14 Edinburgh Activities To Add To Your Itinerary (Part Two)

Our little city has so much to offer, but we’ve got 14 great activities we think you have to do. So read on and find out numbers 8 through 14 in part 2 of our “14 Edinburgh activities to add to your itinerary”.

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿#14DaysOfEdinburghActivities 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 As the Coronavirus shuts down our city and forces everyone inside for 14 days at least, we thought it might be fun to look to the future and give you one activity a day you can add to your itinerary for the next time you're able to visit us up in Edinburgh. Here's hoping we get to see your faces coming through our door soon🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 • • • Day 8: Beer! One thing we've missed like crazy in this lockdown has been the sweet taste of a freshly poured pint. While Scotland is predominantly known for its great whisky, we're also pretty great at making beer. So next time you're in town look out for the following breweries from Edinburgh and across Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Pic 1: @bellfieldbrewery. Located at the end of the Royal Mile, you can visit the taproom on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays or pick up one of their tasty brews at a number of restaurants and bars in the city center 🍻 Pic 2: @coldtownhouse and their @coldtownbeer. Located in an old church on Grassmarket, Cold Town House has a great view and even better beer 🍺 Pic 3: @innisandgunnedinburgh. Located on Lothian Road, this is a favourite hangout on Sundays for their pub quiz. Try the tank lager when you're there! It's one of our favorites 🤩 Pic 4: @campervanbrewery. If you're a true adventurer you'll make your way down to the trendy suburb of Leith on your next trip to Edinburgh and we cannot recommend this small brewery more! Their Leith Juice is our favorite ⭐ Pic 5: @fiercebaredn. Head down to Rose Street in the New Town and pop your head into Fierce Beer's bar near the West End. Their huge selection of beers and great vibes are the perfect way to spend a Friday night after our comedy event 🍻 Pic 6: @paolozzirestaurantandbar is the newest home of great beer in the Old Town and brings the delicious Paolozzi Lager to within 5 minutes of our doors. Go grab a brew and a pizza at their new restaurant when everything returns to normal 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Pic 7: @stewartbrewing rounds off our list of great Scottish beers to try out! Grab one of their range from most bars in the city or head to their taproom in Leith at their @dockside_tap.

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Number 8: Try some Scottish Beer!

We’re a huge fan of a few quiet pints at the pub and these are some of our favorites! Head to the bottom of The Royal Mile to try out Bellfield Brewery or stay closer to Old Town and head to Cold Town House on the Grassmarket for a tasty brew with a view. Innis & Gunn’s taproom on Lothian Road is a great spot to try their award winning range (and a great Sunday Quiz Night). If you’re in Leith give Campervan a visit and enjoy the sea air. Then head to Stewart Brewing’s Dockside Tap to make the journey worthwhile. If you’re back in town check out Fierce Beer on Rose Street and Paolozzi’s new restaurant near the Meadows. There’s more than enough beer choice to keep even the hardiest of drinkers happy in Edinburgh.

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿#14DaysOfEdinburghActivities 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 As the Coronavirus shuts down our city and forces everyone inside for 14 days at least, we thought it might be fun to look to the future and give you one activity a day you can add to your itinerary for the next time you're able to visit us up in Edinburgh. Here's hoping we get to see your faces coming through our door soon🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 • • • Day 9: Pub Crawl! Edinburgh has all the hallmarks of an ancient city. Ancient architecture, winding closes and,of course, more pubs than you know what to do with. It can be awfully daunting to navigate them all yourself, so let us be your guides and show you some of the best (and cheapest) pubs in town for a night you won't soon forget! Pub Crawls give you the benefit of a guide, free drinks and free entry to every club you visit on your night out and they're our favourite way to explore a new city's nightlife 🤘 • Try stay with us on a Thursday to join our awesome Free Pub Crawl or speak to reception about joining a @sandemansnewedinburgh pub crawl which runs every other day of the week 🍻 • When the country is safe from COVID-19 we hope you'll join us as we explore Edinburgh's nightlife once again 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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Number 9: Join the Scotland’s Top Hostels Pub Crawl!

Although this won’t be happening until Coronavirus is fully under control, we definitely recommend booking a Thursday night at one of our Edinburgh Hostels when they’re allowed to run events again. 5 pubs and a club, great drink specials and some awesome music leads to this being one of our most popular weekly activities. Ask your receptionist how to join the crawl when you arrive!

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿#14DaysOfEdinburghActivities 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 As the Coronavirus shuts down our city and forces everyone inside for 14 days at least, we thought it might be fun to look to the future and give you one activity a day you can add to your itinerary for the next time you're able to visit us up in Edinburgh. Here's hoping we get to see your faces coming through our door soon🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 • • • Day 10: Dean Village and the walk to Stockbridge. • Head on down to #DeanVillage, a suburb of Edinburgh that seems miles away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and enjoy some brilliant photo opportunities on the river. Then follow the Water of Leith towards Stockbridge for some great scran at @thepantryman, one of our favorite cafes in the city. A perfect way to spend a warm day in Edinburgh and get a bit of exercise 🚶🚶‍♀️ Swipe to see some photos from the area 1: @pandeyrr 2: @snapsbyshirin 3: @timdrew_ 5: @wilde_oates 7: @paint_tin of @thepantryman

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Number 10: Visit Dean Village and walk to Stockbridge

Edinburgh’s hidden riverside village, Dean Village is a spectacularly well preserved part of the city. Old red brick buildings flank the Water of Leith and make this one of the city’s most desirable suburbs to live in. Enjoy a leisurely walk along the Water of Leith on the weekend and indulge in some tasty brunch in the affluent area of Stockbridge. A lovely stroll and one of Edinburgh’s most Instagrammable spots!

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿#14DaysOfEdinburghActivities 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 As the Coronavirus shuts down our city and forces everyone inside for 14 days at least, we thought it might be fun to look to the future and give you one activity a day you can add to your itinerary for the next time you're able to visit us up in Edinburgh. Here's hoping we get to see your faces coming through our door soon🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 • • • Day 11: Try some Scottish gin! • With the rising popularity of gin, it should be no surprise that Scotland has more than its fair share of brilliant distilleries. If you're looking for a gin experience to try out when you visit then check out @holyrooddistillery (pic 1), @pickeringsgin (pic 2) and @edinburghgin (pic 3) for some fantastic tours and tastings. • If you're out and about looking for a delicious gin to try then look out for @crabbiesgin (pic 4) from Leith and the official gin of Scottish Rugby and @caorunngin (pic 4) from the stunning #Cairngorms, just three hours north of Edinburgh. Our wee country is full of premium brands and we're sure you won't be disappointed with our range of delicious and inventive gins.

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Number 11: Try some Scottish Gin

Scotland is great at making alcohol (and consuming it), so it’s no surprise really that the Scots are getting on the gin trend. Head to Edinburgh’s newest whisky and gin distillery, The Holyrood Distillery, to try their newest inventions and then make a day of it by heading to the nearby Summerhall to try Pickering’s Gin. If that’s not enough for you try get a tasting package at Edinburgh Gin for the full experience (and one hell of a hangover). Other notable mentions are Crabbies Gin in Leith and Caorunn Gin from the Cairngorms. Take home a few bottles to show your friends our huge range of gin products!

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿#14DaysOfEdinburghActivities 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 As the Coronavirus shuts down our city and forces everyone inside for 14 days at least, we thought it might be fun to look to the future and give you one activity a day you can add to your itinerary for the next time you're able to visit us up in Edinburgh. Here's hoping we get to see your faces coming through our door soon🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 • • • Day 12: Find the best angles of @edinburghcastle. Edinburgh Castle is like our Eiffel Tower. It's iconic structure dominates the skyline and no trip is really complete without a few good snaps of it. These are some of the best spots (and photographer's) to find on your next trip to Edinburgh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 1) #Cowgate towards Grassmarket by @stuartmckay81. 2) #TheVennel by @snapsbyshirin 3) #RossFountain by @rmarr.photos 4) #StCuthberts by @sajeelmunir 5) #NationalMuseumOfScotland by @findlaymacdonald 6) #Grassmarket by @rmarr.photos 7) #CastleEsplanade by @ayespyphotography 8) #CameraObscura by @mat_poglia 9) #ColdTownHouse by @coldtownhouse 10) #CastleRockHostel (our home) by @adventuresofjesss

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Number 12: Find the best angles of Edinburgh Castle

Many cities in Europe have a castle, but few have one that dominates the skyline quite like Edinburgh Castle. There are so many wonderful spots to take in the might of this ancient structure, but some of our favorites are The Vennel Stairs, Cold Town House and just outside the doors of our Castle Rock Hostel. Check out the Instagram post above to see what you’re in for!

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿#14DaysOfEdinburghActivities 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 As the Coronavirus shuts down our city and forces everyone inside for 14 days at least, we thought it might be fun to look to the future and give you one activity a day you can add to your itinerary for the next time you're able to visit us up in Edinburgh. Here's hoping we get to see your faces coming through our door soon🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 • • • Day 13: Visit the Pentlands! If you look out our windows and spot a majestic mountain range you may be forgiven for thinking the Scottish Highlands are closer than you thought, but this is just the Pentland Hills. A 20 mile range of rolling hills complete with #hairycoos, beautiful views over Edinburgh and (during winter) there's even snow. If you're a skiing fan they even have a dry ski slope up there. You can easily spend a full day up there and it's easily reached by bus from Princes Street. We can't wait for the isolation to be lifted so we can explore it again 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 • Check out some of the pics by our staff on their trips up there before self isolation began 🤘 Pics 1, 2 & 3: @_embenn Pics 7,8: @dandanjackiechanchan Pics 9 & 10: @saavedraluciana

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Number 13: Visit the Pentland Hills

Who needs to go all the way to the Highlands when you have such magnificent scenery just a 40 minute bus ride away! Head to the Pentlands and enjoy a beautiful walk with some great views over the city, and who knows you may even run into a Hairy Coo or two along the way.

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿#14DaysOfEdinburghActivities 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 As the Coronavirus shuts down our city and forces everyone inside for 14 days at least, we thought it might be fun to look to the future and give you one activity a day you can add to your itinerary for the next time you're able to visit us up in Edinburgh. Here's hoping we get to see your faces coming through our door soon🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 • • • Day 14: Visit Leith! Leith is the traditional shipping center of Scotland and was once one of the UK's most important ports. Now it's home to beautiful harbour houses, great restaurants, bars and some of the coolest spots to check out in Edinburgh! Check out #TheShore for awesome pics like these: Photo 1: @lesleympix Photo 2: @prettyweewanderer Photo 3: @photographybymilesgray . • When you're done taking photos check out some of our favorite spots in the area including @thepittmarket (pic 4, the premiere street food market of Edinburgh but only open on the weekends), @woodland_creatures_leith (pic 5, for some great cocktails) and @teuchterslanding (pic 6, an old pub in a steamboat house with a beer garden). • Each of these gems is like nothing else in Edinburgh and well worth a walk, cycle or bus out to this vibrant part of Edinburgh.

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Number 14: Head to Edinburgh’s coolest up-and-coming suburb: Leith

Leith has seen a revival of sorts in the last 10 years and is slowly becoming the suburb of choice in Edinburgh. With seafront pubs, a great range of restaurants and the Royal Yacht Brittania nearby; it’s well worth a gander when you next visit the city. Click on the Instagram link to see some of our other recommendations!

So that’s it! 14 quick and easy spots to add to your next Edinburgh itinerary! We’re always researching new weird and wonderful things to do around the city, so check back often to see if we’ve added any Edinburgh activities to our list.