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Art Galleries

The National Gallery of Scotland is located in the middle of Princes StreetAn elaborate edifice, it stands on the ‘Mound’ between the two sections of Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens.

The archive and study facilities at the National Gallery include the Prints and Drawings Collection of over 30,000 works on paper, from the early Renaissance to the late nineteenth century; and the reference-only research library, which is available to the general public.

The library covers the period from 1300 to 1900 and holds approximately 50,000 volumes of books, journals, slides, and photographs, as well as archived material relating to the collections, exhibitions and history of the National Gallery.

The Playfair Project, an underground interconnection between the two buildings, opened on 4 August 2004. This contains a lecture theatre, education area, shop, restaurant and an interactive, touch-screen IT Gallery showing the collections of the National Galleries.

Other Galleries

The Royal Scottish Academy is Edinburgh’s premier organisation promoting contemporary Scottish Art. The RSA was founded in 1826, and maintains a unique position in Scotland as an independently funded institution led by artists and architects whose purpose is to promote and support the enjoyment of the visual arts through exhibitions and other related events. Please check the website for details of upcoming exhibitions.

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery located on Queen Street. It holds the national collections of portraits, which are mostly taken by Scots. It opened in 1889 and was established by the newspaper magnate John Ritchie Findlay.

Further into the New Town, and part of the National Galleries of Scotland, lies both the Gallery of Modern Art and the Dean Gallery. The Dean Gallery was designed by Thomas Hamilton in 1830. It contains a large collection of Dada and Surreallist art and literature and it regularly holds temporary exhibitions. It also has a lovely Cafe, which is very popular for lunch, so arrive early for the best treats!

Across the road for the Dean Gallery sits the Gallery of Modern Art. The grounds house landscape sculptures, created by Henry Moore, Rachel Whiteread, Tony Cragg and Barbara Hepworth which present a stunning and peaceful stroll into the gallery entrance. In 2002 the front lawn was converted in a giant landform sculpture. The sculpture is said to be inspired by chaos theory.

Edinburgh is host to a range of commercial cinemas including the Odeon, Vue and Cineworld. For a complete list of films on in Edinburgh check out the Edinburgh Cinema Guide. Edinburgh also plays host to a number of excellent independent cinemas;

Theatre

The Festival Theatre is an international theatre presenting a variety of entertainment from opera and ballet to children’s entertainment. It’s outstanding facilities include one of the largest stages in the UK. For more information on current performances please check their website.

The Kings Theatre presents high quality drama, dance, comedy and musical theatre alongside local amateur companies. The Kings annual Pantomime runs in December and January and is a must see for the whole family. For more information on current performances please check their website.

The Edinburgh Playhouse has established itself as Scotland’s host to large scale West End Musicals. Their programme covers a broad range of performances including opera, ballet, rock, pop and comedy. For information on current performances please check their website.

The Royal Lyceum Theatre Company is one of Scotland’s leading theatres. The company has a reputation for excellent productions of classic and contemporary drama and a commitment to developing new Scottish writing. For further information on events see Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre.

The Traverse Theatre is Edinburgh’s famous new writing theatre and home of the legendary Traverse Bar Cafe. The theatre produces and hosts the best contemporary plays from Scotland and and is a leading venue for the Edinburgh Fringe. For further information on events see Traverse Theatre.

The Usher Hall is one of the most outstanding concert halls in the world. A landmark in the heart of Edinburgh the Usher Hall stages the highest level of musical and civic participation, and has been host to some of the most memorable concerts and events in the city. For further information on events see Usher Hall.

Brunton Theatre is a wonderful gem hidden on the edge of the east side of Edinburgh in the town of Musselburgh. The theatre boasts 300 of the best seats in town and productions that are second to none in quality and variety. For further information on events see Brunton Theatre.

Cinemas

The Filmhouse is home to the International Film Festival and is perhaps the largest independent cinema in Edinburgh. The Filmhouse offers a range of films that are normally not available at the more commercial cinema houses.

The Cameo is a unique cinema which started life as the King’s Cinema on 8 January 1914 and is one of the oldest cinemas in Edinburgh, or even Scotland. Recently there have been attempts to sell the cinema and turn it into a nightclub. But due to public protest (and from high profile entertainers), the decision was made to keep the Cameo in its present form.

The Dominion Cinema is a family run cinema in the heart of Morningside which is just south of the city centre. The cinema is easily accessible by bus and there is also off-street parking. The collection includes work by Picasso, Mondrian, Peter Howson, Francis Bacon, Lucien Frued, as well as many others. Again, this Gallery has a wonderful cafe. In the spring and summertime you can eat outside, relax and enjoy the atmoshpere.

Shopping

Shopping in Edinburgh gets better and better. The location and views from Princes St have always made it a very special shopping street. There aren’t many shopping streets in the world that are so confident of their location that they only put shops on one side, leaving the other side to host the magnificent views across the gardens to Edinburgh Castle and the Mound. Princes St is the place to go for your favourite High St names like Marks and Spencer, Gap, & Boots.

Jenners was the shop to go to in Edinburgh – and it’s still there (even if it is owned by House of Fraser these days) in its wonderful, if somewhat idiosyncratic, building. At Christmas do go and see the tree.

Jenners has a bit more competition these days from the luxury shops around the Multrees Walk area – headed by Harvey Nicks and supported by Louis Viutton, Mulberry, Links, Calvin Klien and lots more. To the more prosaic John Lewis is at the other end of Multrees Walk and Debenhams is on Princes St.

At times it has felt like the Royal Mile was host to rather too much “tartan tat”. Nowadays there are some really interesting shops and cafés along here. You can get some lovely Cashmere and tweed designer outfits as well as full highland regalia, “jimmy hats” and horrifying medieval weaponry! There’s rather special whiskey available here as well.

Shopping Centres

Like most cities today, Edinburgh has several shopping centres. In the city centre is St James Mall. The flagship shop here is John Lewis and there is a covered walkway over to the car park for the Omni centre with the multi-screen cinema, fitness centre, clubs and restaurants.

A little further out of town are Cameron Toll and Ocean Terminal. Ocean Terminal is especially convenient if you are planning to visit the Royal Yacht Britannia which is based there. Some of the café’s and restaurants have excellent views of Britannia and over the Forth to the Kingdom of Fife. Another big plus is free parking!

Food

Edinburgh has some wonderful food shops. A leading light in this community is the Italian delicatessen Valvonna and Crolla. Another local favourite deli is Herbies who have outlets in Stockbridge and the West End.

Real Foods provides organic natural foods in the foody enclave of Broughton St. Another resident of this area is Crombies, the sausage shop – you can top up on your haggis here as well!

For really fresh food direct from the farms head for Castle Terrace on Saturday morning to go to the award winning Farmers’ market.

Arts & Antiques

There are many art galleries in Edinburgh with a concentration being down Dundas St where galleries such as Bourne Fine Art, The Scottish Gallery and Colours Gallery are located.

A good range of second-hand and antique art, jewellery and books are found around the New Town, St Stephen Street, Northwest Circus Place, Thistle Street, Broughton Street, Victoria St and the Grassmarket.

Charity Shops

Edinburgh’s charity shops are reputed to bring in people from far and wide. The well heeled citizens of Edinburgh are generous to a fault when it comes to giving their cast offs to the local charity shop. Have fun rummaging around – you’ll find a good range of such shops in Stockbridge, Morningside and throughout the city.