2 Oct 2015

City Guide | 4 Hours in Edinburgh

a city guide to independent businesses in edinburgh - lifestyle blog, menswear, coffee shop, mexican food and galleries

It seems we're starting to make a habit of spending half days in different cities - it was only earlier in August that we spent four hours in Manchester. This time we're back with a six hour guide to one of our most loved cities in the UK. Edinbugh.

With a spare few hours to keep ourselves busy on the day after our trip around Scotland with The Last Great Malts tour, we decided to lay off the whiskies for one afternoon and explore the affectionately dubbed, Old Smokey. You can listen to our Edinburgh podcast below:



Six hours wouldn't do the city justice, but you can cover some decent ground if you don't get too distracted by Edinbugh Castle - I'd suggest dedicating a whole extra day to the historical side of the city. But as we'd done that previous we decided to search for the best independent stores, coffee shops, and food and drink in the area.

a city guide to independent businesses in edinburgh - lifestyle blog, menswear, coffee shop, mexican food and galleries

Straight after recording another "award-winning" podcast and a browse in the best joke shop around, we started the day off at Cairngorm Coffee. A sweet little independent coffee shop that sits beneath a set of unassuming steps just off George Street. Dimly lit, with a traditional trader's decor, and beans supplied by Brighton's Small Batch Coffee. The iPads built into the tables was a neat touch too.

a city guide to independent businesses in edinburgh - lifestyle blog, menswear, coffee shop, mexican food and galleries
a city guide to independent businesses in edinburgh - lifestyle blog, menswear, coffee shop, mexican food and galleries
a city guide to independent businesses in edinburgh - lifestyle blog, menswear, coffee shop, mexican food and galleries
a city guide to independent businesses in edinburgh - lifestyle blog, menswear, coffee shop, mexican food and galleries

Straight after the caffeine hit we visited our friends at The Brotique; a men's lifestyle store stocking grooming products, stationery, leather goods, watches, and music + tech accessories, from brands such as Bellroy, Triumph & Disaster, Leuchtturm1917, Bang & Olfsen and Finlay & co. 100 bonus points for the amazing SNES set up in the back room!
 
a city guide to independent businesses in edinburgh - lifestyle blog, menswear, coffee shop, mexican food and galleries
a city guide to independent businesses in edinburgh - lifestyle blog, menswear, coffee shop, mexican food and galleries
a city guide to independent businesses in edinburgh - lifestyle blog, menswear, coffee shop, mexican food and galleries

At this point we had no idea where we'd be grabbing lunch, but after we nipped into the newly opened Kestin Hare, we followed their recommendation to eat at El Cartel. This tiny Mexican restaurant was just what we needed; tacos, deep fried mac + cheese, spicy coleslaw and a healthy slosh of mezcal impressed the pants off us.

a city guide to independent businesses in edinburgh - lifestyle blog, menswear, coffee shop, mexican food and galleries

Stopping of for a beer was always on the cards, and when we found out via Twitter that Innis & Gunn had recently opened The Beer Kitchen we noted it down for when the time was right. The Edinburgh brewers have been around for yonk, producing interesting largers and ales inspired by old recipes. The kitchen was modern, light, full of wood and full of beer. Winner! They also do food but we didn't have time to squeeze any in.

With time against us we didn't take many more photos, but a few more places worth mentioning are; Brew Lab Coffee, The Whisky Shop, Walker Slater Clothing, the National Museum of Scotland and our hotel for the night, the wonderful G&V.

Have you visited Edinburgh recently? We just can't wait to go back.

23 comments:

  1. I've only been in Edinburgh once for a couple of days so that was mainly covering the landmarks, I loved walking around town though so it would've been nice to just do that and find all nice places like these!

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  2. Well, this sounds about as perfect as a day could get! Mostly because...well....those tacos sound (and look) ridiculously delicious.


    g.

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  3. Aaron George D19:49

    I was in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago for a long weekend, such a great city - it feels so bloody old, loads of lovely pubs, I'd definitely go again, nice post!

    dayofrest.co.uk

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  4. Great post. I would love to visit Edinburgh myself one day and this post just made me want to visit even more.

    Rae | Love from Berlin

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  5. James Brown11:11

    Really great post man, I've got to add that to the list of places to visit over the next few months! The brotique looks really interesting.

    James
    www.getyourbronon.com

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  6. Maria Fallon18:32

    I really really love Edinburgh, I'm definitely planning on visiting again soon!


    Maria xxx

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  7. Emily18:32

    Your photos are fantastic! You've really caught the essence of Edinburgh so well! And oh my god that taco looks a-maz-ing!

    Musings & More

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  8. Love Cairgnorm coffee! Found solace in there one rainy day and had the best ever cheese toastie! 👌🏻

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  9. Have you planned to come back to the UK? You always seem to be going somehwere.

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  10. Those...tacos! Yum. If you ever come this way I'd recommend putting Edinburgh on your list.

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  11. What places didn you find? Cheers man, thanks for coming by.

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  12. Aaron George D14:35

    We also stopped by the National Museum, and then paid a visit to the Botanical gardens which were pretty sweet

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  13. Everything looks amazing, especially the food! I'd love to be able to easily get to Scotland!

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  14. if you come to the UK again you should consider Scotland, it has a lot to offer

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  15. Much appreciated James, my man. Get yourself up there, so much going on in the independent scene.

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  16. Have you posted about it much? Not too far from us too, I love it.

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  17. Thanks very much Emily, that's really kind of you. Glad you enjoyed it, do you live there?

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  18. Beautiful photos! I'm loving all the food shots! Also great podcast! :)

    http://roadesque.com
    http://ourruins.com

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  19. haha, does it actually make any sense from an american's point of view? it's meant to be light hearted. Thanks Val!

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  20. It definitely makes sense! :)

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  21. Ah yes, we enjoyed it too! Could have stayed in there for ages. Thanks for stopping by.

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  22. So easy for us, but on the flip side you have access to everywhere in America!

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  23. that's great to hear!

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