Edinburgh is one of my favourite cities in the whole world and I have been to many of the worlds so called great cities. One of the many things, which I love about Edinburgh, is the fantastic choice of historic pubs.

Nothing beats relaxing in these pubs and just chilling out with a cool pint of lager or Guinness depending on my mood. Nowadays I can’t really be bothered with busy fancy pubs, where you have to queue up for half an hour to get a drink.  The character and ambiance of the pubs listed below can sometimes be ruined if a stag party passes through, I don’t mind hen nights so much!

The Malt Shovel, (Cockburn Street) I love sitting at one of the window seats and watching the world go bye. You always get a good pint, a fairly decent selection of whiskies and good selection of wines.

The Jolly Judge, (James Court) a unique pub, which has a low-beamed ceiling, real coal fire and a fantastic, laid back atmosphere. I love sitting in this place reading the papers and chatting with friends.

The Standing Order, (George Street) this is maybe not an old historic pub, but it is in a beautiful building, which was formerly a bank.  I especially love the old library part of the building, great ambiance for a few pints; great selection of drinks to choose from and the food is quite good as well.

Rose Street Brewery, (Rose Street) this place use to be a brewery but sadly nowadays it doesn’t make its own beers, but it is still a wonderful and relaxing place, where you will always get a good drink in pleasant surroundings.

Tolbooth Tavern, (Cannongate) there cannot be a more imposing location anywhere for a pub than the location of the Tollbooth Tavern. The Tolbooth was the administrative focus, the tax-collection point, the council chamber, the court and the jail for the burgh of Canongate, which lay outside Edinburgh at the time. One of my personal favourites, go visit it and see for yourself   how good this place is. 

I usually stay beside the royal mile when I visit Edinburgh and love paying each of these pubs a visit on the same day. The best thing is I don’t feel too guilty about it, because you get some good exercise from the walking you have to do between each pub. I start at the Jolly Judge and finish up at the Tolbooth Tavern and then it’s a walk up the historic and beautiful Royal Mile to my usual hotel.

For some unbiased reviews of Edinburgh pubs pay a visit to the Edinburgh Blog The Sheep Heid Inn for a great pub lunch

 

 

Leave a Reply