Leith Walk

It’s a long walk but there are buses going up and down all day long if you find you are getting a little weary and you’re feet are getting sore or the heavens decide to open and pour down! Lots of interesting shops to go into and the vast amount of eating places — there’s a plenty to choose from!

It seems like everyone and their dog has moved to this end of town recently. It’s not «on your way» to anywhere except Leith, and friends’ homes. So it’s not somewhere folk will be ‘passing through’ often. Which is a shame, as it has such an eclectic array of shops, eateries and knick knacks that it’s a fascinating wee (long) walk!
From the Cat’s Miaou which is small but bursting with jewellery and knick knacks, fruit shops, burrito bars and taco shops, Polish pancake and pierogi stops, the Brass Monkey Leith (a great bar), Victoria (another great bar) and way more that I don’t know about as I don’t come here enough.
It looks a bit beat up, it’s the prettiest street in Edinburgh. But if you walk down here and then onto Constitution and to the Shore, you’ll pass a real taste of real Edinburgh and real Scotland.
Some locals of Leith don’t consider themselves from Edinburgh. It’s a wee slice of the type of Scotland my grandma and grandad grew up in, on the outskirts of our international melting pot of a city.

Four older folk are sitting on a bench at the ‘Foot of the Walk’ bathing themselves in the afternoon sun, whilst having a blether and catching up on the latest Leith gossip. Next to them, a younger man is sprawled out having what looks like a pleasant snooze, and very sweet dreams. Across the ‘Kirkgate’, a gentleman has been imbibing the best ale in Leiths finest pubs, and is swaying on the gentlest of breezes while his friend is laughing at his expense. Meanwhile, the ever-​present hot-​dog vendor is touting his wares, as a wondrous smell of onions drifts around. Most people are happy, and everyone is smiling…
…including me!
I have lived just off Leith Walk for over a decade now, and witnessing the scene above, this very afternoon, reminded me of why I love it so much! From born and bred ‘Leithers’, to visitors from countries far and wide, Leith Walk and it’s community are vibrant, full of energy and ever evolving
Only here can you shop in a wide range of Chinese, Polish and Indian supermarkets, pick up jewellery (definitely head to ‘The Cats Miou’ for beautiful gifts), tobacco, a banjo or a bed from the various independent stores that pepper the ‘Walk’, do your laundry in one of the friendliest laundrettes around (that’s the ‘Laundrette’ by the way!) and mooch among the variety of charity, and antique, shops looking for a bargain.
Once you’re done shopping, you can rest your laurels in one of the superb Leith Walk eateries or bars. Of course, there are oodles of them, and I’d urge you to spend an afternoon sampling their fine wares. My favourites would include ‘Brass Monkey Leith’ (great atmosphere, selection of beers, delicious food, quiz & a dart board!), the ‘Sicilian Pastry Shop’ (not quite on the Walk, but close enough to count!), ‘Joseph Pearce’, ‘Boda’, ‘Victoria’ (all members of the same Swedish bar family), ‘Qupi’ Greek café, ‘La Favorita’ (delicious pizza!), ‘Ecos’ Moroccan café (great coffee & delicious traditional food) and ‘I Heart Café’ (a chilled out lunch with free wi-​fi). Many of them have tables outdoors, and when you you walk past on a sunny day, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re on holiday. It just has that amazing, chilled out vibe!
Sure, there is the odd dodgy bar here and there, and a couple of places I wouldn’t settle down to lunch in… but in their own right, they still add to the character of this diverse area. The folk are friendly, I feel quite safe here and, more importantly, it feels like home!
Throughout the year, there are many festivals (Leithlate is happening soon!) and celebrations of Leith life, and I’ll continue to enjoy wandering up and down Leith Walk witnessing all the fantastic goings on… I may even sit on a bench one day, with friends in the sun, and have a blether about it!

It’s a bit mental.
In fact it’s a perfect sliding scale of mentalness/​randomness.
The top of Leith Walk (closest end to town) is relatively normal.
The bottom of Leith Walk is a hive of random activity.
The walk between to two points is like a tour into the insanity of humanity.
Leith is a great place to live.

leith walk is a unique place in edinburgh. it starts at the east end of princes street and then continues all the way down to the start of great junction street. the ‘walk’ connects what used to be two different towns, the great city of edinburgh to the proud town of leith. now we’re all one, but i still like that as you walk down leith walk you can feel a distinct change between edinburgh and leith.
not only is there the difference between the two towns, but leith walk is home to some amazing restaurants, bars, and take aways. a few favourites of mine would include i heart café (amazing couscous salad and sandwiches!!), joseph pearce (hasselback potatoes anyone?), la favourita (delicious wood fired pizzas and tasty pastas), los cardos (tex mex goodness!), the brass monkey (awesome pub quiz monday and scrummy nachos), café marlayne (lovely french bistro), gaia (for homemade sicilian food and friendly service), and the list goes on!
there is also a very large library on the corner of mcdonald road and leith walk, a police station just off the walk on gayfield square in case you need some added safety, the leith co-​op cycle shop, a large asian supermarket, a number of smaller supermarkets (tesco express, the co-​op), two post offices, and even a few hair and beauty places.
from the numerous bus stops on leith walk you can get pretty much anywhere in edinburgh from along princes street, to the south of town and the meadows, and even all the way out to the gyle industrial estate where i work. if you are feeling a bit flush then just hail one of the many taxis that come along the walk regularly and get anywhere you need to go.
leith walk is one of the best streets in edinburgh. it has literally everything one could need and connects two very lovely areas of this beautiful city together.

Leith Walk very much embodies cosmopolitan Edinburgh in a street. Few of the best Italian restaurants in Edinburgh reside here, like La Favourita, Vittoria (and some of the worst) you have 3 of the 5 «Swedish Bars» (Boda, Victoria and Joseph Pearce) you also have Asian, Indian, Burmese and Turkish Restaurants or eateries. American (KFC /​Pizza Hut /​Dominoes /​Pappa Joe’s), Polish & Mexican Takeaways and a wide variety of international supermarkets and shops for Halal, Chinese and Baltic flavours — but obviously your Co-​Op and Tesco reside here too.
Estate Agents and Pharmacies seem to own the street but look further and you’ll find bakeries, alteration, electrical, computer & board games exchange (Games Exchange) and of course The Pipeshop — near the Foot of the Walk — for all your tobacco paraphernalia. Then there are the banks, hairdressers pet shops, wine merchants and charity shops. –pfffft .you got them all here!
Living in Leith I found that there is no need to go anywhere else for my daily and certainly exotic food supplies.
For evenings out there are plenty of bars & restaurants to cater for your patronage and pleasure. From brown café’s to trendy establishments and everything in-​between.
Also the ‘walk’ is a haven for bus travellers — you can get nearly most of the buses in Edinburgh on the Walk and many more on Elm Row. (interchange)
I like to savour (& keep) the flavour of this street and its many many different characters. I would also like to see it done up. There are too many under developed sites on this street and some neglected spaces which make this brilliant street a little underwhelming and unattractive to the ‘casual’ folk out there.
Honestly give it a chance, visit and find out what a brilliant street Leith Walk is.

When I tried to use the self-​scanning till it failed to dispense part of my change. A guy (possibly the manager) came from the back room and refunded me but did so in a curt and gruff manner. Not very good customer-​facing behaviour.
I’m not a big fan of these Tesco Expresses anyway, they are often poorly run and maintained compared to the larger Tescos, and seem to charge significantly more for the (more limited) range of goods on sale. Sainsburys tend to do these kind of smaller Supermarket branches better.

Without a shadow of a doubt my favourite street, anywhere, Leith Walk is as far removed from the picture postcard Edinburgh as it is possible to be. In my opinion though, it’s got more culture, wit and plain old real life in grubby doorway than the entire Royal Mile, by a long shot.
Polish delis, Middle Eastern fashion stores, shifty pubs, greasy spoons, and a shop that sells only dartboards and twenty year old TV sets, it’s the most fascinating and multicultural street in the whole of Edinburgh. It would take weeks to sample all it has to give, which is a lot more than tartan underpants and miniature statues of a kilted Mel Gibson.
A couple of yuppie style bars have made an appearance, leading to a lot of superlatives such as «up and coming» to be bandied about by reptilian estate agents. Ignore them, Leith Walk already arrived centuries ago and it’s perfect as it is.

Whenever I’ve taken a trip down Leith Walk, I always feel on edge. There has never been a time that I’ve walked down hassle free or without someone asking me for spare change. Just the other week I was stopped no less than 3 times before I was a quarter of the way down and one of the men asking me for money got rather aggressive when I said no and followed me for a few metres until someone else came along. Leith Walk reminds me of Victoria Street in Glasgow, somewhere that I’d never walk along on my own.
No matter what time of day you find yourself here, there’s always an abundance of drunken men spilling out of the bookies and pubs than line the street.
There is a good mix and selection of shops and many independent stores too which is refreshing but the seedy undertone to Leith Walk puts me of going anywhere near it and although you’d probably never come to any harm here, I’d still recommend walking here with a friend, especially at night!

Following the recent advertising slogan… I love Leith!
there’s something really grounded and down to earth about it. The walk down just summarizes everything I love about it. You can see as you walk down this road how it changes from Edinburgh-​esque bars with trendy furniture and cool smoking areas to lovely pubs with genuine people and good atmospheres.
When you arrive in Leith you’ve gone a full transformation from ‘yah yah yah’ to ‘yes yes yes’ to ‘aye aye aye’ — totally honest Edinburgh locals and in a totally enjoyable place

A friend of mine lives on Leith Walk and had a party there recently. When my boyfriend and I left, there was a group of neds outside who must have only been around 17. After unloading a mouthful of abuse on us (for no reason), one of the neds told me to «remember the BNP as they would be coming for me».
I take from this that Leith Walk is brimming with uneducated, racist fools who are a drain on society.
There are some nice little cafes if you want to mingle with the locals.

Do you like smack-​heads, knock off goods and tanning salons? Me too. Some nice little Swedish bars and loads of charity shops (tainted by their prices however) litter Leith Walk, otherwise it’s full of defense laywers, wine warehouses and industrious heroin addicts walking really fast as they tend to do.

I took a stroll along Leith Walk today and felt a strange cominbation of surprise, depression and unease.
My dramatic moodswings could be due to the nature that this road is a bit bipolar. Most streets tend to have a low and a high end if they are this long, but Leith Walk seems to mix both together like it’s hopscotch. I’d trudge past endless discount carpet outlets only to find a cute café tucked away in a corner. When you get to the bottom end of it it’s a little rough around the edges, but then you’ll be surprised by an antique shop and a cool guitar store.
An odd one. I can’t say it’s the most pleasant area in Edinburgh, but in parts it’s got some hidden gems.

Stretching all the way from the east end of Princes St to the beginnings of the Leith area, Leith Walk offers an alternative to the mainstream tourist areas and apparently it’s one of the longest streets in the whole of Edinburgh.
Teeming with pubs, café’s, and restaurants and with plenty of small shops dotted here and there, Leith Walk offers a healthy portion of things to see and do.
No doubt you’ll end up forming your own opinion of Leith Walk, some shops are totally naff, whilst others offer something different to the main tourist area of Edinburgh.

Having never lived on the Lieth side of the city, it wasnt until a friend moved here that I had ever been to Leith Walk.
Stretching from the Leith Docks to the Omni Centre near Princes Street is a huge stretch of road, that at one point was imply a way of getting from these two important areas of the city. However, the term ‘up-​and-​coming’ really does apply here, because Leith Walk is currently under going major regeneration — and it seems to be working.
If you want it, chances are Leith Walk has it. Its got a lot of restaurants, shops, bars and cafes — most of which are quirky and independantly owned, so of course there is lots of local flavour.
Leith Walk is a realy great place to come for a change of scene — its much more ‘real’ than Princes Street, and is beginning to become a great place for some alternative shopping.

Leith Walk is the diverse stretch of retail leading from the east end of Princes Street to Leith, consisting of shops, restaurants, bars and pretty much the most random selection of anything that you’re likely to encounter on one singular street in Edinburgh.
It’s not the most aesthetically beautiful of the thoroughfares you’ll encounter in Edinburgh, but Edinburgh is a better looking city than most anyway, (local’s bias clearly entering the review here), and sometimes character is more attractive than superficial allure anyway. It’s absolutely worth not taking the bus and having a walk down the walk (heh heh, tuneful), if you’re heading into Leith, or heading into town. Despite the amount of years I’ve lived in Edinburgh, I always find myself peering into various shop windows, swivelling my eyes everywhere like a child in a sweetie shop, and I always manage to encounter something new.
Check out the Word of Mouth café, the brilliant Elvis Shakespeare music and books store, La Favorita for pizza, the Victoria bar for some Swedish cider, and the variety of other establishments that give this street its colour, and feeling of community.