The No1 Currency Exchange on the Royal Mile was the first, and as it turned out, and only currency…read moreexchange I went to on my Scotland heritage travel trip in July 2019. I stopped by to get some of the local currency in my first 24 hours in Scotland and before heading out to get my rental car. The exchange rate was good and the worker friendly. For the rest of my trip, I went with ATM withdrawals as the fee my bank charged me was small and they ran the conversions. Going through the in-person exchange was a confidence builder, especially at the beginning of the trip. I was asked questions about how I wanted the currency and what exchange rate I wanted. It helped me pay attention to what the different bills and coinage were. While I did not use another currency exchange place on my trip, it was helpful to have the in-person exchange in my repertoire to know I could do it again if I needed to.

I went here to exchange my currency for the local pound sterling, and the service was very…read moreefficient and straightforward. There was no fee required, and I was in and out in a matter of minutes. Would recommend this location specifically because the area is very picturesque and near a number of interesting attractions, so you can exchange your currency and have a nice walk by the shops/monuments.

The best place for buying foreign currency that I have found in Edinburgh!…read more They have a better exchange rate than any of the banks or the post office and you get an online quote and show it at the counter they give you an even better rate. This is a wee unassuming stand in Waverley train station but it has been a great help in getting the most out of my holiday money.

Very bad rate! The man at the place had the decency to admit that we could get a better dollar to…read moreeuro exchange rate at the airport in Berlin and we did.

Great friendly local bank of RBS. staff are all very nice and it is never necessary to wait long…read more Cash machine also available. Will happily give you a free meeting to talk about your finance and can do any tasks that need altered on your account. Will also exchange money and anything else they can do to help

This tiny currency cabin built into the Princes Mall is clearly very strategically, and cleverly…read moreplaced, for people getting off airport buses and the like, and for reeling in wandering tourists in general. That bit of the street is always packed and it takes a hundred years to get anywhere or cross the road (whinge, grumble, complain). Anyway, obviously, No.1 Currency isn't just for tourists needing a quick and convenient Sterling hand out, it's for locals getting away on their holidays too. I'm always completely disorganised and massively last minute about everything, so for me this place is great for a speedy Euros pick up, not that you get many of them to the pound these days. Wow, I hadn't realised I was in such a grumbling mood before I started writing this. I'm not great at researching and going round places checking lots of different exchange rates, but apparently word on the street is that No.1 Currency, Marks & Spencer, and American Express have the most competitive exchange rates in the city centre, so if you're actually organised about your holidays, unlike me, it's probably worth going round these three and seeing what rates they're offering.

If you're in a desperate hurry for Euros, Roubles or any of the other worthless forms of Monopoly…read moremoney that passes for currency in foreign lands, then No1 currency will probably suffice. Typical of all money changing outlets in tourist cities however, you will likely find yourself heavily ripped off, and receive an exchange rate significantly lower than the one advertised on the boards. Given that we hardly get any Euros for our money these days anyway, a visit here will usually result in an afternoon spent mumbling ill informed euro-sceptic political opinions, and hastily re-budgeting for the upcoming trip that's now going to cost twice as much as originally planned. If you have the time, go to the Post Office instead. You'll be waiting in a queue for 6 hours, but you'll get a better deal.

Cheque money has bailed me out of trouble many times. For some reason I frequently find myself…read morehaving money in every currency but the Bristish pounds! However, I've probably been over there out of necessity rather than choice, as there seems to be a real lack of reputable looking money exchange centres in Newington (correct me if I'm wrong!) The first time I was there, they seemed quite professional, requiring my ID and a signature for the transaction. However, none of that's been necessary the last two times I've been, and service is relatively quick. On one occasion, I was even directed over there by staff at the Royal Bank of Scotland to get better exchange rates, so I assume they give may offer a better deal from time to time!

Well, there we went in the hope of simply opening a savings account...Little did I know I was to be…read moretaken for a terrorist, along with my family (argh!)...Having said that, I should probably be thankful that the police didn't come after me and my family after we left the bank??! The reason? Perhaps the fact that we took a shopping bag containing a wee box inside it where we'd put our money...Which happened to be the money we told the first girl who was supposed to advise us (!!) we wanted to deposit into our new-to-be-bank-account?? As it turned out we couldn't even open it as the required, TRAINED staff to do it were absent... From this to the woman who afterwards asked us what we were doing (waiting in the queue??) maybe to get our money exchanged??...Or even to the woman in charge of money exchange (who had been warned about us(!!) by a colleague to whom, in turn, she readily and discreetly gave a sign, while whispering something that sounded like "If there's any problem I'll give you a shout!")....A complete joke!! Unbelievingly rude, offensive and incompetent CURRENT staff, the worst bank experience EVER!! It USED to be a good branch, indeed, with very good service (Past simple) ! At least by the time we first opened our bank accounts (with James) and some time afterwards we even got to know by sight almost everyone in the bank...We hadn't been there for some time, though, and got shocked when we couldn't recognise anyone (although unaware of what awaited us)...So I suppose that the staff DO make a branch a pleasant place to go to? Or un-make it? In conclusion, I believe we'll think thrice before risking another visit to this very branch...Or we might end up, who knows, behind bars??

Unique polish artworks, claims the sign outside Beautiful Things. How intriguing. So what exactly…read moreis unique polish artwork? Well, it's a whole mish mash of things really. They have stone heads that look a bit like the Moai on Easter Island (I had to look Moai up, thanks Wikipedia), ceramic chickens, all different kinds of glassware, weird hedgehog figures. All sorts really. What's really nice about this place is the little flyer by the door listing all the designers whose work is sold in the shop. They're all graduates of art college, with skills ranging from fine art to goldsmiths. Touches like that make a quirky art shop that bit better. The prices vary vastly. Some things cost a fiver, some five hundred. Go as wild as you want. But if you want to get someone a more interesting present than usual, I'd recommend Beautiful Things. Beautiful? Perhaps. Unique? Definitely.

I love this shop. Like a magpie, it catches my eye every time I walk past, with pretty glass-based…read morethings in the window. I haven't had an excuse to buy anything yet, but there are birthdays coming up, and I think someone is going to be in for a treat.

Yesterday my wife and son arrived in Edinburgh, they went to change euros against pounds at the…read morelandside 2 desk. She gave 760 euros and got 540 pounds back. I understand the airport is not the best place to exchange money and you will get a bad rate but not to that extend. It means you need 1.4 euro to get a pound for something that trade at 1.11. I understand all the costs involved but even with everything taken into account you can't get a rate that bad. I called them to check if there was no mistake and apparently no, they stand by that. I called another airport to do a simulation and they would have given my wife 580 pounds. There can't be that much of a difference. That's conman territory. My wife shouldn't have accepted and nobody forced her but she was a bit stressed and she didn't think more of it. I clearly not recommend them. They tell you that every locations will choose their own rate but the head office should regulate that better, their brand name is involved with some lunatics in some places.