Pub Crawls in Edinburgh

If you’re looking to spend an evening in Edinburgh’s pub scene, pub crawls are a brilliant way to get a real feel for the city’s drinking culture. And I’m not talking about the typical tourist traps. The best crawls thread through Old Town’s narrow closes, stopping off in tiny backstreet bars you'll probably never find on your own. Places like The Royal Oak or Sandy Bell’s are local favourites where live music often sneaks into the night.

Spring and autumn are great seasons for pub crawling here , crisp evenings and fewer tourists mean you won’t feel like you’re in a queue just to order a drink. If you like your whisky, you’ll want to time your crawl so it hits a spot with a solid dram selection, like The Bow Bar. And don’t rush , Edinburgh’s pubs tend to be quite cosy; settling in and chatting with locals can be the highlight, rather than just hitting as many stops as possible.

Pro tip: pace yourself, and try to walk between pubs rather than jumping on buses or taxis. The city centre is perfect for that, and it lets you soak in the old stone buildings and cobbled streets as you go. That’s what really makes a crawl memorable, on top of the drinks and banter.