The Best of Edinburgh

A portion of the spending money for this post was provided by Hotels.com.
In addition to their budget, I have included a lot of our personal favourites from over the years in which we paid for the experiences ourselves.

Edinburgh is famous for hosting the world’s largest arts festival, beautiful architecture and the fact there is a castle sitting on top of an extinct volcano in the middle of the city.

Behind the scenes Edinburgh has a bustling food scene, vibrant arts and music culture and an amazing collection of independent retailers. Edinburgh is a hard to city to keep your finger on the pulse, there is always somewhere new and exciting popping up. I have however managed to keep a collection of some of my favourite spots to visit.

If you are planning a visit and looking for hotels in Edinburgh, you can find more inspiration in my travel section.

Here is a collection of some of my favourite ‘what-to-do’s’ when in Edinburgh;

1.COFFEE | 2.BRUNCH | 3.EAT | 4.DRINK | 5.DO | 6.SEE

1. COFFEE

Edinburgh’s coffee scene is buzzing. There are a whole host of independent coffee shops to support and explore. We still haven’t managed to try them all. Some of our favourites are below, you can check out the Scottish Independent Coffee Guide for more inspo.

WELLINGTON COFFEE
WELLINGTON COFFEE

2. BRUNCH

Brunch is quickly becoming a must-do in Edinburgh. Wether you are popping out post-yoga or having a day out celebrating, there is a n option for you. One of my favourites is Urban Angel Cafe but be warned – you can’t reserve a table on the weekend, and it is in his demand. I would recommend getting there around 30 minutes before you actually want to eat.

Urban Angel will always be one of my favourites. A relaxed, cafe-style environment. You can have your brunch with a side of green juice or a Bloody Mary depending on how you want your day to go.

The Ivy serves up a seriously boujee brunch in the classiest of environments. You can see our full experience here.

BLOODY MARY BRUNCH AT THE VOYAGE OF BUCK

Explore Edinburgh’s West End; a gorgeous network of cobbled Georgian streets busting with contemporary independent retailers. The Voyage of Buck serves up a serious Bloody Mary menu to have with brunch.

Brewhemia is situated on the doorstep of Edinburgh’s Waverley station. Every weekend they host their Big Bluesy Brunch, with live Blues music to go alongside your brunch and a Bloody Mary cart.

3. EAT

I think it would be impossible to We have by no means tried every place to eat in Edinburgh, but here are some of our favourites from those that we have tried.

4. DRINK

BRASSERIE PRINCE
PRINTING PRESS

KIMPTON CHARLOTTE SQUARE
KIMPTON CHARLOTTE SQUARE

Check out my stay at Kimpton Charlotte Square here.

THE EDINBURGH GRAND
THE EDINBURGH GRAND
THE EDINBURGH GRAND

Find out more about The Edinburgh Grand here.

5. DO

For the 11 months of the year that Edinburgh Festival isn’t on, the city is still bustling with things to do. I like to check out The List and The Skinny to keep up-to-date with what’s going on.

Volunteer-run arts organisation Hidden Door returns for a long weekender of music and art at Leith Theatre.

There have been so many Escape Rooms pop up around the city. There is now even a Harry Potter one for all you JK Rowling lovers. We did the Houdini Room at Escape Edinburgh and just solved the last clue with 15 seconds to go (phew!).

Got green fingers? Visit Dahlia while wandering the coffee shops in beautiful Marchmont.

National Museum of Scotland is one of my favourite places to visit. There is SO much to see, and it is free to enter.

6. SEE

If you’re on a tight budget, there are so many free viewpoints to help you experience the city without the cost. There is somewhere beautiful to discover round every corner. Here are some of my favourites…