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Bars
in Edinburgh.

It’s 20:54 in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh

Cocktails, cask ales and old howffs.

Edinburgh's bars come in every style. Find a cocktail bar in a New Town basement, the city's oldest cocktail bar in a former fire station, or a gin bar with a working still. There are old pubs where poets drank on Rose Street, a Morningside bar kept by the same family since 1871, and a bar in an old ferry waiting room on the Shore. Live music plays in a church on the Cowgate. Start early, and pace yourself.

Pickles→
Le Monde→
Whiski Rooms→
56 North→
Hula Juice Bar→
Paradise Palms→
Browns Brasserie & Bar→
Kin→
Dragonfly→
Bramble Bar→
Sheep Heid Inn→
The Lioness of Leith→
Bar of the day20 hours ago

Whiski Rooms.

A restaurant, whisky bar and whisky shop on North Bank Street, just off the Mound, with more than three hundred whiskies and tastings every day.

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Bars19 hours ago

Pickles.

A cosy wine bar on Broughton Street of Scottish cheese and meat platters, chutneys and pickles, wine and cider, with no bookings taken.

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Did you know18 hours ago

The menus at Roseleaf in Leith are made from old copies of National Geographic.

The menus are made out of old copies of National Geographic.

See Roseleaf Bar Café · Edinburgh
From our collectionsA collection18 hours agoEdinburghThe Last WordEdinburghBramble BarEdinburghLucky Liquor CoEdinburghThe Lioness of LeithEdinburghThe Hermitage BarEdinburghNightcapEdinburghParadise PalmsEdinburghThe StreetEdinburgh56 NorthEdinburghChop House

Edinburgh's Best Cocktail Bars

From old howffs down Old Town closes to sleek rooms by the water in Leith, Edinburgh does cocktail bars better than almost anywhere. These are our favourites, and the good ones are worth booking.

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Bars17 hours ago

Le Monde.

A boutique hotel, bar and restaurant on George Street, with rooms themed on the world's great cities, cocktails and globally inspired small plates.

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Bars16 hours ago

56 North.

Scotland's first gin bar, on West Crosscauseway since 2008, with a working distillery for South Loch Gin inside and a secret gin garden.

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Afterwards16 hours agoEdinburghGolden Hare Books0 yardsEdinburghSt Stephen Street100 yardsEdinburghCircus Lane100 yards

Round the corner from The Last Word.

Three good places a short walk away: Golden Hare Books, St Stephen Street and Circus Lane.

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From our Edinburgh guide15 hours ago

The World's End, a pub on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh's Old Town, takes its name from the city wall it stood against, beyond which lay another world.

The name sounds gloomy, but it is no prediction of the apocalypse. It nods to the fortress mentality in Edinburgh after the Scots' defeat at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. The 16th-century pub nudged right up against the Flodden Wall, which once circled and protected the Old Town. Beside it, a plaque marks World's End Close, a tight passageway where travellers and residents once had to pay a toll to leave or enter the city. Locals who could not afford it were, in effect, kept in Edinburgh for life, which is how the close got its name too.

See The World’s End · Edinburgh
Just opened14 hours ago

Understory has opened in the vaults under Rutland Street, in Edinburgh's West End.

It calls itself a five-star dive bar: drinks made from scratch in a lab on site, a few small plates, and late nights at the weekend. It is run by Bramble's former manager with the head of bars at the Rutland Hotel upstairs.

Photograph: Phill Gillespie on Google MapsRead about it
From our collectionsA collection14 hours agoEdinburghCafé RoyalEdinburghThe StreetEdinburghFishers in the CityEdinburghBrowns Brasserie & BarEdinburghNightcapEdinburghThe DomeEdinburghHoly CowEdinburghLe MondeEdinburghLucky Liquor CoEdinburghTonic

Restaurants and Bars in Edinburgh's New Town

Behind the Georgian front doors of the New Town are some of Edinburgh's best restaurants and oldest bars. From Victorian oyster bars to townhouse tasting menus, these are the ones worth finding.

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Did you know13 hours ago

The Café Royal in Edinburgh was built as a showroom for gas lamps.

The building was put up for Robert Hume and Co. with a showroom for gas fittings on the ground floor, but it was turned into the Café Royal Hotel and Oyster Bar before it ever opened.

See Café Royal · Edinburgh
Bars12 hours ago

Hula Juice Bar.

A cafe on the West Bow, just off the Grassmarket, serving fresh juices, smoothies and bowls, breakfasts, brunch and lunch.

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