The cool Edinburgh neighbourhood named among Scotland's ‘best places to live’ in 2025

The Sunday Times has just published its ‘Best Places to Live’ guide for 2025 – and eight locations in Scotland have made the list.

The annual guide, which includes 72 locations, named Saffron Walden in Essex as the best place to live in the UK, North Berwick in East Lothian as the best place to live in Scotland.

Seven other locations in Scotland are included in the comprehensive guide – and one of them is right here in Edinburgh.

According to the Sunday Times, Stockbridge is a fabulous place to live, which probably won't come as much of a surprise to locals.

In its description of the pretty neighbourhood, the Sunday Times says: “With its tall, blonde, sandstone Georgian buildings, trees old enough to remember carriages clacking past, wrought iron railings and historic clock tower, Stockbridge is every inch the poetic, foggy city of Scott, Stevenson and Conan Doyle.

“This affluent urban village at the edge of the New Town is just 15 minutes on foot from Princes Street yet close to huge expanses of green space. Raeburn Place is lined with cheesemongers, art galleries, delis and cafés, while St Stephen Street is a treasure trove of little independent businesses.”

Before publishing its ‘Best Places to Live’ guide for 2025, the Sunday Times’s expert judges visited all the locations and assessed factors from schools to transport, broadband speeds and mobile signal to culture, as well as access to green spaces and the health of the high street.

Helen Davies, Best Places to Live editor, said: “What makes our guide unique is that we actually visit all the places we choose and talk to locals to find out what life is really like there.

“That means we can see what people really love about the places they live. That could be anything from exceptional schools and fast trains to beautiful houses and countryside. The health of the high street is important, but more than anything else, what we are looking for are towns, villages and cities with strong communities who work hard to make the best of where they live, and play hard too.

“We also consider affordability. High house prices are no barrier to inclusion – as long as they provide value for money. Different people will be looking for different qualities when they are choosing a place to live. One thing all our chosen locations have in common is that the people who live in them are proud to call them home.”

Take a look through our photo gallery to see what the Sunday Times considers Scotland’s ‘best places to live’ in 2025.

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