City Guides, Edinburgh

Edinburgh: Roller Derby

We meet the Auld Reekie Roller Girls

‘This is not a roller disco!’ yells the coach, as a blur of fishnets and emerald green flies past. I’m here to meet Edinburgh’s roller derby squad, the Auld Reekie Roller Girls, if I can catch one … If you haven’t yet heard of roller derby, your days…

Edinburgh: International Storytelling Festival

With the literature celebration coming up, we explore why everyone loves a good story

There are few people who can turn down an intimate offer of: ‘Can I tell you a story?’ They can be fanciful, creepy, true-to-life or utterly ridiculous tales – but, then, it’s not so much the content we thrive on, it’s the physical and emotional act of…

Edinburgh: The Bowery

Our guide on the capital's innovative new art bar

Buzzing away in the basement of an old church, at the heart of the old Roxy Art House, the eager city explorer might find discovering The Bowery an adventure in itself. Whilst, like at the end of every treasure hunt, there awaits an irresistible reward…

Edinburgh: Riding of the Marches

History on horseback

There are many areas of the city that you can easily walk by without really realising their historical importance. But if a great big shiny-maned horse was to suddenly step into view and offer to teach you something about Edinburgh’s history, you’d…

Edinburgh: The Illuminated Car Parade

Pimping that ride

We all get car envy every now and again: cars that are extra shiny, ones with futuristic looking lights or those extra special ones that are two-tone and seem to shimmer like diamonds. But the ones on show at Edinburgh’s first Illuminated Art Car Parade…

Edinburgh: Food From Home

Where to get your country's culinary treats

If you’re feeling homesick, there’s nothing like one of your favourite foods from home to perk you up. Anna Docherty tells you where to find them in Edinburgh. A&W Root Beer, Mike and Ike, Cola Cao, Biltong

Days Out: Beaches in Edinburgh

Long summer days mean that there is plenty time to escape the city and head for sandy beaches and salty shores. Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside… Here’s our guide to Edinburgh’s best beaches.

Beer Gardens in Edinburgh

Gardens and beer, two words we like for themselves - but we like them even more when they are put together. So, in honour of summer, here’s our guide to Edinburgh’s top beer gardens.

Ghost Hunter

As travellers to our fair shores may already be aware, Scotland is considered a hotbed of supernatural activity. In fact, it is positively - to use a Scots word - ‘hoachin’ with ghosts, ghouls, spectres, spooks and spirits. This is especially true of…

Ceilidh Culture

Ceilidhs are cool. There, I’ve said it; now it’s a fact. Seriously though, ceilidhs do seem to be slowly creeping into popular culture and are no longer regarded as something twee and refined to the Highlands and rickety old village halls, with triangle…

Travel around Edinburgh

Buses Edinburgh offers an extensive bus service and every stop has a full timetable and schedule. The number 22 is a favourite for its quick, direct route down to the bar and cafe-lined shores of Leith. Also, the numbers 12, 26 and 31 will take you…

Sweet treats

It nearly caused the untimely end of Augustus Gloop ‘the greedy great big nincompoop’ in Roald Dahl’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and it’s the downfall of many a good-intentioned diet. We are of course talking about chocolate. There’s…

Cheap dates

Whisper sweet nothings No matter how hardened the heart, there are few that won’t be melted by some tender Scottish poetry. At the Scottish Poetry Library, you can while away a few hours, reading to one another. Perhaps some Carol Ann Duffy could set…

Polish Cultural Festival

We all like to think we’re a bit cultured and sometimes wistfully view life as an exercise in collecting wisdom. But being able to say ‘hello’ in more than three languages and knowing your way around a subtitled film isn’t quite going to win you any…

One day itinerary: A One Day Stand

It's one of Britain's most expensive cities and to hard-up new arrivals, Edinburgh could seem impossible to enjoy without a six-figure bank balance. But we say, why buy a cow when you can get the milk for free? Scotland’s capital positively heaves with…

Celebrity Stalker

The Queen The Sovereign Head of State has a plush pad smack in the middle of Edinburgh: Holyrood Palace. It’s morbidly fascinating to observe the hooplah that surrounds Her Majesty’s visitations. Light relief comes in the form of hubby Prince Philip.

Shops: £20 outfit

Edinburgh is a hot bed of little boutiques selling one-off items. They are also often referred to as charity shops and on the £20 outfit challenge they become my best friend, as we bond over woollen knits and dainty brooches. ‘We’ve just had a delivery…

Food: Something Smells Fishy

There’s a distinct muskiness in the air. It’s the kind of smell that old men often get blamed for. Or for which dogs receive pitying stares. Sweaty, smoky and sharp, the smell of Arbroath smokie envelops the farmers’ market. Iain Spink, the stall owner…

Food: Hitlist

Susie’s Diner It’s got a bit of a ‘school dinner’ canteen appearance, but don’t despair: the grub here will be familiar only if you went to the sort of school that served up home-made vegetarian delights with a hearty selection of hot dishes and fresh…

Things to do

Santa Stroll Definitely not one for Christmas Scrooges, the Santa Stroll involves dressing up in a Santa costume and walking through Princes Street Gardens, taking part in a gathering that looks like some kind of mad Santa appreciation society. But…

Things to do: Get A New Leith Of Life

A little known fact is that Leith Links, Leith's park, is in fact the original home of international golf. Legend has it that in 1681 the Duke of York, later to become King James VII of Scotland, challenged two English noblemen to a golfing match after…

Going Out: Funny Ha Ha?

It's difficult to understand what drives comedians up to the stage. Look at the Stand's logo – an image of a cowboy shooting himself – and you might just get a glimpse of how people feel as they prepare to do stand up for the first time. But still…

Free Wi-Fi in Edinburgh

Baroque • 39–41 Broughton Street, 0131 557 0627, www.baroqueedinburgh.com, open daily 10am–10pm. Beanscene (3 locations) • 78 Commercial Street, Leith, 0131 555 7033, Mon-Sat 8am–6pm, Sun 10am–6pm. 2 Grosvener Street, 0131 346 8043, Mon–Sat…

Shopping Hitlist

Herman Brown The Grassmarket has a fair few vintage shops, but Herman Brown’s is the cream of the crop. There’s no dodgy fancy-dress attire here, only cherry picked gems, meaning there’s less chance of leaving with some ridiculous item that looks like…