Edinburgh's Cockburn Street on a gorgeous day

Several shops and restaurants open onto both Cockburn Street and the North Bridge, which spans Waverly Valley, while the western side of the street sports the famous Baked Potato Shop (where you can put any imaginable topping onto a baked potato and revel in its stodgy goodness) and small jewelery and t-shirt stores.

[image credit: 0olong]

Walking Down Cockburn Street

The street itself, as well as Hunter’s Square across the Royal Mile, is one of the prime areas for Edinburgh’s goth and emo teens to rove, particularly thanks to shops like Whiplash Trash and a few other retailers who cater to these teens’ more bizarre or esoteric clothing tastes with styles that are hard to find in high street chains.

Looking down on Cockburn Street coming from the Royal Mile

[image credit: Óscar Palmer]

Continuing on, you pass a number of small closes on either side; these small streets stretch like herringbones along the length of the Royal Mile, and you’ll find places like Fleshmarket Close, whose name harks back to the original purpose of the street. As Cockburn Street continues on, you’ll pass small grocery stores (full of local charm, then the prices are a sight higher than some of the major chains) and restaurants that cater to Edinburgh’s young and trendy wine bar crowd.

Unique little shops on Cockburn Street in the heart of Edinburgh

[image credit: contagiousmemes]

The foot of Cockburn Street is home to a more traditional pub (with live music) and entryway to steps that lead back up to the Royal Mile, as well as a store that sells cute, asian-style toys, and a traditional candy shop.

Cockburn Street is a charming and enticing street which is also a microcosm of Edinburgh as a whole, with its trendy shops and restaurants as well as some seamier elements. Walking down Cockburn Street can take five minutes or five hours, depending on where and for how long you stop, and it’s an experience not to be missed.

Cockburn Street in Edinburgh's Old Town

Situated close to the North Sea on the East Coast of the Central Belt, just south of the Firth OF Forth, Edinburgh is the second largest city in Scotland, but the main tourist attraction for those visiting “the greatest country in the world”. Also, it’s one of the country’s biggest educational hub with an intellectual history that earned its nickname, the Athens of the North.

Thanks to an amazing cityscape that adds dramatic contours to the magnificent architecture with long surviving buildings, Edinburgh is shifting from the historic, yet bustling city centre of the medieval Old Town to the urbanity and the contemporary of the New Town, in the most stunning possible way. That must be the reason why Auld Reekie (Scots for Old Smoky) is now on an exquisite list that includes other World Heritage Sites. And “probably” with some help from the mind-blowing ancient stronghold that dominates the sky-line— the Edinburgh Castle.

Edinburgh Castle as seen from Princes Street gardens

But Edinburgh is not stuck in the past as some may think. It knows how to entertain, enlighten and intrigue, all at the same time. Although there’s a wide variety of good pubs, restaurants or bars, culture, arts, sports and plenty of “green” to spend some relaxing time, the thing that Edinburgh does best, are festivals. Every summer the city explodes and population even quadruples when the Edinburgh Festival (world’s largest festival, they say) opens its gates. So it’s quite obvious that they don’t call it the Festival City, for nothing.

And did we mention, that Edinburgh gets a lot of votes each year as one of the most desirable places to live, in the world? By now I suppose you know why! It’s one of those special cities that knows how to be both ancient and modern at the same time.

A busy Princes Street

There are many more things we could say about Edinburgh, and we’re making a sacred promise that we will. All you have to do is buckle up and enjoy while we delve in deeeper and deeper into the true heart of Edinburgh.

Image credits: 1, 2, 3