Edinburgh is world-renowned for its bookish connections, with literary legends like Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns and Robert Louis Stevenson to modern-day bestsellers Sir Ian Rankin, JK Rowling and Irvine Welsh all having lived in the city. So it's no surprise many authors have found inspiration in the Capital's numerous bars.
Ahead of this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, which runs from 12 to 28, we take a look at nine Edinburgh pubs with literary connections.
. Edinburgh's literary pubs
Take a look through our picture gallery to see nine Edinburgh pubs with literary connections. Photo: Third Party
. The Cumberland Bar
Where: Visit: 1-3 Cumberland Street, EH3 6RT. About: A classic New Town pub, The Cumberland Bar regularly features in Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street series. The Edinburgh-based author thought his favourite bar would be the perfect local for his refined New Town characters, with Bruce, Pat, Angus, Matthew, Stuart and even Cyril the dog visiting regularly throughout the novels. Photo: Third Party
. Milne’s Bar
Where: Visit: 35 Hanover Street, EH2 2PJ. About: Milne’s Bar is known as the “Poet’s Pub” because it was a favourite haunt of some of the most important writers of the Scottish Renaissance movement of the mid-20th century. Writers like Norman McCaig, Hugh MacDiarmid, Sorley MacLean, Iain Crichton Smith, George Mackay Brown, Sydney Goodsir Smith, Edwin Morgan and Robert Garioch all used to meet there to discuss literature, politics and culture, and to get inspiration for their work. Photo: Third Party
5. Wilkies Bar
Where: Visit: 1-3 Henderson Street, EH6 6BT. About: A Leith pub which provided inspiration for Irvine Welsh is Wilkies Bar, which was mentioned in his novel, Filth. Welsh famously brought James McAvoy – who starred as main character, Bruce Robertson, in the film adaptation of Filth – to Wilkies Bar for a celebratory pint after the film was released. Photo: Third Party
6. The White Hart Inn
Where : Visit: 34 Grassmarket, EH1 2JU. About: The White Hart Inn has lots of literary connections. William and Dorothy Wordsworth stayed there while visiting Sir Walter Scott in 1803, and the infamous murderers Burke and Hare – who have inspired countless stories over the years – were regulars at the bar. Robert Burns also famously stayed at the White Hart on his last visit to Edinburgh in 1791, where he parted ways with his love, Nancy, and was inspired to write the poem Ae Fond Kiss. Photo: Third Party
7. Cafe Royal
Where: Visit: 19 West Register Street, EH2 2AA. About: The novel Complicity by Iain Banks is set in Edinburgh, with the main character (journalist Cameron Colley) frequenting many of the city’s pubs. One memorably racy scene takes place in the grand Victorian Cafe Royal pub as Colley and friends indulge in the bar’s speciality, oysters. The Cafe Royal was also another favourite watering hole for the writers who were regulars at Milne’s Bar. Photo: Third Party
8. The Hawes Inn
Where: Visit: 7 Newhalls Road, South Queensferry, EH30 9TA. About: Robert Louis Stevenson reportedly stayed in Room 13 at The Hawes Inn while writing part of his famous novel, Kidnapped, in 1886. The seaside setting at South Queensferry provided lots of inspiration for this adventurous tale, and The Hawes Inn even appears as a key location in chapter five of the book. Photo: Third Party