
Mary's Milk Bar
A small gelato and chocolate shop in the Grassmarket, where Mary makes the day's gelato every morning and the flavours change daily.
In the Grassmarket, with the castle rock rising directly above, a small shop with soft pink lettering over its window is Mary's Milk Bar, and on a warm afternoon the queue for it stretches along the pavement.
Mary makes all the gelato and chocolate herself, fresh every morning, and the flavours change each day and each season. The counter might hold malted milk, cherry and cream, peanut butter and chocolate, or liquorice and passion fruit, each tub marked with a paper cone. The hot chocolate float, a glass of thick hot chocolate crowned with a scoop of gelato, is the shop's signature, and there is a spaghetti sundae too. Inside, the little bar and its stools are made from recycled milk bottles and their bright tops.
The hours change with the season, and the day's flavours go up on Instagram each morning.

Hours change with the season, and in winter the shop opens from Wednesday to Sunday.
The day's flavours are posted on its Instagram each morning.
- Where
- 19 Grassmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2HS.
Opening hours
Their website- Monday
- Closed
- Tuesday
- Closed
- Wednesday
- 11am–7.30pm
- Thursday
- 11am–7.30pm
- Friday
- 11am–7.30pm
- Saturday
- 11am–7.30pm
- Sunday
- 11am–7pm
In the Grassmarket, below the castle rock.
Maggie Dickson’sA pub at the east end of the Grassmarket, with 92 whiskies.Under a mile1 min by road
DragonflyEdinburgh's oldest cocktail bar, in an old fire station on the West Port.Under a mile1 min by road
Armchair BooksUnder a mile1 min by road
Edinburgh BooksEdinburgh's largest second-hand bookshop, on the West Port.Under a mile1 min by road
Vennel StepsA steep stepped lane with one of the best-known views of the castle.Under a mile3 min by road
Places to stay near Mary's, and when each is next free.
Moment George IV Bridge- Sleeps 2
- In Edinburgh
- Under a mile from Mary's Milk Bar
Old Town Chambers- To stay
- In Edinburgh
- Under a mile from Mary's Milk Bar
West End Muse- Sleeps 4
- In Edinburgh
- Under a mile from Mary's Milk Bar
The Scott Hotel- A hotel
- In Edinburgh
- A mile from Mary's Milk Bar
Scotland, in print.
Every photograph commissioned, every word written by somebody who went. Printed twice a year, made in Scotland.
For further reading, before you go.









