Hello, friends! Welcome to my updated Edinburgh bucket list. To call it a bucket list is a bit dramatic, it's simply a fun list of things I'd like to do in Edinburgh. If you'd like to read my first Edinburgh bucket list blog post, I'll link it here. Since then, I've been fortunate enough to tick off a few things and have subsequently added a few more. This blog post you're reading was started over a year ago and has sat neglected and forgotten in my drafts so when I rediscovered it recently, I thought it was high time I finish it.
1. Visiting The Scotsman Picturehouse - Done!
I've decided to include The Scotsman Picturehouse on this list as it was part of my Edinburgh Bucket List in 2021. I've since been fortunate enough to tick it off my list as I was invited to attend a press screening of "The Road Dance" (which was brilliant!). I've always enjoyed an occasional trip to the cinema but I've generally been motivated by the movie rather than the cinema's surroundings whereas I would happily watch anything at The Scotsman Picturehouse. The cinema offers an intimate and opulent viewing experience with only 48 sumptuous leather armchair seats separated by individual tables adorned with classic empire lamps. I can't wait for my next visit!
Hello friends! It's been on my mind for some time to create a collection of mini Edinburgh neighbourhood guides. One reason I've put this off for so long is that there are already so many wonderful Edinburgh guides! So, I’m treating this series of blogs as if I were replying to a friend who asked for my recommendations in a specific Edinburgh neighbourhood.
For those who enjoy a little background, Leith was an independent burgh until it merged with Edinburgh in 1920 (much to the outrage of Leithers who voted 26,810 to 4,340 against the merger) and, for many centuries, it was Scotland's premier port and home to a wide variety of flourishing industries including shipbuilding, flour milling and biscuit making.
If you're visiting Edinburgh for the first time and looking for somewhere to pick up a souvenir or are new to the city and looking to pick up a present for a friend, here are a few ideas.
Edinburgh is renowned for its vibrant independent business scene and several streets have become havens for independent stores, here are a few to visit:
Stockbridge: Stockbridge is a great place to visit when looking for gift inspiration as the neighbourhood has a wonderful high street. A few shops I'd recommend popping into on the high street include Rare Birds Book Shop, which features great books by great women; Galerie Mirages, a cornucopia of jewellery from around the world; Caoba, a fascinating Mexican gift shop; An Independent Zebra (88-92 Raeburn Place) and more.
St Stephen Street is just a short walk from Stockbridge's high street and is home to a range of brilliant stores such as the ever-so-charming bookshops, Golden Hare Books and Ginger and Pickles; serene lifestyle store, The Method; stylish vegan clothing and lifestyle store, Treen ; beautifully-curated fine jewellery store, ætla; and Space at Seventeen, a pop-up space with a brilliant residency line up. Bonus: At the very end of St Stephen Street and beginning of St Vincent Street you'll find Grow Urban, the ideal place to pick up a present for any houseplant lovers.
New Town: Broughton Street is another must-visit indie shopping street. Keep an eye out for ethical homewares and lifestyle store, Stor Lifestyle; tea-lovers paradise, Rosevear Tea; independent art and gift shop Curiouser & Curiouser and stylish Scandi-inspired lifestyle store, Lifestrory!
Bruntsfield & Morningside: Bruntsfield’s high street is filled with so many lovely stores like quirky gift shop, Halibut & Herring; beautiful clothing store, Biscuit Clothing; florist and botanical store, Snapdragon; award-winning bookshop, The Edinburgh Bookshop plus another branch of Rosevear Tea and Curiouser! Morningside High Street also has a few gems including chocolatiers Edward & Irwyn; delightful homeware shop, Hestie and more!
Leith Walk: One of Edinburgh’s longest high streets, Leith Walk is home to a range of independent shops including a variety of wonderful bookshops like Topping & Company, Typewronger Books (4a Haddington Place) and Argonaut Books as well as homeware and lifestyle gift shops, Handsel and Logan Malloch Ltd; loose leaf tea store, PekoeTea and more!
There are a few shops in Edinburgh which solely stock independent makers and provide a wide range of gift inspiration:
An Independent Zebra (88-92 Raeburn Place, Stockbridge): An Independent Zebra was started by makers for makers and now stocks over 160 small independent businesses!
Scottish Design Exchange (117-119 George Street, New Town): Scottish Design Exchange houses a collection of artwork and products from over 300 Scottish artists and designers.
The Red Door Gallery (42 Victoria Street, Old Town): The Red Door Gallery is a hub of creativity for the visual arts and proudly supports the work of over 150 artists and creative businesses.
Leith Collective (Ocean Terminal, Leith): The Leith Collective is home to a collection of unique and handmade products made using sustainable recycled materials. With over 130 artists and makers from all over Scotland, there’s plenty of choice!
The Treasure Trove (23A Castle Street) - Dating back to 1882, The Treasure Trove's original purpose was to promote the handiwork of war widows or those who were housebound. Today, it continues to sell beautiful products handmade by its members.
Pockets of Pretty: An Instagrammer's Edinburgh (£20): Sneaking in my book as the last entry. Pockets of Pretty is a labour of love and is filled with various neighbourhood guides, coffee shop recommendations, day trip ideas and more!
However, on our second day, we decided to take a bit of a gamble, despite the stormy weather, and visit somewhere neither of us had been, the East End/Dennistoun. I'll skip past the slight low points of the day, including my friend being soaked by a car driving through a giant puddle and accidentally "waiting" for a table for lunch for half an hour then finding out the restaurant was unaware of us, and share our highlights with you:
Hello, friends! Some of you will be familiar with "Little Free Libraries" but for those of you who aren't, it’s a wonderful book sharing movement and the concept is simple "Take a Book. Leave a Book". These little libraries are dotted all around the world and come in many shapes and sizes. They can range from charming upcycled wooden boxes with recycled glass doors to impressively crafted little works of art. It's such a delight to see the thought and care that's gone into creating something for the local community and, to me, that's what makes "hunting" them out so much fun. Not to mention, the wonderful and unexpected books that await you inside.
Over the past few years, much to my delight, I've watched Edinburgh embrace the concept with new little libraries are popping up all around the Capital. Since moving back to Edinburgh recently, my love for little libraries has only heightened as I realised my new neighbourhood has at least four little libraries that I was previously unaware of. So, I've set myself the task to visit all of Edinburgh's Little Free Libraries and document them here. I plan to update the blog as I discover new ones or tick off some from my list (you'll find this at the bottom of this post). So, if you know of a little library I haven’t mentioned, please let me know in the comments. One more thing before we begin, if you plan on visiting one of the Little Free Libraries on this list, please don’t forget to bring a book to swap with you!
PS I’ve also added the ‘Charter numbers’ to the ones which are registered with Little Free Library so you can find their exact location on a map. I'm also considering creating a Google Map for them to show the exact locations.
1. Teviotdale Place (Stockbridge Colonies)
The rest of the blog will be in no particular order (although, I have tried to group them into neighbourhoods) but I thought it would be fitting to start with Edinburgh's first Little Free Library. As far as I know, the Little Library was commissioned by Book Artist Rachel Hazell who was inspired by a converted phone box she came across in Somerset and decided to install a beautiful wooden library, with the help of Edinburgh Tool Library, in Stockbridge’s extremely picturesque Colonies. You'll find this little gem in the front garden of a Colony house on Teviotdale Place.
Charter #36444
