For a first Edinburgh city break, stay in Old Town: castle, Royal Mile, Arthur's Seat and the museums all within a short walk. On a tighter budget, Leith gets you more room for less. The center is walkable, so any of the 5 areas below keeps you within reach of the main sights; what changes is the atmosphere you come home to.
First visit
Old Town
Budget pick
Leith
Nightlife
Leith
Mid hotel
~59 EUR
If you just want the answer: four vetted Edinburgh picks, from splurge to budget, each in a neighborhood compared below.
Landmark stay€€€Landmark clock tower · New Town
The grand railway hotel under the famous clock tower on Princes Street, where the New Town meets the Old. Castle-view rooms and the suite where the last Harry Potter book was finished are the reasons people splurge.
from ~350 EUR/night
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First visit€€On the Royal Mile · Old Town
A smart rooms-above-a-pub inn in a former bank right on the Royal Mile, so the castle and Holyrood are both a walk away. It can be lively below at weekends; ask for a room at the back.
from ~160 EUR/night
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Local life€€Dockside design · Leith
A design hotel in a converted seamen's mission on the Leith waterfront, among the docks that now hold some of the city's best restaurants. You trade the Old Town lanes for a quieter, more local base a tram ride out.
from ~130 EUR/night
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Budget€Hostel below the castle · Grassmarket
A characterful hostel right under the castle rock by the Grassmarket, with private rooms as well as dorms and a lively common room. You cannot sleep more central in the Old Town for the price.
from ~25 EUR/night
Check pricesReal hotel photos · prices are indicative from-rates, not live quotes · booking links support the site at no extra cost
| Neighborhood | Book if you want | Watch out | Hotels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old Town First visitRomantic | Castle, Royal Mile, Arthur's Seat and the museums all within a short walk | Pubs and restaurants on the Royal Mile are tourist-priced and average | Check prices |
| New Town First visitRomanticLocal life | Flatter, roomier and quieter than the Old Town while still central | Less of the medieval atmosphere first-timers come for | Check prices |
| Stockbridge Local lifeRomanticFamily | Genuinely local, with strong independent cafes, delis and a Sunday market | A 15 to 20 minute walk or a bus from the castle and Royal Mile | Check prices |
| Leith Local lifeBudgetNightlife | Some of the city's best food, from Michelin tables to harbour chippies | Two miles from the castle and Old Town, so you commute to the sights | Check prices |
| Grassmarket NightlifeBudgetFirst visit | Direct views up to the castle rock and Victoria Street on the doorstep | Noisy at night, with stag-and-hen groups on weekends | Check prices |
The medieval spine of the city runs down the Royal Mile from the castle to Holyrood, a warren of narrow closes, tenement lands and hidden courtyards packed with history. It is the postcard Edinburgh and puts the headline sights on your doorstep, though it trades on that with tartan-shop tack and tourist-priced pubs. Staying here means you wake up inside the drama, minutes from the castle and Arthur's Seat.
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Laid out in elegant Georgian grids north of Princes Street, the New Town is Edinburgh at its most refined: broad terraces, private garden squares and the city's best shopping and restaurants. It is flatter and calmer than the Old Town while staying central, and George Street's bars and George Square-style crescents draw a smarter, more local crowd. A comfortable base that swaps medieval theatre for Georgian polish.
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A leafy, villagey quarter a 15-minute walk northwest of the centre, Stockbridge is where Edinburgh actually lives: independent delis, brunch spots, antique shops and the Sunday market by the Water of Leith. It trades headline sights for real neighbourhood calm and easy access to the Botanic Garden and the riverside walkway. The closest thing the city has to a slow, local base still within walking reach of the centre.
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Edinburgh's old port, a couple of miles north and now on the tram line, Leith has turned its dockside warehouses into some of the city's best restaurants, including a cluster of Michelin kitchens along The Shore. It is grittier and more mixed than the centre, with a real working-city edge, craft-beer bars and the Royal Yacht Britannia moored at Ocean Terminal. Good value and full of life if you do not mind commuting in to the sights.
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A wide cobbled square in a hollow directly below the castle rock, the Grassmarket is the Old Town's liveliest pocket of pubs, with the dramatic crag looming over the terraces. It runs from the pastel-fronted shops of Victoria Street up top down to late-opening bars that stay busy well after the rest of the Old Town shuts. Central and fun, but loud at night and best for those who want to be in the thick of it.
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Neighborhood picked? Lock the plan next: Edinburgh in 2 days, hour by hour.
For a first Edinburgh city break, stay in Old Town: castle, Royal Mile, Arthur's Seat and the museums all within a short walk. On a tighter budget, Leith gets you more room for less. The center is walkable, so any of the 5 areas below keeps you within reach of the main sights; what changes is the atmosphere you come home to.
Leith is the nightlife base. Edinburgh's old port, a couple of miles north and now on the tram line, Leith has turned its dockside warehouses into some of the city's best restaurants, including a cluster of Michelin kitchens along The Shore. It is grittier and more mixed than the centre, with a real working-city edge, craft-beer bars and the Royal Yacht Britannia moored at Ocean Terminal. Good value and full of life if you do not mind commuting in to the sights. Fair warning: two miles from the castle and Old Town, so you commute to the sights
Leith has the best price-to-location ratio. Edinburgh's old port, a couple of miles north and now on the tram line, Leith has turned its dockside warehouses into some of the city's best restaurants, including a cluster of Michelin kitchens along The Shore. It is grittier and more mixed than the centre, with a real working-city edge, craft-beer bars and the Royal Yacht Britannia moored at Ocean Terminal. Good value and full of life if you do not mind commuting in to the sights.