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Transreal fiction shop front at 46, stone building with blue door alongside
Edinburgh

Transreal Fiction

A small shop for new science fiction and fantasy books at 46 Candlemaker Row in Edinburgh's Old Town, open Wednesday to Saturday since 2011 at this address.

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Welcome

Transreal Fiction is a science fiction and fantasy bookshop at 46 Candlemaker Row in Edinburgh's Old Town, with Greyfriars Kirkyard 30 metres away.

It sells new books only, from a small shop with a limited selection of other merchandise, and the name comes from a term the writer Rudy Rucker coined for his own fiction. The shop opened in Cowgatehead in 1997 and moved to this address in 2011.

It is open from Wednesday to Saturday, so plan your visit around those days. If you want a book signed by an author such as Charlie Stross, the shop can usually arrange it, and the shop's website lists the new titles week by week. The National Museum of Scotland is 100 metres away and the Grassmarket 150 metres, so a browse fits easily into a day in the Old Town.

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Before you go

Open Wednesday to Saturday, and closed on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays.

Where
46 Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh EH1 2QE, half a mile from Waverley station.
Open
Wednesday to Friday 12 to 5pm, Saturday 11am to 5pm; closed Sunday to Tuesday.
Getting there
Several bus routes stop close by: 2, 9, 12, 23, 27, 35, 45 and 47.
Parking
Some metered parking close by in Chambers Street.
Booking
None needed. Signed copies by some authors can be arranged by phone on 0131 226 6266 or by email.

Opening hours

Monday
Closed
Tuesday
Closed
Wednesday
noon–5pm
Thursday
noon–5pm
Friday
noon–5pm
Saturday
11am–5pm
Sunday
Closed

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Where it is

On Candlemaker Row in Edinburgh's Old Town, 30 metres from Greyfriars Kirkyard and 150 metres from the Grassmarket.

Close byCandlemaker Row and Greyfriars.
  1. Greyfriars KirkGreyfriars KirkThe first church built in Edinburgh after the Reformation, opened on Christmas Day 1620, where the National Covenant was signed in 1638.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Red-fronted shop reading "The Elephant House, Birthplace of Harry Potter" with hanging flower basketsThe Elephant HouseThe cafe on George IV Bridge where J.K. Rowling wrote in the early days of Harry Potter, reopened in December 2025 after a fire in 2021.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Magdalen ChapelMagdalen ChapelA small chapel of the 1540s on the Cowgate, guildhall of the hammermen, holding the only stained glass in Scotland that survives whole from before the Reformation.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. Round hanging sign reading "soup cafe" outside a shopfront in black and whiteUnion of GeniusA small soup cafe on Forrest Road since 2012, under new owners since 2024, with the day's soups, bread and sandwiches.Under a mile 3 min by road
  5. Greyfriars BobbyGreyfriars BobbyA bronze of the Skye terrier said to have kept watch over his master's grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard for fourteen years, modelled from life and set on a drinking fountain in 1873.Under a mile 4 min by road
  6. Candlelit tables and wooden chairs beneath an oval plasterwork ceiling in a restaurantThe OutsiderA relaxed restaurant on George IV Bridge, cooking fresh seasonal food, with windows at the back that look straight out to the castle.Under a mile 4 min by road
Directions
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Whirlybird's dining room on Victoria Street, with wooden tables and chairs, a stone wall, fringed lamps and a tall window onto the street.RestaurantsWhirlybirdA step away
Bicycle parked outside The Red Door Gallery, edinburghart.com, on cobbled streetShoppingThe Red Door GalleryA step away

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