Steep Hill is exactly what its name promises: a cobbled, pedestrianised street climbing the limestone cliff between the lower city and the cathedral quarter, with a 1-in-7 gradient over its lower half. Halfway up, a Victorian handrail offers welcome support for the climb back down; the locals nicknamed it the "puffin rail" for the noise the climbers make grasping for it.
The whole length is lined with independent shops — bookshops (Lindum is particularly good), antique stores, the long-running Imp & Angel sweet shop, jewellers, cafés in medieval timber-framed buildings, the Norman house known as the Jew's House halfway up. Allow 30 minutes to walk the street properly, with stops. The Lincoln Imp gargoyle (in plastic miniature) is sold everywhere along it.