Edinburgh's pubs are as beautiful as the city itself. Well, most of them anyway...
Вставка
- Опубліковано 20 січ 2023
- Following on from our Glasgow Pubs video, we've hopped across to the east coast to attempt the same in the capital city - Edinburgh. Known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, how will its pubs and bars match up? Today you'll see everything from the oldest pub in Scotland to one of the most disappointing. Is your favourite pub on our list? (I wouldn't be surprised if not as we barely scratch the surface on this pub crawl!)
Filmed in Edinburgh Scotland on Tuesday 10th January 2023.
Music courtesy of epidemicsound.com
Hi, I’m Steve, a travel reviewer from Scotland. Join me on my adventures as I discover my own country, often visiting places for the first time, so hopefully it's as much of an eye-opener for you as it is for me! Don't expect expert opinion, just a very honest journey of discovery. Sometimes featuring my intrepid sidekick Alicja, sometimes featuring adventures beyond the borders of Scotland. Enjoy!
Donate here to future videos: (thank you!)
www.paypal.com/paypalme/steve...
Or why not become a SteveMarsh Supporter?
/ stevemarsh
#Edinburgh #SteveMarsh #Pubs
Sorry for lack of replies to comments, I've hopped from one trip to another this week with very little time. I will read them all though :)
All good Steve, you and your lovely girl take it easy
Another great vid, Steve. I may be in Edinburgh on Saturday.. you are to blame for this….My debut on the Caledonian sleeper and for me buying a Montrose shirt, Strange times!
Hi Steve ! I remember Tiles, (different name), The Café Royale, The Sheep Heid and the Guildford from way back in the 70s / 80s even the 90s and they all seem to have lost so much. Bennets, The Halfway House and The Oxford have still retained that essence of being a pub - a place to read a book or newspaper, strike up conversations, have a laugh and a bit of the craic.
Just found you two, this Burn's Night...Slainte' from Nova Scots🥃☮
Are their any rock music bars in Edinburgh or Glasgow?
Any karaoke bars or a bar with a jukebox?
My friend & I used to jump on a train from Queen Street station in Glasgow so that we could do a pub crawl in Edinburgh and then get the last train back tae Glasgow from Waverley Station, sometimes just catching the last train by the skin of our teeth. We'd get into the train and collapse in a seat a little breathless after running the length of the platform and the guard shaking his head as he blew the whistle. Those were very happy days!
I was at uni in Edinburgh in the 90s. I know all those pubs. Glad they're still there.
This is great! I work in the Halfway House, and this video has encouraged a fair bit of business already! Thanks very much for including us.
Fantastic! Glad to hear it :)
Alicja:
"This is the golf course? I'm not surprised that it's free?" (with chuckle)
Was epic!
Yeah I'll give her that one!
Hey Steve - you should do a Part II for Edinburgh pubs - after you’ve had a rest of course :) here’s some noteable ones : Athletic Arms (Diggers) , Milnes Bar, Deacon Brodies , The Worlds End, The Grosvener, The Bailie , The Thisle Bar to name a few 😊
Great choices in there!
Have to agree with this , The Diggers is the most famous pub in Edinburgh. The Brewhouse in Rose Street is another favourite of mine.
Could add the Captain's Bar in South College Street. One of the oldest bars in Edinburgh and the very best for acoustic music every day and night.
@@WVislandia Strange how we see so many overseas visitors coming in saying how they have been recommended to come in because of the great music. I guess you weren't aware that the barman is a very accomplished musician and often comes from behind the bar to join in. In music circles the Captain's Bar is world renowned for it's music. Maybe you should try again. 🙂
The World's End is a great pub. I worked there briefly as a backpack traveller in 2004 and stayed in the hostel next door. Probably the best travelling year of my life. The Scotsman and The Arcade on Cockburn Street are also great pubs; at least they used to be back then.
Such a beautiful city. We have nothing like this here in Albuquerque NM. I can’t wait to go to Scotland.
Another "Top Drawer" and very intetesting video from Steve, so many pubs in Edinburgh and yet his homework managed to highlight a few lovely wee treasures!
I live in the city of Cincinnati, in the state of Ohio, in the United States. We have an iconic bar here called The Blind Lemon, that I have always assumed was based upon an English pub decor. Although, the places you went to look fancier than The Blind Lemon, so I'm not so sure now.
The Blind Lemon has an incredibly intimate decor and atmosphere. Two small rooms with low ceilings, a fireplace, tables crammed together, lots of intimate, diffuse lighting sources, rather than overhead lighting. And live entertainment which is usually a solo artist playing acoustic guitar and singing ballads. Candles on every table. Walls packed with pictures and other artifacts.
Outside they have a stone-walled brick patio with vines and small trees everywhere, a very large fire pit that actually keeps you warm, as well as effective space heaters away from the fire pit, a variety of seating options, from cozy love seats underneath the trees, to one or two upholstered sofas and chairs on the periphery, to iron tables and chairs. In summer the live entertainment performs outside and the music is piped indoors. The opposite is true in winter.
The same guy was a bartender there for something crazy like 55 or 60 years.
Oh yeah, and to get there it's really neat. From the street you walk through a threshold, walk down a stone-walled stone staircase, walk down a stone passageway, which comes out at the patio and the door to the interior. It is located on Mt. Adams, a cool residential mountain overlooking the city and the Ohio River, with a bunch of restaurants and shops at the very top.
Some photos from the Yelp restaurant review website:
www.yelp.com/biz_photos/blind-lemon-cincinnati
You are aware Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, which is not in England aren’t you?
I do, but I did not imagine that there was a major cultural difference in the pubs. If I let my imagination soar, it seems that all these little countries packed close together, speaking the same language, for centuries, had similar pub decors. I've never heard people refer to Scottish pub decor, so I just assumed they were all the same. If there are known differences in decor between Scottish and English pubs, do let me know. @@mikegreig3338
Your totally in the wrong country !!! This is SCOTLAND not england
@@KF-cx8bm How do Scottish and English pub decors differ? In general?
Thank you Alicja and Steve for this fantastic tour through Edinburgh. What a bunch of gems you have chosen for us to share. Well done!
My husband is an Edinburgh guy. He absolutely loved this video! Couple of the pubs he hadn’t even been to. He said that some were a bit rough when he was developing his drinking career. Oh and the stories he can tell about his exploits with his pals 😅😂
Thanks for the tour of pubs both as it gives me ideas of where to to when I visit Edinburgh from Cardiff as a good Welshmun likes a drink plus visiting these wonderful places in amazing Edinburgh thanks 😊
Definitely a few gems amongst the “modernised” dross. It’s good to see that some proper fine old pubs still survive. 👏👏👍😀
Another great video!! So many pubs that merit being visited. I loved the first . Halfway was lovely and so cosy. Benetts looked simple from outside but was amazing once in. Which goes to show how apperances can be misleading like the golf tavern. I don't know how
Alijcia was still standing 😂😂i'm light headed on a shandy.
Again thankyou guys for the long trekking to show us these beautiful pubs👍🏻👍🏻
Once again a brilliant video the Glasgow and Edinburgh pub crawl were lovely to watch 👍 thanks Steve and Alicja
Steve, you absolute legend! This is the exact content I wanted right after your Glasgow pub tour!!!🎉
Me too!!!
Nick, you're absolutely right. What a well done informative video for us folks across the pond.
Legend !! Get off yer knees … they have displayed practically zero character - which a blame him entirely for as there is something endearing about the wee lassie : maybe if they had a drink in every bar (instead of frickin runnin’ oot, drinking cola n coffees) it’d show their funnier traits, as is this is quite boarsville. What Stevie boy is doing is punching well above his weight wae the lassie.He looks like her Da.
Glasgow is our regular haunt, being much closer to home for us, but I bloody love Edinburgh! It's so characterful and quirky with interesting finds around every corner and down every lane. It's just brilliant!!
Love Bennet's Bar, my second favourite pub in Embra Steve, but you missed out the best pub, The Gravediggers/Diggers/Athletic Arms. Tbh, it's a long time since I've been there, so maybe it isn't what it once was. 😟
Ditto!
Steve and Alicja, thank you so much for this tour of Edinburgh's pubs and especially the Oxford Bar, I have enjoyed all the Rebus novels and wait with baited breath for the next one to arrive. I am a huge fan of Ian Rankin and I think over the years I have consumed almost every book he has written but you made my day with a visit to the Oxford Bar , it was adequately described in the books but to actually go inside and see the setting in real life was wonderful, thank you both so much. As always thanks and stay safe and well, cheers.
Cheers Simon!
Guilford Arms was the first pub I ever entered in the UK back in spring / summer of 2000. I initially thought it was a private club but the doorman politely invited me in. Stayed at the hostel close by. Had my first proper hauf and a hauf. Also learned that unlike the states, ice in whiskey is frowned upon. Spent about a month in Scotland and still the nicest people in any country I have ever visited. Never drank alone in any pub even tho I was travelling alone. Easy to make friends.
Wow! 😮 The Cafe Royal looks amazing inside. 😍
hi from canada, you are so lucky to have such a variety of pubs like that, i wish we had that here i would never be home, keep the vids coming, cheers
My first visit to Scotland was in 1968 when the friend who took me on the 2,000 learning to drive trip the following year decided we should go to Edinburgh for a long weekend.
We took the train to Redcar where he borrowed his dad’s car and we stayed in his old digs he used while studying at the Botanical Gardens.
We visited many Edinburgh pubs, one of them with sand on the floor complete with spittoons.
As a bit of an Ale Cart at the time a lot of them are a bit blurred, I do remember being turned out of a pub in glorious bright sunshine at 10 pm, the closing time then.
The pubs were shut on Sundays so we had to find a Hotel which served non-residents, my pal knew many.
I was shocked by the £15 for two drinks, my reaction was the Yorkshire War Cry,
HOW MUCH !!
I was always told Yorkshiremen were Scots with the generosity gene removed 🙂
Keep up the great videos.
I was in Edinburg. It’s gorgeous and amazing. NEVER lose the true Scottish culture please. 👍
Great memories of a visit to the Halfway House and Sheep Heid with my Dad. Thanks Steve!
Loved this! I'm from Canada but a just few generations from home (Scotland). I research pubs before my visits and you two hit quite a few I have visited and liked in Edinburgh. Read about Tiles and the Royal, but had some rush hour pints at the Guild Ford with office types on a weekday. The Halfway House was a joy on Sunday afternoon with some old veterans from Leith on and a lovely girl on the taps. I had a memorable evening at the White Hart watching a fella on guitar singing songs that brought a tear to most of the bearded buggers in there. Keep up the great uploads folks! I'm always offering your channel to folks wanting to visiting God's Land - SCOTLAND!
Oh wow ... my girlfriend and I had lunch at Bennets Bar about 25 years ago when we visited Edinburgh on holiday ... and there it is!
Yet another good informative video from Steve and Alicja, maybe next stop Aberdeen's pubs, who knows, so keep well and thanks again for another great video.
My dad and I are from Texas, and will be visiting Edinburgh this June. Thank you for the tour and information. Definately going to have a few drinks at some of the pubs you highlighted in your video. Cheers.
Have a fantastic time guys!
@@steve-marsh We certainly will, thank you.
Hi Steve and Alecia! So good to see this! We did make our almost three month journey to Scotland, rented and RV and had a ball! Took all your tips on ferries and island hops so Outer H from Barra to the top then the Orkneys back down to Inner H and then the Mainland! We still could have used another 2-3 weeks but what an incredible, fascinating and gloriously beautiful country you live in! It was bittersweet because we watched with a heavy heart the quick demise of your precious Queen and watched as every where we had been she was in state. Broke our hearts as I know how you must have felt.
We have been many places around the world but nothing tore at our hearts and sang to our souls as Scotland did. We thrilled at every mile to the sights, sounds, smells, and fresh seafood. We never had a problem getting around because we never met a stranger! EVERYONE and EVERYWHERE we went we made friends! You should be proud and we, by hook or crook, will be back! Thank you for every video!!!
You walked straight past my favourite The Bow Bar although I also like their sister pubs of Thst Stockbridge Tap and The Illicit Still. Blue Blazer also a good local pub!
I used to work in Ye Olde Golf Tavern before it was ruined when it had its big red chesterfield sofas, must of been about 1999 to 2002.
Bow Bar's sister pubs are the Stockbridge Tap, as you say, and Cloisters.
Oh, and Ian Rankin once moved a pile of jackets to give me a seat in the Bow Bar. Nice guy.
The wonder for me of your videos is that I wouldnt get to see most if the places you go to could not do the walk. So a massive thank you, especially for the pub crawls! Cheers me dears. 🙋🇨🇮🏴🙏🍻🥂
What a fantastic part of the world y’all live in! Was in Edinburgh last week and am impressed with what a great place it is.
Extraordinary. Thank you for taking the time to create and post.
How lovely and cozy!
The interiors are stunningly beautiful!!! Thank you for this great video!!!
What fun!!!! Thank you, guys!
I have never seen so many charming pubs in one city. I am looking forward to visit Edinburgh now 🥂
Brilliant video Steve who doesn't love a pub crawl round Edinburgh. Thanks for bringing the Oxford bar to life for me , I love Ian Rankine,s Rebus books.
What wonderful pubs! Thank you so much for the tour. 😁 The perfect remedy for a rainy day. ☔️
Lovely video of Edinburgh's pubs, love the amazing old buildings and decor. Have to agree with you the Golf bar you could have given a miss, maybe its for the caddies lol. Thanks Steve and Alicja
There's a few pubs in Edinburgh that used to be nice places to have a pint but have now been renovated into soulless mass-market beer-shifters. The obvious example is The Pear Tree - it used to be an interesting airy space but has been turned into what you'd swear was a cramped basement bar if you couldn't see the courtyard outside.
1:02 Excellent video , especially as I will likely visit Edinburgh later this year ! I have been before but didn’t realise there were so many characterful pubs in the city.
Excellent video. Thanks!
Visiting Edinburgh in August will check out some of these, been many years since I visited the city and your upload reminded me of how beautiful the city is, many thanks!
Working my way through some of these videos, thoroughly enjoyed the Glasgow and Dundee ones. One of my favourite pubs in Edinburgh is Thomson's, was close to my old work for a cheeky lunchtime pint or two. Would quite like to see a West Highlands pub tour.
Love going to a new city and going from pub to pub having few drinks and a bite to eat such a fun thing to do with friends. God I forgot how amazing Edinburgh is. This video has seriously made me consider taking a trip there soon!!
So glad you did the Oxford Bar!
Great tour - thanks for making this.
Our pleasure! Thanks for coming along!
Thanks for sharing and it's a good references when visiting Edinburgh, awesome.
What a fantastic choice of pubs, well done guys! This video brought back lots of happy if somewhat drink befuddled memories. Back in the day when I used to drink in Edinburgh I’d been in 9 out of 10 of these pubs. My personal favourite of the ones you visited is probably the Cafe Royal although I’d be happy in any of them.
I need to get myself back up north of the border to Edinburgh and relive parts of my youth.
Keep up the good work guys. Watching your videos over Saturday brunch has become an enjoyable part of my weekend.
The Golf tavern - I went to Boroughmuir High School, just across the road from the 'Golf' and we were sitting our O-level exams (we were 14/15 yo) and during one really difficult one, we decided to see if we would get served there to take a stress-break !. To our surprise we DID get served and were thoroughly enjoying ourselves until TWO of our teachers walked in - one of them just casually strolled over to where we were sitting and said 'I won't tell if you don't tell!' - whereupon he immediately became our favourite teacher !
Great video guys! Thank you for this information. See you soon Scotland! 🍻
Fantastic video, guys. Beautiful old pubs. Thanks for creating and sharing. Puck.
Unsurprisingly, I loved this video. Every time I recognized a spot, it was a little thrill for me. Thank you, Steve! Hopefully, you get over your pub overload. 😁
thank you for another great video Steve , I am in awe of how ornate these pubs are with there decorative woodwork and ceilings I think most church's would envy such craftmanship these pubs have to offer.
Great video Steve and Happy New Year!
Thanks for showing me inside a whole load of pubs I’ve quite regularly not managed to get in to because they’re so busy!
My office is on St Andrew Square and several times we’ve had team lunches and gone to a pub afterwards only to find them all busy. Last time after our Christmas lunch we did exactly the same order as you - left the restaurant on St Andrew Square, couldn’t get in to Tiles, then tried Cafe Royal and the Guildford Arms, both of which were crazy busy too.
Guildford Arms - a steep stair down from the balcony, then a revolving door to leave. After a long night, I can foresee it ending in chaos, tears and snotters.
A couple I would have tried - getting asked to leave the Canny Man's in Morningside (happens to everyone at some point), and possibly the best pint anywhere at Diggers (Athletic Arms on Angle Park Terrace)
Ah yes! The Diggers! Fastest served pint in Edinburgh, I'd guess!
@@DSTWizz Because you don't have to specify what type of beer? I know they have a couple of lager taps, but I doubt they've ever been used
Another catch up, wonderful.
Thanks to you both for this great video. Took me back. Our motorbike club used to play skittles at the Sheep Heid, i'm talking 60 years ago, and our “technique” was to face the alley holding the heavier balls in both hands and throw ourselves forward, launching the ball just before falling on our hands. Much more accurate. Always finished the evening with a pie and a pint.
So glad you enjoyed it Tom!
Wonderful pub tour. I love all of the stain glass windows. Thank you for braving the bad weather.😎👍
Loved this. Great job by both of you. Feel like I am there with you from Canada.
Great video again. As you’ve already done the Scottish cities by rail you might as well complete the Scottish cities pub quest.
Edinburgh has become my fav city to visit.Great video guys!
Brilliant! Keep the excellent content coming!
Another great pub walk.
Some really interesting ones.
Visited Edinburgh in 2022. Absolutely one of my favorite cities in the world. Loved the Pubs (all of them!). I need to get back to visit this world class city. Thank you for this video. Outstanding.
So glad you enjoyed Edinburgh! It's not always the easiest place to live, but sometimes you forget how enchanting it is for a visitor :)
I was in the TIles some years ago..classy..just dropping in at my Edinburgh tour..thought it was a hightea-room or so!:D..very special city..the view from the hills is great!
Thank you for your 'sacrifice' (ha ha) in braving the elements to let us see so many outstanding pubs in both cities. So much elegance, so much history. Simply wonderful.
Tiles was my favorite haunt for many a year and l also got cafe royal and guldford muxed up alot . Diggers bar is a must to lust for between fountainbridge and gorgie road ❤🙏☕️💯🏴
Fantastic video and fantastic pubs. So much history.
Lovely !
Awesome video!
The next time I’m in Edinburgh (hopefully very soon) I’ll definitely visit some of these incredible places.
Thanks to both of you for letting me have a look in these pubs 🏴
(The next time your looking for a pub in Edinburgh, you should definitely give the „Ensign Ewart“ a try)
Blooming marvellous, and great presentation as usual! Catch u soon.
Beautiful pub . This city is a dream. Thanks for the video.. Edinburgh is a dream..
Lovely video guys! Cheers
Glad this showed up in my recommended. I'll be visiting Edinburgh for the first time next week. Will definitely check out a few of these!
You guys are awesome.... love your work! Greetings from Adelaide South Australia
What an adorable couple you are...Great video again keep up the good work 👏
This is great, thanks! Personally, the grand opulent bars leave me cold, but I will definitely check out the smaller friendlier ones.
I'd recommend The Bow Bar on Victoria Street, and The Doric on Market Street. Oh, and Sandy Bell's fit the live folk music. All amazing wee places.
Crikey, I'd almost forgotten Sandy Bell's. First Edinburgh bar I ever had a drink in too, back in 1963 when I came to Edinburgh as a student. The pub sign used to say "Forrest Hill Bar" then, and a pint was only 1 shilling and sixpence!
Add the Captain's Bar to that list for the best in acoustic music without half a dozen fiddles. ;-)
Another cracking video Steve.I was fascinated to see skittles in a Scottish pub as I did not realise it was played up there.Alicjia seemed to enjoy all of the drinks as well,seeing her on two visits back to back seems unusual( funny drinks were involved).Take care both.
Your channel popped up on my feed for whatever reason, I am truly glad it did. I enjoyed this pub crawl with you two enjoying my coffee and wishing I was there with you two. Thank you 😊
Thanks so much :)
Beautiful pubs….always enjoy Alicja in the videos with you 🤗🤗
The Golf Tav got refurbished in the late 90's, an exorcism of style and joy.
Beautiful Edinburgh.....I miss it. We will definitely be visiting some of these beautiful pubs on our next visit, if we ever make it there. Travel in 2023 doesn't look any easier than 2022 but we're hoping. I love the ceilings and architecture of these old buildings and so grateful that they are being restored and used for future generations to enjoy. Great to have that history preserved! Great job guys!
Thanks so much Janice!
Great video your pub tour such grand historic pubs in a magnificent historic place Edinburgh I've always dreamed of visiting scottland particulary old Edinburgh 😊😊😊
Thank You!
Amazing historic bars. My favorite on the video is: 18:18
Great video. Thanks. I'm planning a trip to Edinburgh and your video was a great preparation for me. Also, you both seem so kind and polite. It was nice to join you on your Pubs and bars tour.
Hey thanks so much, have a wonderful time in Edinburgh :)
@@steve-marsh 😊🙏🏼✨
I miss Edinburgh😞😞😍😍😍
Some absolute gems there, we only had 1 night in Edinburgh during our railway adventure last year and none featured so a further visit is needed.
So glad you did the Guild Ford Arms, one of my favourites when visiting Edinburgh.
Cheers for a few more tips, guys. Loved the Oxford at the end; I read the Rebus books about 15 years ago and used to head round Edinburgh trying to visualise the books better. A Rebus tour would be very well received!
Good insightful video of pubs both in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Food for thought if visiting these cities.
Well done again Steve and Alicja 👍
Hi to you 2 and it is to see the pubs in Edinburgh and raining and how old they are and nice buildings as well and you driving round to the pubs have a nice time
Great fun, you two! I "joined you" with an Arran 10 while you made your way around the city. Would love to see more of Edinburgh's pubs, including the neighborhoods you mentioned at the end of this video. Thanks for the vicarious pub crawl.
Cheers Susan! :)
We will be in Edinburgh in 2 weeks from America. Thank you for this informative video.
The Jug Room is so cool! Another great video Steve
Thank you for this one, I'll be in Edinburgh in September so I will have to check out a few of these - absolutely love the history in Scotland, it will be a fun adventure! ❤
Have an amazing time! Great month to visit in my opinion
Nice video to watch Steve, a lot of good pubs in Edinburgh. Look forward to the next video......