Edinburgh Printmakers and a walk along the Union Canal

A walk · Edinburgh

Edinburgh Printmakers – A Canal Walk into Fountainbridge

The Union Canal was built to carry coal into Edinburgh from the west, and its towpath now makes a traffic-free walk into the city.

This one starts at Slateford, west of the centre, and follows the canal into Fountainbridge, to Edinburgh Printmakers and lunch in its café.

The walk

Take a number 44 bus from Shandwick Place or Haymarket, or a 34 from Lothian Road, to the Water of Leith Centre stop in Slateford, and check the times on Lothian Buses' site. Across the road, the Water of Leith Visitor Centre has a free exhibition about the river and a volunteer-run café, open every day from 10am to 4pm.

A short way downstream, the Union Canal crosses the river on the Slateford Aqueduct, finished in 1822, and steps climb from the riverside walkway to the towpath. From there the canal keeps to one level all the way to Fountainbridge, past the moorings at Harrison Park: just over 2 miles, about 45 minutes on foot.

Cyclists share the towpath, so keep young children and dogs close.

If it rains

On a wet day, save the towpath for another morning and go straight to Edinburgh Printmakers, whose shop and café are indoors.

Along the way

About 46 min on foot
Edinburgh Printmakers
An attraction
Leave the towpath at Gilmore Park for Edinburgh Printmakers, whose main door is round the corner on Dundee Street. Founded in 1967 as the first open-access print studio in Britain, it moved in 2019 into the red-brick head office the North British Rubber Company built in 1894, at the works that made the first Hunter wellington boot. Its shop sells prints made by the studio's members and handmade gifts, and is free to enter, Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Visitors see the print studio on an organised tour, and a private one can be booked. Check its What's On page for any exhibition in the galleries. Lunch is at KUBA, the café inside, which keeps the same days. It cooks Pan-African brunch and lunch dishes with Scottish produce, vegan and vegetarian among them, and there's no need to book. Dogs are welcome everywhere but the print studio. Haymarket station is nine minutes' walk away, and buses 1, 34 and 35 stop at Gilmore Park.
More about Edinburgh Printmakers