NEW TOWN

Some might question continuing to call an area of the city completed in 1850 the New Town, but not Edinburgh residents. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the Georgian grid plan is home to city centre shops, world-class galleries containing many of the nation’s treasures, quiet residential streets and a wide array of pubs and restaurants.

Food And Drink

If you’re looking for a chain restaurant, you will find it around St Andrew Square. For local recommendations, however, read on.

Southside transplant Aizle has taken up residence in the Kimpton Charlotte Square to offer their much-celebrated tasting menus. Sister restaurants Tipo (110 Hanover St) and Noto (47a Thistle St) provide a modern take on Italian cuisine and sharing plates, small domaine wine producers and bespoke cocktails respectively. Fishers in the City (58 Thistle St) celebrates Scottish seafood in a bistro environment – their mussels are some of the best in the city. Those seeking French cuisine (and what visitor to Scotland does not?) will be well served by Cafe Marlayne (76 Thistle St) or L’Escargot Bleu (56 Broughton St). The latter’s downstairs wine bar serves up snails as a bar snack. Tucked away on Rose Street Lane, Hakataya (122 Rose St S Ln) is a much-imitated sushi and ramen joint in a sleek minimal space. Speaking of institutions, no night out is complete without a trip to

Edinburgh’s premier disco chippy, purveyor of the deep-fried Mars Bar, Cafe Piccante (19 Broughton St). Down the hill, Fhior (36 Broughton St) serve up a menu of delicious small plates centred around carefully sourced local produce in an airy, minimal environment.

For drinks, the most central options are on Rose Street, which is also a famous pub crawl and therefore riddled with stag dos. Moving from west to east, The Black Cat (168 Rose St) has sunny outdoor tables and occasional folky performances, rock bar The Black Rose Tavern (49 Rose St) has pleasant divey vibes and ‘Edinburgh’s most outstandingly preserved Edwardian pub’ The Abbotsford (3 Rose St) is worth a visit. If it’s Victorian grandeur PLUS oysters you’re looking for, the tile and gilt-covered Cafe Royal (19 W Register St) is the place for you. On the same block, The Voodoo Rooms (19a W Register St) offers similar gilt-covered vibes, but with a focus on cocktails and a live events space. Opposite, Lady Libertine in the basement of the Edinburgh Grand (25 W Register St) is also good for fine wines and fancy times.

Looking for more cocktails? Some of the city’s finest purveyors are on Queen Street. The subterranean Bramble (no. 16a) is internationally renowned for its mixology and cosy nooks, with a rotating menu of delicious cocktails also available at its above-ground sister Lucky Liquor Co (no. 39a). Panda & Sons (no. 79) really commits to the speakeasy concept – access is via a fake barbershop storefront – while the atmospheric Nightcap (3 York Pl) at the other end of the road has seats outside and in.

Deeper into the New Town, explore quirky drinking dens from a bygone age – a local Victorian pub experience can be had in the cosy and very red Kay’s Bar (39 Jamaica St). The Cumberland (1-3 Cumberland St) features possibly the city’s best beer garden; observe the area’s unique sartorial style, from Barbour jackets to the ubiquitous red trousers of the off-duty men of means.

Broughton Street is a destination in itself, home to lively bars, restaurants and small businesses selling local produce and design. On the corner, The Street (2b Picardy Pl) is a lively contemporary bar with a downstairs nightclub space, while The Basement (10a Broughton St) serves Mexican-inspired cocktails and Pickles (60 Broughton St) does reasonably priced cheese, meat and wine platters.

The area is also well served for excellent coffee shops, if you can dodge the persistent chains. Fortitude (3c York Pl), Wellington Coffee (33a George St), Lowdown Coffee (40 George St), Cairngorm Coffee (41a Frederick St) and Artisan Roast (57 Broughton St) are all local favourites.

Things To Do

On the Mound sits the neoclassical National Gallery, home to work by big hitters from Da Vinci to Gauguin. In front, on Princes Street, sits the columned Royal Scottish Academy, home to a year-round programme of contemporary Scottish art. On Queen St, you will find the Gothic spires of the Portrait Gallery.

Ingleby Gallery (33 Barony St) is an independent contemporary art gallery with a year-round programme of interesting exhibitions in a tastefully converted Glasite Meeting House. Down a lane off Broughton St, Embassy (10b Broughton St Ln) is an artist-run space with a focus on emergent practice. At the other end of the visual art spectrum, Dundas Street is home to several commercial art galleries showing work by the Scottish art establishment. Looking for an oil painting of a glen slash beach? You

Music and theatre shows by francophone artists in the heart of Edinburgh!

4-28 August 2023

4-14 AUG

A Portrait of Ludmilla as Nina Simone

BY DAVID LESCOT / COMPAGNIE DU KAÏROS

Dazzling intimate portrait of the legendary jazz singer pianist composer and civil rights activist, told through music, song and storytelling

7-13 AUG

Exile for Two Violins

BY COMPAGNIE BACCHUS

Two violinists confront Hungarian composer Béla Bartók during his exile in New-York Half-fable, half-biography, this theatrical creation is a musical interlude in the Balkans

14-20 AUG

Cyborg Experiment #1

BY SNOWAPPLE COMPANY

This experiment is an opera of the future where temporalities mix and anachronism plays with history Two characters bring an old cassette player to the stage A voice is recorded and they listen

16-20 AUG

Bolts of Melody

BY COMPAGNIE LA MEUTE

It’s the story of two people entering Possibility a place populated by Emily Dickinson s words This show deals with loss, but also joy and humour It’s about finding internal poetry, and relying on others

25-28 AUG

Là-Haut (Up There)

BY SONIA KILLMANN

"Là-Haut" is an audiovisual show that immerses the audience in a unique world through the eyes of bird-like aeroplanes, taking you on a journey exploring emotions of longing and home

will find it here.

The New Town has some great parks, although many of them are closed off to non-residents. That is in many ways the New Town vibe. Surrounding the National Galleries are Princes Street Gardens East and West, ideal locations for some sunny cans while gazing upon the splendour of Edinburgh Castle or the highly grammable Ross Fountain.

Indie Shops

Blunt Knife Co. (41 Thistle St, until 15 Jul, new location TBC) is a social enterprise shop and events space promoting work by women and people of marginalised genders. Looking for booze? Bon Vivant’s Companion (51 Thistle St) offers an array of fine wines, beers and spirits, including an extensive selection of Scottish gins while Vino (30 Broughton St) is a local independent chain providing expertly chosen wine and beer.

Looking for meat? Newly renovated Broughton Market (97 Broughton St) is a local institution – go on Thursday for the full range of fancy sausages. Looking for homewares? Who doesn’t, when on holiday? You’ll find a carefully chosen selection in Life Story (53 London St).

Edinburgh’s Southside is right in the thick of the action; a buzzing, central neighbourhood that nevertheless feels local rather than touristed. Home to the main campus of Edinburgh University, there’s a wealth of notably cheap eateries and cafes perfect for bunking down with a good book. It’s also home to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, when the typically peaceful green expanses of The Meadows and George Square Gardens are transformed into a veritable carnival of

Food And Drink

Being a student-heavy area, Edinburgh’s Southside is filled with great eats and quirky drinking holes. The Sudanese Nile Valley Cafe (6 Chapel St) offers falafel wraps piled high with grilled aubergine and special peanut sauce, while The Shawarma House (119 Nicolson St) does exactly what it says on the tin. Popular with the kids are Sister Bao (32 S Clerk St), with steamed buns for as little as a pound and change; The Original Mosque Kitchen & Cafe (50 Potterrow), whose plates piled high with homemade curry come to just over a fiver; pizza slices at Civerinos Slice (49 Forrest Rd); and a modern take on Thai food at Ting Thai Caravan (8 Teviot Pl). Having expanded into the Southside recently is Leith staple Alby’s (94 Buccleuch St), whose enormous, elaborate sandwiches and fries may be the best in Edinburgh – they’re open through the day but often sell out way before. For something a little more sit-down (but still cheap), Ikigai Ramen (13 W Crosscauseway) is cosy in both vibes and warming meals, while Kim’s Mini Meals’ (5 Buccleuch St) innocuous front hides a renowned family restaurant considered one of the best in the city. El Cartel (15 Teviot Pl) crafts its tacos like little works of art bursting with flavour.

To keep the night going, tropical dive bar Paradise Palms (41 Lothian St) has an excellent array of spirits crowding its neon bar. There are similarly chaotic vibes at The Dog House (18 Clerk St), while The Royal Dick in the Summerhall arts complex (1 Summerhall Pl) is inspired by Summerhall’s previous life as the university’s veterinary school. Also of note is subversive pub Brass Monkey, with actual beds to lounge in (14 Drummond St), and the ever-reliable Dagda (93 Buccleuch St) and The Auld Hoose (23 St Leonards St).

For a less boozy day, there’s many a cafe to while away drizzly afternoons. Thomas J Walls (35 Forrest Rd) and Kilimanjaro (104 Nicolson St) both offer brunch and a relaxed atmosphere, Considerit (5A Sciennes) has the pillowiest vegan doughtnuts you’ve ever seen, while coffee enthusiasts with a taste for the industrial should head to Union Brew Lab (6 S College St) and Cult Espresso (104 Buccleuch St).

Things To Do

The Southside is typically the heart of the Fringe: Summerhall boasts one of the festival’s best programmes, while Assembly Roxy (2 Roxburgh Pl), Queen’s Hall (85 Clerk St), and the Festival Theatre (13 Nicolson St) are all within a short stroll of each other. The National Museum of Scotland (Chambers St), Dovecot Studios (10 Infirmary St), Talbot Rice Gallery (South Bridge), and Surgeons’ Hall (Nicolson St) span everything from avant-garde art to gruesome human remains and dinosaur bones. And during the relative warmth (although please manage your expectations) of the summer, the tree-lined expanse of The Meadows and the crags of Arthur’s

Seat transform into some of the city’s key hangout spots.

Indie Shops

There’s not a ton of shopping in the Southside, but there are a few cute indie stand-outs. Edinburgh’s radical, queer bookshop Lighthouse Books (43 W Nicolson St) is a veritable haven of excellent reads and community spirit. Five minutes away is Tills Bookshop (1 Hope Park Cres), with a great secondhand collection that often includes new releases. There are also two Armstrong’s vintage shops filled with retro gems (14 Teviot Pl, 64 Clerk St), while the Great Grog Bottle Shop (2 Dalkeith Rd) and Jordan Valley (8 Nicolson St) are must-stops for foodies.