The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world, with nearly 3,500 shows. This year, Playbill is in Edinburgh for the entire month in August for the festival and we’re taking you with us. Follow along as we cover every single aspect of the Fringe, aka our real-life Brigadoon!
With theatre tickets at Edinburgh Festival Fringe unlikely to ever run you more than £20, you might just find yourself with more than usual left over in your vacation budget to hit the shops. And Edinburgh is more than happy to provide some top notch shopping for you, no matter what you're looking for.
There are a variety of cool shops quite literally all over Edinburgh—you will pass lots that you want to drop inside while walking to the various Fringe venues. But there are a few areas that are must-sees when it comes to getting your shop on.
Necessities
First things first. Before we get to the more exciting fare, we all know that sometimes we need some more mundane items when we're away from home. We Americans are used to hitting up a Target, CVS, Rite Aid, or Walgreens, but you won't find any of that here.
No worries—Edinburgh still has you covered. The best and likely most useful store for necessities is Boots, Edinburgh's most prolific pharmacy. Their product offerings are more focused to specifically pharmacy stuff than what we're used to at the likes of CVS and Walgreens. But if you need some medicine, bandaids, or what have you, Boots will have what you want. Sometimes over-the-counter medications have different names overseas, so come equipped with what the actual active ingredient is in the medicine you need. If you can get it in the U.S., it's very likely they will have some version of it in Scotland.
For the rest of what we're likely to find in a U.S. convenience store, look for a Sainsbury's Local or a Tesco Express. These are really like mini grocery stores, but both will have some limited household items as well. They're especially good if you need a cold bottle of water, which are far less plentiful in Scotland than they are in the U.S.
The Royal Mile
And now for the good stuff. The shopping district you're likely to pass most often going to and from Fringe shows is The Royal Mile, which runs on High Street from Edinburgh Castle, all the way down one of Edinburgh's many hills, to the Palace of Hollyrood House. This is probably the most touristy of Edinburgh's shopping, but—and this might be a hot take—don't be afraid to be a tourist when you're a tourist. Obviously you don't want to be a bad tourist and slow walk while taking up the entire width of the sidewalk, but if you want to buy some Harris tweed or an Edinburgh shot glass, you should do it!
Tartans, tweed, and cashmere are what you see the most of on the Royal Mile, along with a lot of restaurants offering traditional Scottish fare. If you're wanting to sample what Scotland and Edinburgh are best known for in terms of wares and food, the Royal Mile is a great place to start. Short bread, haggis, scotch pies, kilts—you will find all of the above in abundance. Because it's touristy, it pays to comparison shop a little bit to make sure you're not accidentally overpaying. But honestly, what counts as tourist shopping in Scotland way outpaces the same types of stores in the U.S. in terms of quality, making these stores more than worth dipping into.
If you're someone who loves The Crown and follows the British monarchy, you'll also want to keep going downhill until you reach the Palace of Hollyrood House, the official Edinburgh house of the King. You can take a tour of the grounds for £20, or have an afternoon tea at the cafe. Shopping-wise, there is a gift shop with lots of royal memorabilia, if that's your thing.
Victoria Street
Just steps off the Royal Mile in the heart of Old Town, Victoria Street is what you'll see referred to most often as Edinburgh's "best" shopping district, and with good reason. Winding itself down a hill from Edinburgh castle, this quaint cobblestone street is filled with really cute shops with unique items for sale that, for the most part, you're unlikely to have seen in the U.S. And Harry Potter fans might recognize it as the real-life inspiration for Diagon Alley.
If you're looking for some unique clothing to take back with you, check out Walker Slater—they have separate shops for women, children, and men. There's also unique jewelry stores, hand-made soaps and candles, and not one but two "fantasy" stores specializing in Harry Potter-related merchandise. Museum Context is the largest of these, a three-story "immersive" shopping experience that often has a long line of people waiting just to get in to see the Potter merch.
Like the Royal Mile, Victoria Street also has a lot of restaurants, two levels in fact. You'll find a narrow portal with stairs leading you up to the upper level of eateries if you'd like to take in a meal with a great view of Victoria Street and the rest of Old Town.
This street is on an incline, so make an effort to start your Victoria Street journey from the Edinburgh Castle side—that'll make your stroll downhill, and we love downhill walks in Edinburgh. That also sets you up to finish your shopping walk at Grassmarket Market, which itself has even more shops and restaurants available for you to visit.
Princes Street
On the edge of New Town and in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, Princes Street is another notable shopping stretch where you'll likely find some more upscale shops. Princes Street is the most major stretch, but it is actually on the border of a shopping neighborhood that encompasses George and Rose streets, plus lots of closes (alleyways, basically) in-between. There are all sorts of fun shops all over this area of town, so leave yourself time to explore beyond just Princes if you visit here.
Along with some more upscale boutiques, this is also where you're more likely to see some brands that you might have available to you in your hometown. This might be another hot take, but sometimes these stores can be worth popping into even if it's part of your hometown shopping routine. Stores will sometimes have products exclusive to European locations, but it's far more common to find surprisingly different prices. That's a double-edged sword because it can go both ways. American companies that might be sending products to Scotland shops can be more expensive than we're used to seeing. But sometimes European companies that send products further to American shops are selling the same stuff for cheaper in the closer Scottish locations. Have a currency conversion app ready to go on your phone and you might just find yourself a real steal.
And the shopping here isn't all upscale. This is also where you'll find European mainstay clothier Primark. There's a handful of these starting to open in the U.S., but they're much more common in Europe and are definitely worth checking out. You can find some really cute clothes that are shockingly cheap. The Princes Street flagship location also includes a large selection of cute home goods if you've got room for that in your suitcase.
And as you walk the shops, make sure you look south for some of the best possible views of Edinburgh Castle. Princes Street borders a large park that allows for pretty unadulterated views of the entire structure, and it's a sight to see. If you're around at 1 PM (except for Sundays and major holidays), you'll can even hear and see the 1 o'clock cannons boom.
