Great cafe! Sadly closing soon - this month (august 2019). Staff are super friendly and playful…read more Baked goods are excellent and diverse, coffee is good. Usually moderately busy with a free table or two. Nearby art and giftshop for all your needs. Right next to the train station. Honestly it was ideal. You shall be missed Milk at Fruit-market Gallery! However, there are other Milk cafes in town if you want the old vibe. One in Haymarket, I believe. RIP.

Milk is the new group running the cafe in the Fruit Market Gallery. So far I've been here twice,…read moreonce for coffee and another time for lunch. It's a great cafe for being just outside the train station. Great place if you have an hour to kill before the train or have just gotten off the train and need a refresher. Attached to the Art Gallery, so you can have your coffee and then enjoy the different exhibitions that are on! They have a really nice lunch menu, tasty and well priced. The Soya latte I had was really good coffee and they used a soya milk that didn't over power the coffee ( like some natural ones do). When we went for lunch I had the thai wrap with a lemon grass cole slaw, which I really enjoyed. Friendly staff and good fast service. Also a good selection of vegan or GF cakes or tray bakes!

Edinburgh Printmakers provides you with all the equipment and guidance you need to print, etch, and…read morebook bind your way to being a better designer. I did the weekend screenprinting course here and found both the space and tuition excellent. The course includes all materials and a 3 month studio membership so you can continue to use the facilities. If you consider what you'd pay an artist for an original screenprint, the cost of the course is money well spent as you'll come away with several prints and the skills to create many more.

Edinburgh is proving to have way to many distractions in my opinion, and this printmaking studio…read moreliterally down my street is one of them. Thankfully it's a very affordable distraction, and I'd probably take advantage of being able to do some print making myself if I had any tiniest idea where to start. Ofcourse, the studio claims to offer lessons, but that would also require some commitment on my part. It's extremely central, on a relatively quiet street just off Leith Walk. For those of you who actually know what they're doing, I'll just let you know what its possible to do over there; etching, lithography, screenprinting and relief printing. They've even got a dark room and and digital studio! It's quite light and spacious, and if you're curious enough, there's also a gallery where you can see some finished prints. I've now added printmaking to my list of things to do in Edinburgh.

Whilst Analogue and Beyond Words should be your first port of call for graphic design and…read morephotography books, the bookshop at the Fruitmarket Gallery should be your first stop for contemporary or underground art. A wee shop occupying the foyer of the gallery, it's packed floor to ceiling with hundreds of different books, zines and magazines on everything from painting, etching and screenprinting to video art and mixed media. There's limited edition catalogues on exhibiting artists, anthologies on Street Art and Outsider Art and weighty tomes on everyone from Tracey Emin to Henry Darger. They also have stocking fillers for budding artists and art lovers in the form of Chronicle Books postcard sets, journals, Japanese stationary, DVDs and for those that want to splash out, pin-hole cameras and limited edition screenprints.

This is a place which has exhibits on modern art and sculpture It is a place where up amd coming…read moreartists can show there work as well as it selling the pieces of more established artists It is a wonderful light place. The exhibits seem to change all the time You can take things there to be valued and arrange to sell art through them

The upstairs galleries usually seem to be showing contemporary figurative painting, a new artist…read moreeach month or so. The staff is cooly indifferent, and they let you wander around undisturbed.

We decided to stay and have a cocktail at the VooDoo Rooms after exploring the Midnight Lunar…read moreMarket. What a vibe this place has going on! We were lucky enough to just show up and grab a semi-circle shaped booth by the bar without any wait. We LOVED that a) the cocktail menu clearly stated "All drinks vegan, please inform staff of any allergens before ordering" and b) that they had the shape of the glassware next to the drink name. The bartender even took some time to make recommendations based on both what was most popular with customers and what the house/staff favorites were. We ended up going with the Porty Licks (gin, pineapple liquor, passionfruit, toasted almond topped with edible flowers) and Green Room (bourbon, peach liquor, lemon, peach, basil yuzu). Both were really well balanced drinks! Next time I'd get the King Khan (spiced rum and a mango oat lassi) or the Hare Krishna (mango, oat milk, chilli, coconut cream, and cardamom - sounds like a lovely non-alcoholic beverage and dessert)!

This place is a gem! I greatly appreciate a vegan option, an actual tasty one at that! The mushroom…read morestroganoff was perfect! It was so flavorful! My non vegan friend even picked into my plate. Great drinks! The staff were friendly and attentive! The decor of this place was amazing; looked like something out of a movie. I'll definitely slide by on my next trip!

It dazzles with somewhat lots of lights and has pre-recorded choirs tuned to lighting display…read more Sure it's good but I wouldn't say I was overwhelmed by it. Mind you saying that it's good for kids and it's free. I can't complain too much as it was free. It's set on the Royal Mile and it's a ticketed event. It last around 20 mins and your welcome to wander through the lights whilst listening to the choirs. There is about 4 choirs that sing a song each. All very good but pre-recorded. It's a lot of standing/ walking around and it's outdoors, so wrap up warm and be prepared for the seasonal Scottish weather because you ain't protected - at all! I had a good time, but I'm sure the kids would enjoy it too if you have them!

I first laid eyes on the Street of Light on the bus home. Oooh, shiny; I was drawn to the dazzling…read morebright lights in the distance. So, I made sure to visit the next evening that I was close by. I didn't take part in one of the free ticketed choir events but just walking through the tunnel of light was a dazzling thing in itself. Of course, it's not unmissable as others too have said, but it's a pretty nice little addition to Edinburgh this Christmas and could have you feeling in the festive spirit. This is a teeny tiny bit tainted by the 'Virgin Money' sponsor that shines from every illuminated archway. But yes, ooooh...shiny, indeed.

Found this place on December 23 after dinner in the neighborhood and looking for a nightcap…read more Followed the music down the stairs and discovered a jam packed bar with a (guessing) 20-piece jazz band and dressed-to-the-nines patrons. We worked our way through the crowd to the back of the bar and found some very cool sunken booths with couches and tables. Took ages to order our drinks at the bar, but the atmosphere and music was awesome. Haven't been to a jazz club this cool since Georgetown (D.C.) in the 80's.

Okay so if you are a music lover and love being in an intimate place with live music...this place…read moreis for you! During my October 2014 birthday trip, we were looking for a place to dance and drink and while we were out at dinner someone at the next table suggested we try this place. We weren't far from it (or really anything in City Center which is one of the many awesome things about Edinburgh) so we walked over to it. The venue is tiny (can't imagine how they're doing during all of the pandemic social distancing and all) so there was a small line outside. We chatted it up with the other people waiting and smoking and the hostess. Once inside it was totally 1960s beatnik dive bar cool and quaint. It was dark with original old wood bar and banquettes, small round tables and mismatched chairs and cushions. There was a small raised stage at the back of the room and there was a four piece band onstage when we got inside. I should also mention that this place at least when I went is an after hours club. They were open until 4 am. Awesome right? YUP! We made friends with everyone around us and not around us because we are those extroverted people. We drank a lot like I don't even remember all the booze. Danced and had multiple nights of good clean fun. What could be better?!

Tron Kirk is a cute little makers market that's housed within an old church…read more The architecture has obviously been around much longer than the market, but it's also something to appreciate while shopping the maker booths. You can find almost anything here if you're looking for a gift or something cute for yourself to take home. I will say that a few of the stalls did not seem like they had made their own products, and maybe bought a lot of something (like souvenirs) and are re-selling them for a pretty penny more. When we visited, though, I definitely focused on the stalls that had handmade items - jewelry, art, and even small things for my cats! It's a very adorable little market housed in a beautiful church, so definitely plan a stop there if you're interested in shopping around (you don't even have to buy anything, it's all just neat to see!)

Another gem on the Royal Mile. It is a beautiful church inside and outside that has been converted…read moreinto a maker's market with wonderful artisan stores. I ended up buying a hat and some art.