Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Leave Stockbridge via St. Stephen Street to St. Vincent Street, turning left (east) on
Cumberland Street, and proceeding to:
9
Dundas Street
Having passed Playfair's St. Stephen's church, you are now in the heart of the
Northern New Town. Separated from the capital's first New Town by Queen
Street Gardens, it was planned in the first years of the 19th century by Robert
Reid and William Sibbald. The architecture remains uniform. At the bottom of
Dundas Street, which has several art and antique shops, is Canonmills—origi-
nally the site of a milling settlement for the Abbey of Holyroodhouse.
Go up the hill of Dundas Street and stop by at:
10 Glass & Thompson
This is a classic, upmarket cafe that feels part and parcel of Edinburgh's rather posh New
Town. Local ingredients and Continental goods are combined on platters of cheese, sea-
food, cold meats, and salad. The cake selection is renowned. Open from 8am to late
afternoon (2 Dundas St.;
&
0131/557-0909).
You can call it a day if you're tired and return to Princes Street by following Dundas
Street through Queen Street Gardens (after which the road becomes Hanover St.).
9
Or, if you're still willing, carry on by turning left (east) on Abercromby Place, which
(after crossing Dublin St.) becomes Albany Street, continuing to:
11
Broughton Street
This is one of the key places for nightlife in Edinburgh today, with traditional
pubs, stylish bars, and some restaurants. At the bottom of the street at the
roundabout is the former Bellevue Reformed Baptist Church (and before that,
Catholic Apostolic), which the local community has actively tried to preserve,
mainly for the sake of some colorful neo-Florentine interior murals by artist
Phoebe Traquair (1852-1936). At the top of the street is Picardy Place, named
after a small village that was established here in 1730 for immigrant silk weav-
ers from France.
Cross Broughton Street to Forth Street, turning right on Union Street to Baxter's Place
and the:
12
Top of Leith Walk
If you were to continue north on Leith Walk you would end up fairly soon at
the port of Leith (See “Walking Tour 4: Leith,” p. 121). At the top of Leith Walk
is the Playhouse theater, designed by a Glaswegian architect for films and
dramatic productions in the late 1920s (p. 136). They no longer screen films at
the Playhouse, but the glass Omni Centre just up the road has a multiplex
cinema.
Having crossed Leith Walk, continue up the hill past the Omni Centre and further to
Waterloo Place, turning left to reach:
13
Calton Hill
The first comparison of Edinburgh to Athens apparently was made in the mid-
1700s, and given the city's key role in the Scottish Enlightenment, the nick-
name “Athens of the North” stuck. But the city only made vain attempts to
