Lothian Road

I lived near Lothian Road for just over two years during, what I will refer to as, ‘its redevelopment phase’.
It’s easy to forget that Lothian road is a bit of a culture spot, and no, I’m not making a lapdancing joke. As you walk up from St. Johns you’ll pass Usher hall, a concert venue with an attached theatre, the Traverse Theatre, both excellent places to grab a show. After these, you’ll find the HMV picturehouse which hosts various club nights and is a decent venue for a gig.
On the opposite side of the street you’ll hit The Filmhouse, which hosts the International Edinburgh Film Festival annually along with smaller film festivals throughout the year, including Scotland Loves Animé which is always a treat! Festival Sqaure can also be found nearby where Nationally important events, such as Royal Weddings, the Olympics and such can be viewed on a giant screen with a bit of a crowd.
As you progress things will go a bit downhill culture wise, though the Odeon cinema is worth a mention as it is reasonably well priced.
Following that there is a wealth of knick-​knack shops… well, two, but Alis Cave and poundstretcher have served me well! There’s also the odd café, some bars and a Superdrug.
When I moved to that side of town Lothian road was dirty, dusty, full of drunks past 11pm and not all that fun to walk down. Since then the people haven’t improved much but the restaurants and bars have. Illegal Jacks, The Hanging Bat, Wagamamas and Red Squirrel have helped this road become a bit more ‘family friendly’.
The saunas and strip clubs can not be ignored of course, but hey, they, along with the likes of Shakespeares and Andersons make the place more colourful.

What can I say about this road that already hasn’t been said. I suppose it’s a smörgåsbord of everything in the city. It’s got pubs, coffee shops, thrift shops, butchers, cheese and fish mongers, even seedy strip clubs, and just about anything else you can think of. Also connected to it are the side roads at lead throughout the city to places. If you got time take a walk on this road and you will find some hidden gems.

Lothian Road has it all:
— Superdrug (Good for toiletries, chocolate and make up)
— Ali’s Cave (Good for wool, stationery, and everything you never knew you even needed)
— Poundstretcher (V.similar to Ali’s Cave, but in my opinion not quite as good)
— Hanging Bat (Good for beer and delicious hotdogs)
— Strippers (Good to see naked ladies)
— Sauna (Good for…)
— Yummy Tori (Good for Japanese food)
— Odeon (OK for films)
— Red Squirrel (Great for burgers)
— Festival Square (Great for watching TV on a HUGE screen)
— Money Shop (Good for currency)
— Freshcut (Great for soup, paninis, sandwiches etc.)
— Paper Tiger (Great for gifts and cards)
— AND much, much more!
What more do you need on a road?

Lothian Road appears to be on the up.
What was once a long street that was mainly populated by commuter traffic, £1 shops, «saunas» with one or two nice businesses scattered inbetween, is being slowly transformed.
This street connects Bruntsfield to the West End of Princes Street. Beauteous Bruntsfield, and the buzzing West End. At the Bruntsfield end there’s Home Street dotted with fantastic independents: Lupe Pintos mexican deli, The Aparment (smaller sister to my beloved The Outsider), the Cameo cinema, Pinetree Bakery. And down at the West End you have some heavy weights like the Ghillie Dhu, the Rutland, and a direct access to Princes Street department stores.
Tollcross itself, the literal intersection between Home Street and the Meadows, is still quite pretty if you ignore the constant traffic coming from 5 different directions. The lonesome clock standing in the very centre — something about it reminds me of Victorian Edinburgh. But, as I said, the traffic does come from at least 5 different directions. It’s a nightmare to cross as a pedestrian, a nightmare to drive as a driver, and scary as a cyclist.
There’s currently a few businesses I favour on Lothian Road. El Quixote, Passorn, Mezbaan and Real Foods are all on Brougham Place, the Meadows intersection at Tollcross right before Lothian Road begins. And then on Home Street there’s all the aforementioned alongside No 1 Sushi Bar. Onto Lothian Road itself, there’s Illegal Jack’s, Lebowskis literally just off the corner on Morrison Street. The Filmhouse, opposite a reliable Nandos, and the Usher Hall. And well, for a while that was about it.
But wait! Then Red Squirrel opened, a sister bar of Holyrood 9a (some of the best gastropub burgers in Edinburgh). And then The Blackbird opened at the other end, on Home Street (the sister bar of Treacle, one of my other favourite gastopubs in Edina). And now news of The Hanged Bat, a beer specialist bar, is opening this month. There are more and more reasons to visit Lothian Road, and it’s no longer an issue of going to one nice place and running out of other places to go.
I’m curious to see how the street continues to develop. I don’t know if the saunas will disappear anytime soon, and there’ll always be 20 different sandwich shops and a lot of traffic. But it’s slowly becoming a nicer street in town to make a night out of.

I would normally rather not walk home on Lothian Road at night, not for my own safety, but because I’m not fan of dodging people trying to bottle each other. Lothian Road’s also full of chains and strip bars. I mean, nothing against a strip bar, but if I had the choice, I’d rather walk through a park than walk by a strip bar where drunk men have been enjoying themselves more than necessary.
I mean, you’re not going to be able to ever avoid Lothian Road and it’s not the worst place on earth, but there are definitely better parts of Edinburgh. It’ll lead you straight down to the West-​End, and is one of the routes you might take to the Farmer’s Market on a Saturday. It’s also the home of the Odeon and the Filmhouse.

When one gets to know Edinburgh, one also gets to know Lothian Road. It is one of the main streets in the city and is always buzzing with activity.
Lothian Road is home to a number of my favourite independent cinemas including the Cameo and the Filmhouse. Great places to go to see films which aren’t in the mainstream. On top of this, Lothian Road is also home to a number of great night club and gig venues including the HMV Picturehouse and Usher Hall. However, if you’re not into your culture you can also shop in the many independent and charity shops.
However, as has already been mentioned in past reviews, at night the ‘saunas’ and lap dancing clubs do open and yes, Lothian Road reveals it’s seedier side. Another downside of Lothian Road is that it is one of the busiest roads in Edinburgh.
However, apart from these two points, Lothian Road always has a great vibe, and offers a wide range of things to do!

Lothian Road is one the the major street in Edinburgh and if you’re visiting, one you will almost inevtiably end up walking along. This road runs from the east end of Princes Street South East to Tollcross. At its top lies the famous Sheraton Grand hotel, at the bottom is the every scruffy but charming Tollcross with the still impressive Methodist Church Hall.
Lothian Road really is a concentration of cultural venues. It houses not only the Usher Hall, Lyceum Theatre the Traverse Theatre but also the Cameo and Filmhouse independent cinemas. If this was all Lothian road contained it would be a truly remarkable street. Unfortunetly it has a seedier side. And next to these cultural hotspots are several strip joints, sauna rooms, and seedy bars. This really only becomes a problem in the evening at night, but even during the day Lothian Road seems to attract an intimidating crowd. Having said this, from what I hear it has improved in recent years. Lothian Road also suffers from heavy traffic and often road works. It can be a bit off putting.
It’s hard to know whether to rate Lothian Road 2 or 3 starts. It’s high end cultural venues steer me toward a good review, but I can’t ignore the slimey drunk men out having a good evening of female degradation, that I always see hanging around. Perhaps the trend will continue and Lothian Road will improve even more. Let’s hope so because it has even more potential.

Lothian Road is more than just a street, it’s kind of a neighbourhood in itself, and I’m surprised that no-​one else has reviewed it yet.
It’s one of the main thoroughfares of the West End, and it’s littered with independent retailers, charity shops and well-​known chain stores alike. But there are definitely two very different sides to Lothian Road: the daytime version and the night time version.
By day, there are more cafés, pubs and independent cinemas than you can shake a stick it, as well as beauty salons, and it’s a really nice road to wander along whilst browsing in windows. And with great bus links to and from Bruntsfield, Morningside as well as the city centre, it’s also easy to reach.
But then you come to Lothian Road at night, and that’s a totally different story. When the shops and cafés close, the lap-​dancing bars and private «saunas» open their doors. As a result, the kind of people that frequent Lothian Road at night goes downhill rapidly, to the extent that I wouldn’t walk along there on my own at night.