Edinburgh/Stockbridge and Canonmills

Stockbridge and Canonmills are two districts of Edinburgh immediately north of New Town. The main tourist draw here is the Royal Botanic Garden. There's also an eclectic variety of independent shops and some great places to eat and drink.

Get in

1 Edinburgh Bus Station is in New Town just under a mile south of Canonmills, and the main railway station is a further 200 yards south, walking distance unless you're laden. Go down Broughton St for Canonmills; from the west end follow Queensferry St across Dean Bridge then descend Learmonth Terrace to Stockbridge.

From the airport take the tram or Airlink Bus 100 (24 hours) to city centre and change. Airport Bus 200 runs too far north to be practical here.

See Edinburgh#Get around for bus fares. The main routes are:

• Bus 8 from Royal Infirmary and Bus 9 from Blackford via Newington to the south, and South Bridge in Old Town, to Canonmills, Goldenacre and Muirhouse.
• Bus 23 from Firrhill and Morningside to the south, via Tolcross and Royal Mile down Dundas St to Canonmills, Goldenacre and Trinity.
• Bus 24 from Royal Infirmary and Marchmont to the south, Tolcross and Princes St, down Howe St to Stockbridge and Comely Bank then north to Muirhouse and Granton.
• Bus 29 from Gorebridge, Liberton and Newington to Waterloo Place (for bus and railway stations) then Princes St, Howe St, Stockbridge, Comely Bank and Silverknowes.
• Bus 36 from Gyle, Morningside and Tolcross to west end of Princes St onto Queensferry Rd, then descending to Stockbridge, Canonmills and Leith.

These ply the streets and don't turn into the bus station. There are no night buses on these routes.

See

Within the Palm House

• 1 Royal Botanic Garden, Inverleith Row for East Gate, Arboretum Place for West Gate (Bus 8, 23 or 27 to East Gate), ☏ +44 131 248-2909. Daily Nov-Jan 10AM-4PM, Feb-Oct 10AM-5PM, last entry 45 min before closure. Impressive gardens with a large collection. Great place to wander around on a sunny day, or to sit and have a picnic. Highlights include the Rock Garden; the 165-m-long herbaceous border, backed by a huge, century-old beech hedge, and the Palm House, the tallest of its kind in Britain. (However the Palm House and all the glasshouses are closed until 2025 for rebuilding.) A number of sculptures, including two by Barbara Hepworth, are displayed around the gardens. The east gate has a bus service but the west gate is grander, with the John Hope Gateway building containing the restaurant, shop, and exhibitions. Botanic Cottage is an education centre in a house that was originally built in 1764-5, designed by John Adam and James Craig and moved to the garden in 2014. They also run the gardens at Benmore near Oban, Dawyck above Peebles, and Logan near Stranraer. Free. (updated Dec 2023)
• Water of Leith is the scenic glen traversing the city, from Balerno at the edge of the Pentland Hills down through Colinton and Murrayfield to flow under Dean Bridge into Stockbridge. St Bernard's Well is a neoclassical rotunda over a former "medicinal" spring. Bird life includes the grey heron, goosander, dipper and kingfisher. The walkway is paved throughout, but this section is too narrow for bikes, which should follow the streets to Canonmills. Below there it resumes as a cycleway east through Warriston to Leith harbour. "Six Times" is a series of human sculptures by Antony Gormley installed in 2010 along the Water of Leith: Figure 4 is by the park below Warriston Rd bridge.
• 2 Patriothall Gallery, 1D Hamilton Place EH3 5AY (behind Scotmid co-op). Tu-Su noon-6PM. Small art gallery and artists studios in a converted factory. Has regular exhibitions of modern art, and occasionally the studios are open. (updated Dec 2023)
• 3 Fettes College. Boarding school in an impressive building in the style of a French Château by David Bryce built between 1863 and 1869. It can be seen from far away. Not open for tourists - the best view is looking through the fence from Carrington Road. (updated Dec 2023)
• 4 Museum of Scottish Fire Heritage, 1A Dryden Terrace EH7 4NB, ☏ +44 131 550-4954. Mar-Nov Tu-Sa 10AM-4PM. Volunteer-run museum within McDonald Road fire station. History of Scottish firefighting from the era of rival commercial fire companies, through early wooden fire engines to more recent appliances. Donation. (updated Dec 2023)

Do

• Rugby: Edinburgh Academicals, Portgower Place EH4 1HQ (next to Raeburn Hotel), ☏ +44 131 315-3298. "The Accies" play rugby union in the Premiership, the amateur top tier in Scotland. Their home ground Raeburn Place (capacity 5000) staged the world's first rugby international on 27 March 1871. Scotland scored two tries and England scored one, so the result was 1-0 - a "try" in those days only gave you a chance to kick at goal. (updated Dec 2023)

Heriot's were promoted in 2022 so they too play in the Premiership. Their home ground is Goldenacre, north along Ferry Road.

Murrayfield the international stadium west of Haymarket can be reached by the Water of Leith Walkway.

• Cricket: 1 The Grange, Raeburn Place EH4 1HQ. This is the usual home ground for the Scottish national team, the Saltires. They play 50-over and 20-over matches but not five-day Tests. Gen!us Grange play in the domestic leagues. (updated Dec 2023)
• 2 Glenogle Swim Centre, Glenogle Road EH3 5JB, ☏ +44 131 458-2100. M-F 7AM-10PM, Sa Su 8AM-3PM. Council-run Victorian swimming pool with partial glass roof. Also has a gym and sauna. Pool £6.30. (updated Dec 2023)
• 3 King George V Park (access from Eyre Place or Scotland Street). Park with a couple of children's play areas and many quiet benches to sit on. A path through an old railway tunnel links the park with Cannonmills Tesco, making this an ideal lunch spot. (updated Dec 2023)
• 4 Inverleith Park (access from East Fettes Avenue, Inverleith Place or Arboretum Place). Large park with several sports pitches for rugby, football and cricket, and public tennis courts. The south of the park has a pond divided into a wildlife area popular with swans, and a boating pond which is often used for model boats. The banked area near the pond offers good views over the New Town of the Castle, and there is a small floral area in the Sundial Garden. (updated Dec 2022)
• Fishing on the Water of Leith: permits can be obtained free of charge from the City Council offices at Waverley Market by the railway station, and at Cockburn Street in Old Town. Most Fishing Tackle shops in the city can also issue permits.

Buy

Deanhaugh St, Stockbridge

• Supermarkets from east to west are Lidl on Logie Green Road, Canonmills; Tesco almost next door at 7 Broughton Road, Canomills; Scotmid Co-op at Hamilton Place, Stockbridge, next to Patriothall Gallery; Co-op Food at 6 Comely Bank Road, Stockbridge; and Waitrose on Comely Bank Road, Stockbridge.

Raeburn Place has a mix of small independent stores and charity shops.

• Rare Birds Book Shop, 13 Raeburn Place EH4 1HU (opposite Stockbridge Tap). Daily 10AM-5:30PM. Specialising in books by women writers. (updated Dec 2023)

St Stephen Street has several small independent galleries and design shops:

• Sheila Fleet, 18 St Stephen Street EH3 9AL (next to Bailie Bar), ☏ +44 131 225-5939. Daily 10AM-5:30PM. Jewellery designer whose work reflects the lore and natural world of her native Orkney. (updated Dec 2023)
• VoxBox Music, 21 St Stephen Street EH3 5AN (opposite Sheila Fleet), ☏ +44 131 629-6775, voxbox@live.co.uk. W Su noon-5PM, Sa 11AM-5PM, Su noon-4PM. An independent record shop. They sell a range of collectible records, mainly used vinyl but also some new CDs and box sets. (updated Dec 2023)
• IJ Mellis, 6 Baker Place EH3 6SY (opposite Bailie Bar), ☏ +44 131 225-6566, stockbridge@mellischeese.co.uk. M-Sa 8AM-8PM, Su 8AM-5PM. Specialist cheesemonger with a range of farmhouse and artisan cheeses from all over Scotland, the UK and Europe. Their other branches are in Morningside, Victoria St, Glasgow and St Andrews. (updated Dec 2023)
• Stockbridge Market is held on Sundays 10AM-4PM on Jubilee Gardens, corner of Saunders St and Kerr St, between the bridge and Bailie Bar. It's quite small.
• 1 Edina Lock & Key, 10-12 Brandon Terrace EH3 5EA, ☏ +44 131 556-1567, sales@inbrass.co.uk. M-F 9:30AM-4:30PM. Ironmonger and locksmith. If you like the brass door furniture you've seen on the traditional townhouses in the New Town, this is the place to pick up the knobs, knockers, numbers and letter-boxes you need to make your own front door look the same. A real treasure-trove of a shop. (updated Dec 2023)

Eat

• 1 The Bailie, 2-4 St Stephen Street EH3 5AL, ☏ +44 131 225-4673. Daily 11AM-midnight. Lovely old trad basement pub, known as much for its ale as its food. Standard pub-grub menu, but quality and prices are a notch higher. (updated Dec 2023)
• 2 The Raeburn, 112 Raeburn Place EH4 1HG, ☏ +44 131 332-7000. Restaurant, pub, beer garden and small hotel in a house built in 1832. B&B double £170. (updated Dec 2023)
• Scran and Scallie, 1 Comely Bank Road EH4 1DT (opposite The Raeburn), ☏ +44 131 332-6281. Daily noon-11:30PM. Upmarket gastro pub with modern Scots cuisine, slick service. They also run the Michelin-starred Kitchin in Leith. (updated Dec 2023)
• 3 The Orchard, 1-2 Howard Place EH3 5JZ, ☏ +44 131 550-0850. Food noon-9PM, Bar noon-11PM. Friendly pub with bar meals, including gluten free. (updated Dec 2023)
• 4 Mimi's Bakehouse, 153-155 Comely Bank Road EH4 1BQ, ☏ +44 1315 555908, info@mimisbakehouse.com. Daily 9AM-5PM. Stockbridge branch of an Edinburgh chain of cafés, serving a fairly standard range of sandwiches, but interesting seasonal cakes and bakes. (updated Dec 2023)

Drink

Canonmills

• 1 The Stockbridge Tap, 2-4 Raeburn Place EH4 1HN, ☏ +44 131 343-3000. Daily 1-11PM. Trad bar with a good range of ales and whiskies, and pub-grub. Popular place for TV sport. (updated Dec 2023)

Sleep

• 1 Ardenlee Guest House, 9 Eyre Place EH3 5ES, ☏ +44 7888 929955. Pleasant Victorian terrace B&B half a mile from Princes Street. B&B double £140. (updated Dec 2023)
• 2 Canon Court Aparthotel, 20 Canonmills, ☏ +44 131 554-2721, fax: +44 131 474-7000. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 10AM. Offers a wide range or 1- and 2-bedroom serviced apartments for short term lettings, in a building near the Water of Leith. (updated Jun 2020)
• The Raeburn is a small hotel in a Georgian mansion, see Eat listing for details.
• 3 Village Hotel Club, 140 Crewe Road South EH4 2NY, ☏ +44 131 297-7111. Chain hotel in an ugly black box building, comfy enough. The main draw is the large gym and pool, non-residents can get day passes for this. It has a car park (£5 per day midweek), restaurant and bar, and frequent buses into town. B&B double £100. (updated Dec 2023)
• 4 Brig O' Doon Guest House, 262 Ferry Road EH5 3AN, ☏ +44 131 552-3953. Cosy friendly B&B by Goldenacres sports ground. Frequent buses to town centre. It's owned by Ardleigh House next door, which gets poor reviews and is overpriced. (updated Dec 2023)

Connect

There are internet stations and printers at all public libraries, see Edinburgh#Connect for how to access these. The only branch in this part of the city is Stockbridge Library at 11 Hamilton Place.

Go next

• New Town just south is uphill but easy walking distance. You might prefer the bus for Old Town.
• Leith can be reached on foot by following the Water of Leith downstream. The Royal Yacht Britannia is moored here.