Must-see nightlife in Edinburgh

One of the newer additions to Edinburgh’s burgeoning coffee scene, Cult Espresso is an intimate, industrial-chic cafe serving single-origin coffees to the…

The Basement is a laid-back bar with a rustic Latin American vibe – check out the weird, welded furniture made from tank tracks, camshafts and motorcycle…

A brass plaque outside this pub proclaims: ‘In the White Hart Inn Robert Burns stayed during his last visit to Edinburgh, 1791'. Claiming to be the city’s…

Immortalised as the stereotypical New Town pub in Alexander McCall Smith's serialised novel 44 Scotland Street, the Cumberland has an authentic,…

Duke St was always one of the rougher corners of Leith, but the emergence of pubs like the Lioness is a sure sign of gentrification. Distressed timber and…

Housed in the former advertising offices of the Scotsman newspaper, attractively refurbished with red brick, artistically arranged timber offcuts and a…

The Edinburgh outpost of Scotland's self-styled 'punk brewery', BrewDog stands out among the sticky-floored dives that line the Cowgate with its polished…

In an area stuffed with choice pubs, Nobles might be the most loved by locals. This beautifully restored Victorian cafe-bar in the heart of Leith has…

A superstylish lounge bar with a Raffles of Singapore vibe – it’s all crystal chandeliers, polished wood and oriental art – Dragonfly has won rave reviews…

Set among the glass-and-steel architecture of the redeveloped Holyrood district, Hemma (Swedish for ‘at home’) is one of a stable of Scandinavian bars, a…

Edinburgh’s coffee scene punches above its weight, largely thanks to Artisan Roast. The mothership, a tiny, dark cafe on Broughton St, is now one of three…

Lush leather sofas, red-satin cushions, fetishistic steel-mesh curtains and dim red lighting all help to create a decadent atmosphere in this drop-dead…

A lovably eccentric pub, the Canny Man’s consists of a crowded warren of tiny rooms crammed with a bizarre collection of antiques and curiosities (a…

This good old-fashioned local boozer has been sympathetically restored – it appeared in the 2013 film Sunshine on Leith. Its nautical history is evident…

One of those places that easily earn the sobriquet ‘best-kept secret’, Bramble is an unmarked cellar bar (just an inconspicuous brass nameplate beneath a…

A cross between a traditional pub and a pre-club bar, Villager has a shabby-chic, laid-back vibe. It can be standing room only in the main bar in the…

Promoting itself as the Southside’s only ‘alternative’ pub, the Auld Hoose certainly lives up to its reputation, with unpretentious decor, gig posters on…

Possibly the oldest inn in Edinburgh (with a licence dating back to 1360), the Sheep Heid feels more like an upmarket country pub than an Edinburgh bar…

A century old and still going strong, Clark’s caters to a clientele of real-ale aficionados, football fans (there are three TVs), local office workers and…

Housed in a converted manse (minister’s house) that once belonged to the next-door church, and furnished with well-worn, mismatched wooden tables and…