I used to make regular visits to The Paper Rack on my way between Edinburgh Uni buildings at George…read moreSquare and The Mound. I have some sort of messed up metabolism and need to eat about every 30 minutes. I don't like eating a lot of snacks and junk food so having a purveyor of some healthier alternative (a rare find) on my route is great. On my visits I would buy from their great selection of cereal and smoothie bars to fulfil my calorie needs. Having said this The Paper Rack does have a good selection of snacks and junk food as well as (for some reason) decent quality tinned biscuits. As has already been mentioned they also have a good selection of papers and magazines, a must for all newsagents. The staff serving me were always on the phone but managed to still be perfectly pleasant. They seemed to charge me something different every time for the same item, but it was always cheaper than the other nearby newsagent.

A newsagent's can only be so good I suppose, but with the rip-off haven of the Royal Mile just a…read morefew yards away, I really can't think of a better option round here for fags, chewing gum, scratchcards or gossip fuelled tabloids. With a selection of mags that almost rivals International Newsagents down the road, minus the foreign ones, it's very well stocked, and they also sell the fantastic Brannigan's crisps, the king of potato snacks and often annoyingly awkward to find.

Newsagents are the sort of place that you'd just visit rather than necessarily becoming a fan of,…read morehence the rating being limited to three stars. To become a fan of this place might be a bit over the top. I happened to be going past here earlier today, and popped in to see about getting a drink. In the end, I didn't buy anything, but was fairly impressed with what was offered. Whilst it may not have a massive amount of stock compared to some of the larger newsagents, I liked the feeling of space in here. The shelves are just on the two side walls, meaning that the middle of the shop is free to allow space to wonder. This may just be because the shop itself is not massive, but I often find places like this to be crammed floor to ceiling with stuff, which can be claustrophobic at times. The stock that was there was fairly standard, with a wall of magazines (maybe one of the largest selections I've seen in a shop of this size) and one of sweets, chocolate and drinks. A good little well-designed newsagents all in all!

6.30am. On my way home from a truly ridiculous festival night out. Yes home. Oooh Neal you absolute…read moreparty animal. See, my biggest problem with Edinburgh (apart from Scottish football, but that's based in Glasgow isn't it?), is that all the takeaways shut before the clubs. What the hell?! Sort it out Edinburgh. Returning to my night out, I was pretty peckish on my way home. Obviously everywhere was shut - it was 6.30am. Except everywhere wasn't shut. News plus, just seconds from my flat (hence I'd given up by now) was open! Result! I got a coronation chicken sandwich, which was actually very very tasty. So now I feel a sort of affinity with this place. They helped me out in my time of need so now I feel loyal to them. It's a pretty good newsagents to be loyal to. It doesn't sell more that it should, and it sells all the right things at the right price. It's just a bloody good newsagent

This is a store where you do get drawn in on your way past by the stalls out front. You can get…read moresome great deals on these sections out front, which are generally good quality and not just reduced but gone off like you sometimes see elsewhere. Round the shop you get a variety of items some good value for money and other bad, but so long as you use a bit of common sense and judgement you can get good value for money here. The staff are also friendly and helpful and always keep you up to date, although I guess this one might be in their best interests.

I buy flowers here for every special occassion, and just bought a huge bunch of flowers for my…read morewife's birthday. It may be my last purchase ! Got home to find that they were all diseased/withered/dead inside. They looked fine the way they were packaged when I bought them. It was only once the bunch was opened up that I was able to see that they were in a shocking state. Needless to say my wife was a bit let down by this and I was extremely annoyed having driven in from the outskirts of town specifically to buy from this shop, ( and incur parking charges!). I may be a bit premature with this review and I'll update it if all goes well when I drive back into town for a refund tomorrow, but as things stand I'm not at all happy. Watch this space.

It's the best and onle wee cornershop worth thinking about if you at the cannongate, calton area,…read morehotels like the travel lodge and premier inn are less than 5min away. Everything's reasonably priced considering you'd have to walk a lot further to get the same groceries this place sells. Staff are wonderfully people, feels like a wee family community shop for me and my partner. The guys are great for a chat or laugh too.... open on a sunday too. They can sometimes get stuff in for you if your a regular and like a particular brand etc. Stephen & Dee. We'd be lost without this wee shop, it's away from the hustle and bustle of the bridges.

Because of its location in one of the best retail spots in town you know in advance that this place…read moreis not going to be knocking out unbelievable deals from every possible piece of shelf on offer. As it is the prices are fairly dear, but that is really to be expected. One area that is a bit confusing is the price labelling and it can be fairly confusing in terms of working out how much each item costs and this can be a bit of a challenge. When the shop is busy you hardly want to be asking the shop keeper how much everything costs every twenty seconds. Despite all this, I do come to this shop every time I'm in the area and in need of a quick drink or bite to eat as it is the most accessible outlet in the area. It doesn't offer anything special, but it does get the job done.

Max News Stop is strangely anonymous. They don't have a website or, more oddly, a phone number. At…read moreleast they didn't seem to want to give me one! Anyway I can assure you Max News Stop (which also sounds a bit like some secret message via telegram) does exist. I used to drop in regularly on my long walk to uni. There's nothing particularly remarkable about Max News, it sells newspapers rather predictably. It also offers the usual array of sweets, cheap sandwiches and phone cards, which all newsagents of this type tend to stock. A little more unusually Max News also sells a s very small selection of flowers and sometimes plotted plants. Complementing this they also offer a variety of gift cards (admittedly not all appropriate for flower giving e.g. "Happy 5th Birthday for a special son"). Some of these cards are of unexpected quality. Anyway other than the small supermarket down the road there are surprisingly few newsagents in the area, so its worth keeping Max News Stop in mind. I could also do with someone else writing a review just to rid myself of that niggling doubt that I actually just made this place up.

Poor customer service…read more On receiving my change from buying my morning paper and drink, I asked the tattooed 'dude' behind the counter if I could get two £1 pound coins in change rather than a single £2 pound coin...to which he responded that he isn't a bank and handed me a £2 coin. With customer appreciation like that, I'll be back for sure.

I've reviewed a few newsagents around Edinburgh and complained there all too similar. However I…read morehave to make a special mention for Latest News and in particular its excellent selection of magazines. Latest News is a large Newsagent located at the bottom of Lothian Road. The first thing that strikes you is the window display full of tacky plastic souvenir ornaments of dogs and romantic scenes. I don't know why, but these things have become commonly sold in newsagents and cheap gift shops as of late. I can understand the niche kitsch value but how you can have an entire window display of them I don't know. This isn't a complaint, but an observed oddity. The second thing you notice, once you've stepped inside, is the very large, very impressive magazine selection. Edinburgh doesn't have many shops that sell good magazines beyond the standards. It doesn't even really have a large impressive WH Smith. But Latest News fills its shelves to the brim with specialist magazines from trout fishing to doll house collecting, thus filling a niche market. I first visited when looking for a martial arts magazine I couldn't find anywhere else, and was recommended here by a friend. Sure enough they had it in stock. So if you are stuck in Edinburgh and can't find some magazine in particular, try out Latest News. They also sells sweets and newsagents standards. At the back of the shop they offer sandwiches and snacks. I should also add that the stuff are always incredibly smiley and welcoming, making this place especially endearing.

This may not be politically correct, but this kiosk has "foreigner" written all over it - in a good…read moreway ofcourse! First of all, I'm one of the foreigners that have found their services extremely useful. They happen to sell several brands of calling cards - for those who don't know what these are, they're supposed to lessen the cost of calling relatives abroad, particularly in Africa and Asia. Whilst the claim of 1000 minutes for £5 seems like a steal, you soon realise they're usually worth only 300 minutes, and this is if you're lucky! I felt scammed the first time a quick chat with my mum had amounted to 100 minutes of talking...as if! Aside from calling cards, and the opportunity of the famed Western Union Money Transfer, they sell the usual kiosk staples of magazines, simple groceries, snacks and tobacco. It may be small, but it's extremely useful, and the staff have been really laid back and friendly every time I've been in there.

A basic post office situated on boswall drive. Will quite happily do all post office tasks apart…read morefrom unfortunately no road tax. Also includes a well stocked newsagaent which has a variety of sweets, other common foods, drinks, magazines and newspapers. Stationary also available.

Bobbies, with its jet black fronting, tries so desperately to look inconspicuous on Morrison…read moreStreet...much like a pervert in a Mac. For that reason, I noticed it right away. Not that I seek out weatherproof sex offenders, but I'd like to think that most people would notice a slimy brothel creeper. From the content in the window, you can tell it's going to be a bit on the sleazy side, but it's not as disreputable as its front suggests. It's not so much porntastic than designed for people who flirt with erotica, in particular novels and some cartoons. It's the place to find fetish literature, comic strips called "FREAK", and novels with gay content. I was most impressed with the latter section of the store, since off the top of my head I can't think of anywhere in Scotland that specialise in this genre. Last time I saw a store specialising in gay lit sales I was in New York, so it's cool to see this genre's not sidelined on this side of the Atlantic. So although Bobbie's does its best to blend in with its exterior (staying neutral to be inoffensive, I suppose) on the inside you're met with a mixture of material. Not for everyone, but these kind of shops are good for people who don't want to buy everything online. Sometimes books of a sexual nature are far too veiled in secrecy, so with Bobbies at least people who are interested in such literature can located copies of supplements without having to surrepticiously slip them in a bag under the counter. It offers enough subtlety and privacy so that customers can appease their hobbies in peace.

Not for me...clearly…read more Getting over the fact that they sell gay books, I can imagine finding a specific book in here would be hard. There is no clear display sections in here, it's a bit of a jungle. But, I imagine that alot of them would be about the same thing... So just grab one and see. Staff were great fun.