City Guide | 4 Hours in Edinburgh

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.

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.

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!

 

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.

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.

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