and National Museum of Scotland (300 m).

Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the NRS 2022 locality (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (9)

St Giles' Cathedral: 瑞丽江的河水, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Edinburgh Castle: Stephencdickson, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
National Gallery: 瑞丽江的河水, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Palace of Holyroodhouse: 瑞丽江的河水, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
National Museum of Scotland: Maccoinnich~commonswiki, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Scottish National Portrait Gallery: Original uploader was Maccoinnich at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Holyrood Abbey: Enric, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art: Grousebeater2, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Scotch Whisky Experience: Derek Harper, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.