Things to do at night in Edinburgh

Dine in style in Edinburgh! One of the best things to do in Edinburgh at night is to simply take time over your evening meal. As you'd expect for a capital city, Edinburgh's exceptionally dynamic eating scene offers Scotland's most comprehensive dining, with everything from cheapie cosmopolitan pies to fresh-from-the-quayside seafood to hipster pop-up and seasonally-foraged heaven and a kaleidoscopic array of ethnic eats, with plenty of Michelin stars to go round. In the evening, restaurants start filling up from around 7pm and serve till 10/11pm. The sheer weight of Edinburgh's tourist numbers, however, means that many places serve food round the clock, seven days a week, and are packed round the clock; don't ever assume you can simply turn up and get a table. Generally, the Old Town remains the locus of traditional, pricey Scottish and French-influenced cuisine, ever more locally sourced, while Leith, naturally, is home to the most renowned seafood, and, increasingly, the most exciting and creative new ventures. Dishoom and The Lookout are firm favourites.

Perhaps even more than a gourmet's paradise, Edinburgh is a drinker's shangri-la, with almost every variety of alcoholic beverage available, and a bewildering array of premises to serve them in. Very generally speaking, the Old Town is your best bet for a traditional Scottish pub; Newington is studded with boisterous student bars; the West End, Stockbridge and New Town specialize in wine bars and quirky one-offs, while Leith and Portobello are hipster central. Edinburgh licensing laws are gloriously liberal, at least for the UK, with most places open till at least 1am and some till 3am, and most of the city free from the bye-laws in force in other Scottish regions forbidding drinking in public. The Bow Bar and The World’s End are popular joints.

Edinburgh has a fantastic theatre scene. The King’s Theatre is an Edwardian civic theatre majoring in pantomime, touring West End plays and the occasional drama or opera performance. The interior is surprisingly luxurious, with marble staircases, carved mahogany doors and a sumptuously regal auditorium. The Traverse Theatre is one of Britain’s premier venues for new plays and avant-garde drama from around the world. It also has a lively and popular bar.

The city has a live music scene like no other and enjoying some tunes is one of the best things to do in Edinburgh at night. Why not head to Whistlebinkies for a great evening of tunes? It’s An Edinburgh stalwart and one of the most reliable places to find live music every night of the week (and often afternoons too), or just to hunker down in some of the lesser haunted South Bridge vaults. On the whole, the venue hosts local indie bands or rock and pop covers, though there are some folk evenings as well. Bannermans is a fantastic music spot and the Liquid Room has been host to some big names such as Nancy Sinatra and Franz Ferdinand.

Edinburgh’s enduring tag as the “Athens of the North” is nowhere better earned than on Calton Hill, the volcanic crag which rises up above the eastern end of Princes Street. Numerous architects homed in on it as a showcase for their most ambitious and grandiose buildings and monuments, the presence of which emphasizes Calton’s aloof air and sense of detachment. It’s also one of the best viewpoints from which to appreciate the city as a whole, with its tightly knitted suburbs, landmark Old and New Town buildings and the Firth of Forth beyond. It makes a great spot for a night-time view of the city below.