Edinburgh: beyond the guide book

As a Glaswegian it has taken me some time to acclimatise to Edinburgh. It is very different from Glasgow; it is less friendly (sorry Edinburgers!), it is a little stuffy and the shopping options are abysmal but there’s no denying that it’s a bonnie city and a fab city break destination.  Explains the hordes of tourists all year round!

Edinburgh’s tourist attractions can essentially be found either side of Princes Street and Waverley Train Station which splits the city in two – the Old Town and New Town. Here’s a (not so quick) run through the key Instagram worthy sights…

The sights in both are well publicised:- The Royal Mile; Edinburgh Castle; St Giles Cathedral; Grassmarket; Scottish Parliament (who offer free tours or the option of viewing First Minister’s Questions every Thursday); Arthur’s Seat for views across Edinburgh and over to Fife; the fantastic (and free!) National Museum of Scotland (who often host Night at the Museum events featuring local bands, artists, and several bars); the Meadows (a massive chunk of green space frequented by students, where you’ll see the odd game of cricket being played and people tight-rope walking between trees); and the Palaces of Holyrood (where the Queen kips when she’s in town hosting her annual garden party) are all contained within the Old Town. If into a modern art, there are lots of little galleries tucked in and around the Old Town including the Fruitmarket Gallery tucked behind Waverley Station.  Time permitting, I’d also recommend one of the ghost tours (Mercat are pretty good), especially those taking you to the underground vaults.

Any decent guide book will tell you not to overlook the New Town with its stunning Georgian Townhouses (Northumberland Street, Royal Circus and Royal Circus Lane are some of the prettiest streets in town), the Scott Monument; Princes Street Gardens (with its commanding views of the old town and Castle; and its western end containing a decent play park); the National Portrait Gallery (free to enter bar special exhibitions); the Gallery of Modern Art (not quite in the New Town but not too far away); the Royal Botanical Gardens; Calton Hill (for great views across the city); and the Dean Village.  Top tip, on a clear day from the top of either Dundas Street or Howe Street at Queen Street you’ll see right across the water to Fife.

There are in my mind a few main thoroughfares in/around the New Town which are worth exploring – Broughton Street (on the cusp of the pink triangle) for great shops/cafes/bars/restaurants; the picturesque Stockbridge (described as a village within the city and often compared to Glasgow’s West End – let me set this straight, they are completely different) and the wonderful Botanic Gardens; and my own ‘hood Canonmills and Powderhall which thanks to an influx of students and slightly cheaper rent/house prices has meant a variety of new shops, cafes, bars and restaurants have opened up. Lucky us!

And for those wanting to experience what Edinburgh’s really like, hop on the infamous 22 bus (from outside Waverley Station) and head to Leith.  Home of the Proclaimers, Irvine Welsh, its a little rough and ready but it has character.  The Shore area, which is home to two of Edinburgh’s Michellin Star restaurants (Martin Wishart and The Kitchin – both excellent and offering very reasonable lunch menus) has a lovely waterfront area with canal boats, plus a great selection of bars, cafes and restaurants to sample – some of my favourites are listed below. The Shore area also marks the start of the leafy and wonderful Water of Leith Cycle Path where you’ll stumble upon lots of wildlife (swans, squirrels, ducks, dogs, some times the odd rat), great parks (Victoria Park, George IV Park), runners, plus the odd drunk. I’d recommend hiring a bike (Leith Cycles on Leith Walk is a good choice) and exploring one of the many great cycle paths which run the length and breadth of the city.

Likewise, Leith Walk itself is a mix of charity shops, Chinese and Polish supermarkets, record shops, bakeries open all night – have a look at Out of the Blue Drill Hall for exhibitions, markets or their monthly ping pong night.

If you are the active type and into a spot of running like myself, you are abolsutely spoilt for choice in Edinburgh. There’s a Parkrun every Saturday at Cramond Waterfront at 9am, and Portobello also host one. But there are plenty of ‘do it yourself’ routes which can take you past all the main tourist sights, along the Firth of Forth, weaving in and out of the city’s many parks. Some of my favourites can be found on my Strava profile.

If you have more than a couple of days to explore Scotland’s capital, I’d recommend a trip to Portobello, a few miles from the city centre, for its great beach and promenade featuring old stool arcade (with 2p nudge machines a-plenty). If you are a seafood and sea lover, get yourself to the Lobster Shack on North Berwick’s harbour wall for lobster and chips alfresco accompanied by a nice glass of vino. And whilst in North Berwick, don’t forget to check out Steampunk Coffee to get your caffeine fix. Fear not coffee lovers, they also take their cute little VW Campervan to the Stockbridge market every Sunday.

South Queensferry on the way to Fife is worth a trip to view the engineering masterpiece of the Forth Rail Bridge and the new Queensferry Crossing (opening soon) and why not tuck into some excellent fish and chips from Maurizio’s whilst sitting on the harbour wall. If visiting between May and October, and a lover of modern art, I would also recommend a trip to Jupiter Artland, effectively a sculpture park in the grounds of an old manor house. Amazing! Great for kids too.

If like myself, you’ll maybe want to weave some retail therapy in to your sightseeing.  Well, for all the shopaholics let’s get one thing straight. If you want/need to shop, jump on a train or bus to Glasgow (55 mins by train or 1 hr 15 mins by bus). Seriously, the shops are WAY better, the shopping areas is better laid out and quite frankly, the staff are a hell of a lot friendlier. See my Glasgow blog for the full low down.

That said, whilst the shopping in a Edinburgh is generally pretty poor, there are some very good independent shops including: Life Story Shop (scandal inspired homeware, jewellery, stationery), Crombies (for gourmet sausages), Joey D (a local designer who deconstructs traditional pieces such as tweed jackets, denim, and army khakis, then reassembles them with leather, zips, and buckles), Curiouser and Curiouser (for prints, gifts, cards, homeware) or Narcissus for gorgeous, if pricey, plants and flowers. And keep walking down Broughton Street pass Mansfield Traquair to Rodney Street where you will find: the Marshmallow Lady for gourmet, you guessed it marshmallows; and the Bearded Baker, a cute little coffee shop specialising in cinnamon rolls, donuts and bagels.

In the Old Town, make a point of stopping by the tiny Red Door Gallery on a Victoria Street which weaves down from George IV Bridge to Grassmarket, plus Hannah Zakari are worth checking out too. The former sells fantastic prints, cards, jewellery and the latter is good for contemporary jewellery.

Stockbridge also houses some lovely independent shops too including Ian Mellis’ Cheesemongers; Caoba (specialising in Mexican pottery and other paraphernalia); Coco Chocolatier for handcrafted chocolates (think haggis spiced, lemongrass infused white hot chocolate); independent book store Golden Hare Books; Bon Tot (baby and kids clothing boutique); plus Lovecrumbs and Century General Store’s combined outpost; plus lot of good charity shops.