The best bars and cafés Edinburgh

You don't just stumble in here, the bar is hidden in a basement. The ingredients of this seemingly innocuous address are: creatively blended cocktails (around £8), a wide choice of wines, beers, ciders and spirits (a page of gins and a page of whiskies), great DJ sets on Friday and Saturday nights and a handful of die-hard fans who keep the place buzzing. Sure to be here in a good place, these inveterate night owls will tell you that they escape the "did you see me" atmosphere of the bars of George Street.

This real area is hidden in a basement in Solicitors's small quarter. Covered with parquet flooring and wood panelling, he has all traditional features, including a portrait of Sir Walter Scott who watches over the chimney and to whom he owes his name, drawn from the eponymous novel. The room is warm and bottled filled with a large dozen, beer as ciders. Tuesday evening belongs to poker players and Wednesday to quiz fans, but it is Thursday at 21 a. m. that visitors are the most numerous with folk music sessions.

The Bailie is an institution, as it has been a bar since the 1870s, formerly known as the "Grand Bar". It was, for a time, a place reserved for men. Today, it is obviously open to everyone. You will appreciate its wide variety of beers, spirits (many whiskies) and wines, and its pub-style, traditional and hearty dishes (attention: the kitchens close at 10pm). Animations are regular: quizzes on Thursday evenings, live music on weekends, sports events broadcast..

In the heart of the old town's bar district, the Hôtel du Vin bar stands back in an inner courtyard. It's impossible to do it by chance! What a pleasure to settle in this charming and typically British lounge with its fireplace, its leather armchairs with a comfortable curve, its street lamps diffusing a soft light and its whisky library. Cigar lovers can also be suggested whisky/cigar combinations, for a successful blend of flavours. The jealously hidden address of the dandies!

Voted pub of the year in Edinburgh by the famous CAMRA in 2017, the Stockbridge Tap offers no less than 17 draught, over 70 single malts and over 20 gins. As its name suggests, it is located in the pleasant neighbourhood of Stockbridge and is only a few metres from the Water of Leith. Many of the beers come from small breweries throughout Britain and it sometimes organises beer festivals. The long hall is bright and has plenty of room. We also eat there very well: beautiful boards with generous burgers.

This small brick house was once the waiting room of a ferry link between Leith and Aberdeen. It has retained its character and has taken advantage of its location to install its terrace on the waterfront and take possession of the several rooms. A huge slate unrolls the choice of wines and the very complete selection of whiskies. Just like its sister store in the West End, Teuchters is putting the finishing touches to the real ales and also includes a restaurant section: A Room in Leith. We're sure you'll fall in love with both addresses!

Endless flowers and small colourful statues sounding their trumpets signal this pub overlooking the beginning of Leith Walk. The theme of cinema and theatre is reflected in the posters framed on the red walls, featuring Mamma Mia or Mary Poppins. The dark wood countertop is richly crafted in a square shape in the centre of the space, with crystal chandeliers hanging all around. Count five real ales and about thirty single malts. There are a few tables outside, at the entrance, for smokers.

This small corner shop, owned by the same family since 1896, a stone's throw from Princes Street, is a festival of gilding and good taste. The balustrade of the mezzanine gives an air of a 19th century theatre and the ornate ceiling is very harmonious. There is a choice of a dozen draught keg beers, a dozen cask ales (à la tireuse) and a very impressive menu of craft beers and other bottled beers (nearly 450!). The proximity of the Café Royal makes it possible to make a mini pub crawl very aesthetic and epicurean.

On the edge of West End, a few minutes from Murrayfield Stadium, this large pub is located on a level room, with its steel pillars and bare brick walls. Named after the Caledonian Brewery not far from here, it offers a full range of bottled beers and eight pressures, mainly from microbreweries such as Black Isle, Cromarty, Fyne Ales or Magic Rock. The clientele is mainly composed of amateurs but grows a lot on match nights. The food is also quite famous and there is also a good selection of wines and whiskies.

Hailed by CAMRA for its six changing real ales, Thomson's bar is a very traditional pub in the West End, not far from Haymarket station and the business part of the district. It boasts a very authentic style, with its beautiful engraved oak furniture and many period photos and advertisements. The real ales change regularly, beers of the week are offered, and the drinks menu offers a wide choice, especially in whiskies. Magpies (meat pies) are a very popular speciality here.

Despite its English name, the Cumberland has all the characteristics of a typical Scottish public house in New Town: elegant woodwork, dark green leather seats, mirrors and brewery posters. Its sheltered beer garden is very pleasant but you can also take a seat on the terrace at the front. Seven beers come mainly from small Scottish producers such as Orkney Brewery, Stewart Brewery or St. Andrews Brewery. Other larger names are also served.

The Dirty Dick's is playing the card of a crazy decoration at the end of Rose Street. Paintings, golf clubs, musical instruments, kitchen utensils, whisky boxes, caps, statuettes and many more: the whole forms an overcrowded bric-a-brac, typical of a pub, in a dark but warm atmosphere. Red benches are placed on the large floor slabs to welcome customers who have come to drink one of the three hand-pulled beers. They eat copious and well-prepared pub food. Careful, the establishment is quickly taken over.

This vast Wetherspoon chain storefront is located on George Street and attracts a lot of people for the price of its many real ales, whiskies and gins, unbeatable in Edinburgh. A few paintings, book shelves and colonnades give the place its cachet under a high wrought ceiling, worthy of an opera house, in a huge hall. The pub is much larger and less personal than other local addresses, but it remains a must for discovering Scottish beers at a lower cost.

As his name indicates, the Last Drop is located right next to the site where public executions were used on the Grassmarket. It even seems that servers would have heard ghosts calling their name when they were there alone… However, it is unlikely that this will happen to you because, like its plethora of neighbors, this pub is particularly popular at any time of the day and does not distil at night. Its interior is a witness of the past, with a fresco recalling the history of the places and its old wooden frame.

Created in 1998, Old Town Pub Co. brings together the top ten bars in Old Town's historic district. From the edge of the Grassmarket to the George IV Bridge, from the depths of the Cowgate to the Royal Mile, whether you want to listen to live music, test an endless list of whiskies, watch six different football matches at the same time, if you are looking for a place to wave your arms and tap your feet or just a place to have a drink, OTPC has an establishment to offer you. From traditional pubs to underground nightclubs, explore the different dimensions of Edinburgh's personality through these 10 unique places and dive into the hidden dens of the famous old city.

Young, trendy and urban, this cosy bar on Rose Street is a great place to hang out with the historic addresses in the area, which often attract a slightly older clientele. Live music and events are regularly scheduled: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9.30pm to 12.30am and Sunday from 4pm to 7pm, and quizzes on Thursday from 7pm. The selection of single malts is very complete and interesting, with more than 120 bottles. There are also a few beers that change regularly. In short, the place is very pleasant to settle down for a few moments or for an evening.

LGBT Friendly.

The Planet Bar is the oldest gay bar in Edinburgh. Recently renovated in October 2018, it is renowned for its friendly atmosphere, friendly staff, discounted drinks menu and entertainment every day of the week: DJs every night, drag DJs on Thursday and Sunday, drag queens on Friday, karaoke on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, retro parties on Monday, bingo on Thursday... Added to this are participation in charity events and concrete involvement in the LGBT cause. Check their website for their programming.

Nobles Bar is a beautiful place, where wood reigns supreme. The stained glass windows, characteristic of the Victorian era, add a touch of majesty and the frescoes, paintings and models depict ships. Multicoloured chairs and cushions bring a little touch of madness and the concocted dishes are a success. People come here for a brunch, but also for concerts: multi-folk on Wednesday evenings (from 8.30pm), 1930's Swing and Gypsy Jazz on Sundays (from 7pm).

Imbued with an opulence worthy of the most beautiful Georgian buildings in New Town - it is one of them -, the Tiles stands at the corner of St Andrew Square, to which it opens through its long rounded windows. The square counter in the centre of the room is surrounded by vaulted ceilings and the attendance is heterogeneous, for a beer, a cocktail, or even a meal. The list of spirits - notably gins and whiskies - is vast, as is the international wine list, and the cocktails, simple traditional, revisited or unique creations will delight you.

Bannerman's is very popular with students and internationals who come in large numbers to slump on its large vintage sofas to enjoy draught beers, including three hand-pulled beers. Massive stones and arched arcades provide the Old Town touch,while rock music asserts the youthful side. Billiard fans can play free every day before 6pm (paying afterwards) and live sessions are organized six evenings a week. The building consists of two rooms connected by a corridor with several entrances on the street.

Built in 1820, this Georgian period building has been able to maintain a discreet charm. The years seem to have slipped over the large, dark velvet chairs and thick curtains protecting from the outside world. It's all about a. calm. We can therefore focus on conversation between friends and tasting. Sandwiches with red onion jam or mull of Kintyre, a deliciously perfumed cheese, smoked salmon toast, homemade breads and scones, strawberry or lemon pies, chocolate moelleux… Tea in all its splendour.

The Milnes Bar welcomes you in a generously traditional atmosphere. The establishment gets lost in small rooms and nooks to adapt to the desires of conviviality or intimacy of all, on 2 floors and offers a wide choice of beers (for the many craft beers, go to the basement), gins, cocktails and a small catering menu quite complete. Sports fans? The pub offers sports broadcasts.

Literary anecdote: Milnes Bar is nicknamed the "Poets' pub". Indeed, in the 1950s and 1960s, it resonated with the fiery debates of two famous national poets: Hugh MacDiarmid and Norman MacCaig. The room downstairs was named The Little Kremlin in memory of those verbal jousting matches.