Grassmarket Area

The Grassmarket is a beautiful area of Edinburgh’s old town. Filled with delightful cafés, nice little shops, and fun pubs and bars, the area is almost always busy. There’s an excellent view up to the castle from the Grassmarket (which is quite low in altitude). At one end, it leads up to West Port towards the theatres, cinemas, and concert halls of Lothian Road, and the other end leads to the (in)famous Cowgate!
Some of my highlights on Grassmarket are Biddy Mulligan’s Irish pub and the Castle Rock chippy. I’ve not yet tried Mary’s Milk Bar, but it’s top of my list, as it’s been recommended countless times! There’s also an Armstrongs where you can buy a wide variety of retro clothing– very cool place.
At night time, Grassmarket is buzzing. There are several excellent bars, and lots and lots of people: locals, tourists, and students alike. Try Biddy Mulligan’s and the White Hart Inn.
It’s a great place, which you must visit.

The Grassmarket should be an essential destination for any tourist visiting the city and is also a place enjoyed by locals. There’s bags of history and the numerous pubs and eating establishments make it a lively destination at any time of day. I’ve personally enjoyed sitting outside a pub in the summer sun and watching the world go by. Visit at night and you can expect a lively (if sometimes wild) party atmosphere. Don’t forget to look up towards the Castle too. You get some great views.
Don /​

This is a cool area to hang out at in Edinburgh.
In my view, Grassmarket is one of those places in a city where you can feel comfortable just walking around, taking in the fresh air and enjoying food, coffee, sweets, or drinks (or all of them) in one place. There is a serious selection of cafés to choose from with several themes, giving you plenty of options to just enjoy the afternoon (weather permitting) and people watch.
In terms of food, all I know is that almost every type of cuisine is offered, with Italian or pizza being slightly over-​represented. But there are tons of options. Also, I love that there are a lot of places with outdoor seating right in the middle of Grassmarket, so you can take in the evening, dining al fresco. I cannot emphasise this enough, in terms of dining, your options are endless.
Now, a bit of advice. Grassmarket sees a fair share of tourists. Especially, because it is quite close to Edinburgh Castle. So during the summer, it can get very crowded in the afternoon, making those little pubs and cafés crowded along with it. Edinburgh is a tourist’s paradise, so none of that should come as a surprise to anyone.
In the end, Grassmarket truly is a cool area to chill and relax at. Food, drinks, photo ops, and desserts can all be had with many options to choose from. Try it sometime!

Every time I wander through the Grassmarket, I want to do a Mary Tyler Moore meets Sound of Music interpretive dance. Yup, you got it, I want to run through the cobbled streets with my arms out wide and finish with a twirl and a beret throw for good measure.
Why? Because when I learned that I was moving to Edinburgh, THIS is what I imagined. Cobblestone streets, a view of the castle, great little independent shops with heaps character, old school ice cream parlours and pubs to tuck into after a long day of all of the above. Thanks to a recent UYE at that old school ice cream parlour, I was reminded that you can review such places and just thinking about penning this piece made me happy.
If you’ve got an afternoon to kill and the sun is shining, this is a great spot for a wander. If it’s chilly, grab a hot bevie from Hula; if it’s warm, three scoop it at Mary’s Milk Bar; if you want to make me jealous, buy something fancy at Godiva and if you’re looking to work up a sweat, bust a move at a drop-​in class at DanceBase. Seriously — this little area is like the Jody B’s day off spirit animal of awesome.
Bonus points on a Saturday when the market is on.
Come night, this place becomes a hive of 20 somethings with not enough clothes on. If that’s your thing — woohoo for you — but myself, I prefer something a little quieter to end my evenings. However, during my first few weeks in the city, one of the most bemusing things was to walk through here on the weekends and remind myself of my ol’ university mischief days. It’s like a cross section of everything you’re happy you grew out of, so if you’re up for a wander down the alcohol soaked memory lane — go forth and people watch!

Not much here worth seeing but I guess it’s an ok place to go and kill a couple of hours and there are a few nice shops I guess it depends on what you are looking for. I guess for being in the middle of no where it’s ok.

Aww, Grassmarket.
It’s a beautiful place. Great view of the castle and lots of pubs for something to eat and drink. A great place to meet up with a friend.

Grassmarket is the perfect spot in Edinburgh to wander around shops and restaurants. A good bit of the area is blocked off for pedestrians, which is nice. There are quite a few pubs, and I really wanted to crawl through them all. We spent most of our time at The White Hart Inn, following in the footsteps of Robert Burns. If you need some down time between attractions, Grassmarket is the place to be.

How lucky, how fortunate we are to live in a city like Edinburgh, and how much more so that it contains something as flawlessly beautiful as Grassmarket.
Broad and cobbled, Grassmarket lies glowing in the sun or sparkling in the rain, garlanded about with a bright wreath of independent shops, taverns, and hotels. It’s home, too, to a regular market, which fills its central plaza with life and energy. During August, it becomes a hive of activity for those escaping the pressing throngs of the Royal Mile, busy in its own way but retaining a sense of mischief, fun, and self-​identity that never quite gets erased by the descent of the hoards.
It was a beautiful day last time I sauntered around the Grassmarket area, and since I was early for a meeting I decided to just sit on one of the benches and do some work. To my amazement, there seemed to be an open BT Wifi connection; I’m not sure how stable it is because I tend to hotspot from my phone instead most of the time, rather than using open networks, but still. You could have knocked me down with a feather.
Oh, Grassmarket. What an agent of joy you are and shall ever remain.

I very much enjoy my visits to the Grassmarket area, especially since they’ve pedestrialised more of it. There are markets and shops and all sorts of jolly things.
It’s where I would go if I was looking for a fairly seedy night out — however there are lots of opportunities for having a slightly classier time. Victoria Street is awesome with great pubs, restaurants and tweed shops.
There is a hat shop that sells very nice hats too.

Absolutely fell in love with this place. After the Tattoo, we were trying to find some pubs, it was our first night in town, one of the locals had pointed us in this direction. When we walked down the stairs and saw all the shops, cobblestone streets, pubs, restaurants, I was so excited. The square is a great area for people watching, and it has a ton of things to enjoy. Pretty sure we crawled all the pubs in the square.

Theres just something about this street in the city that makes you just feel a sense of mystery or power. It could be the beautiful backdrop of the castle looming over head, or the fact this street is where they used to have public executions. Either way I always feel some ambiance on this street. But whats not to love, theres plenty of pubs to get your drink on and theres a very big diversity in a small area. I love the fact I can get italian food then run next door for traditional UK food if I wanted or even go back a bit and get some tasty french pastries in the little café. Theres also a wee bit of shopping across the street or I can just run on up to the royal mile or towards the Uni for all the places up there. There are also always street vendors who sell food thats better then some of the restaurants in the city! I love just walking up grassmarket enjoying the scenery even on a rainy day its still captivating. Go here folks to see a little part of the city thats a bit hidden and off the beaten path.

I’m glad that the Grassmarket is feeling the love from Unilocal as it’s a really important part of Edinburgh’s Old Town. Lots of folk use it to get into and out of the centre as it links Lothian Road to the Cowgate (via the Pubic Triangle, oh yes), King’s Stables Road to Victoria Street, and the Castle to Forrest Road.
The way most of the activity takes place on one side of the street matches Princes Street, though it’s hotels and lanes that face the shops, rather than the Gardens. For shops read pubs and restaurants and Edinburgh’s best stab at street culture — tables spilling out for the punters to sit back and enjoy themselves: to see and be seen. Good restaurants too, with Mama’s pizza place the one I’ve visited the most. The pubs swing from large ‘pile ‘em high’ vaults to small ‘squeeze round each other’s tables’, the latter including The Last Drop which is perhaps the city’s best named establishment. There are cafés too, none better than the Hula Juice Bar tucked just around the corner on Victoria Street.
I haven’t yet mentioned that there are a wealth of events going on down here during the year, from markets to Jazz Festival concerts to uphill bike races. Folk will forever be drawn to the Grassmarket, either to speed through as fast as the traffic will allow, or to sit and pause for as long as the weather holds good.

This area has lots of bars and restaurants, and is probably one of the best places to have a pub crawl. It’s always vibrant and busy. It’s always bustling with hen parties on a Saturday night. It’s nice, and there are the usual suspects, a candy store and a fish and chips shop in the neighbourhood, just for good measure!

Oh how I love to walk this Edinburgh «Piazza»! I always feel like being on a small holiday (what ever time of the year) when looking around and it reminds me why I like this city. The bars and restaurants are suited and plentiful. the square area is inviting and hold many fairs and fetes. You got to love, nay, ADORE the buildings and the side streets. Yes Grassmarket you rock.
That said they should ban cars there — it ruins the atmosphere.

Colourful buildings along a cobble street and pubs and bars offering outdoor seating in the summer, well, even now!
Edinburgh has a few lovely areas to enjoy a bit of buzzing nightlife or lunching possibilities during the days, but Grassmarket is a must see location for every tourist and local alike.
The buildings are old and present a certain romantic charm to entice you in a warn and friendly welcome.
There are restaurants and pubs lined up and you can pick which food flavour or/​and drinks you are after. So many choices. You can also find hotels, hairdressers, car parking, vintage, take away and modern shops. Victoria Street will connect you to the Royal Mile and Edinburgh castle.

Few good restaurant…
Great area for pub crawls…
Hasn’t changed in years!

i actually feel a bit bad writing this review, as i don’t think i’ve ever really gotten a chance to fully experience the grassmarket. it’s an area of edinburgh that has always been just that extra bit out of the way for me so i’ve not spent much time there. i think i may be missing out, so hopefully this review will spur me on to return and experience more that this area has to offer.
so yes, i’ve had a few wanders through the grassmarket before and visited a couple of the restuarants. i remember having a really lovely meal at petit paris and the mussel and steak bar a number of years ago so if i was in the area i would happily return to these places. i’ve also had a few drinks in the dragonfly bar which was lovely, but i’ve not had a chance to return. i’m aware that the number of bars and pubs here make this a rather lively location on the weekend nights, but i’ve not had a chance for that experience.
i do find this a very popular tourist spot which is probably why i tend to avoid it. there’s nothing wrong with tourists, but as edinburgh is my home, i find that i tend to avoid anywhere that may contain too many tourists stopping suddenly to take a random picture so that i nearly walk into them. or congregating in groups across the whole pavement so i have to shout excuse me loudly to be able to continue on my way. perhaps i should up my patience levels a bit, but as this is a tourist hotspot i have to knock a star off for that as i struggle to enjoy areas like this.
i do like that this place has a joke shop, costume shop, and vintage clothes shop but i so rarely find an occasion that i would need to visit these places. there is also the famous hula juice bar which is supposed to be lovely but i’ve sadly not tried. so yes, some good places in the grassmarket but not a place i’m overly fussed to make an out of the way visit for.

Walking through Edinburgh today on a beautiful sunshiney, spring-​timey day I was just filled a love and joy of the city. It happens quite often. Because it is such a beautiful city, the people in it so friendly and it’s just packed to the rafters with wonderful independent cafés, bars, shops. I really didn’t know where to start, but this thought struck me whilst passing through the Grassmarket, so it seems apt to start here.
As Stephanie T says, Edinburgh is full of nooks and crannies. I have a good sense of direction, and I still get lost. But getting lost in Edinburgh is fun. I’m still not quite sure when I start walking from Candlemaker’s Row down the Grassmarket which part of Lothian Road I’ll end up on, and at one point was completely 180 disorientated. But that’s its charm.
The Grassmarket is like a little valley in the high-​rising hill-​like houses of the Old Town, and reminds me of my wee home town (Perth) and the beautiful, hilly landscapes of Scotland’s east coast. Walking down either VIctoria Street or Candlemaker’s Row from either side of George IV Bridge, or at the other end from Castle Terrace or Lothian Road and Tollcross, all these wee streets open up to a wonderful big square that is just lovely to sit and soak up some of the Old Town Charm.
The shops and cafés here hold some of my favourites. Hula Juice Bar, at the bottom of Victoria Street, is potentially one of my most-​visited places in Edinburgh. And up Victoria Street it’s a crafters, magpies dream with so many crafty, and jewellery shops. Throw into the mix some bizarre shops like the fossills and crazy hats, some right good pubs and delicious food and drink places (I. J. Mellis for cheese, Oink for pig-​onna-​roll, The Whisky Shop, Bow Bar). I can’t believe they pack so much goodness onto one street.
Then wander across the square, find The French Connection crêpe van amongst the Italian restaurant, Mamma’s pizza, and I dare you to find the tucked away bookshop that was the inspiration for Dylan Moran’s (an Edinburgh locals) Black Books.
I don’t want to list of all the businesses. What I do want to do is encourage any one, local or visitor, to seek this little valley out and spend a good few hours simply wandering. Edinburgh is a small city but within each even smaller neighbourhood is at least half a day’s worth of delightful discoveries.
I love how the Grassmarket now feels like home.

On a nice summers day, the majority of people will go to the meadows. But there are no bars in the meadows!!! The grassmarket is brilliant fun. Although take it from personal experience — during the day is better than during the night. At night time, particularly at the weekend, the grassmarket turns into a hen party and stag do bonanza, as well as student pub crawls and rugby haunts. It can get a bit crazy, and a bit uncomfortable.
Which is precisely why I prefer to come here on a nice hot day and sit outside! You can go for drinks outside at Biddy Mulligens, you can get a tour of the area, you can eat delicious food at the Steak and Mussel Inn or you can go shopping at Godiva. It’s a lovely little area.
One of my favorite parts is the creperie that always sits in the middle of the square. The staff are lovely and the crepes are delicious!
Overall, I think the Grassmarket is a wonderful part of Edinburgh that should be used more!

Slap bang underneath the castle, this is the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town.
Although it’s main purpose these days is more for perusing the quirky shops/​boutiques by day or boozing by night, I’d guess it’s still just as lively and bustling as it ever has been.
If it’s a pub you’re after, you certainly won’t be disappointed here: the main street is lined with pubs and bars of varying price ranges, such as the aptly named The Last Drop just in front of one of the city’s original hanging spots. Many of these pubs also have their own budget hotels attached, making this neck of the woods ideal for hen/​stag parties or birthday groups.
If drinking during the day isn’t your thing, then you can have a browse through Armstrong’s Vintage Clothing Emporium which has been there since 1840 (they have 3 branches across Edinburgh but this is their biggest), or Lookah for any kind of jewellery/​pashmina/​ehtnic handbag-​related bargain you could ever be on the hunt for.
Alternatively, there are several lovely restaurants in the Grassmarket, including some very upmarket ones such as The Grain store, on the steep hill winding out of the east corner of the main square. For a slightly more informal meal you should definitely try Petit Paris — their set lunch menu offers excellent value for money and the food’s delicious.
Come evening, and this is when the Grassmarket area really comes alive. Pubs are full and most definitely lively, and tend to stay that way until midnight or so when people start wandering along the Cowgate in search of a club. It’s never going to be the classiest night out of your life, but it will still be a good one.
A word of warning — the Grassmarket (and particularly the adjoining Cowgate) can be quite dodgy at night; that’s why I’m only giving it 4 stars.