Cowgate

One of my favourite areas for a night out. Cowgate is prediominantly in place for backpackers, students and chavs to take advantage of a cheap night out. Students tend to stick to flat parties or Potterrow, so usually it’s the backpackers and chavs doing the rounds.
There’s also a large emo/​goth contingent down to the presence of Opium and Sneaky Pete’s, but on the whole the varying cliques that populate the Cowgate on a weekend keep to themselves.
Clubs come in the form of Whistle Binkies and Cab/​Café Voltaire. All worth a look. The teeny boppers have Bar Rush and the Hive, so that’s them out the way. Meaning the rest of us have a decent selection of night-​time venues to choose from.
Worthy of note are the aforementioned Opium and Binkies, along with City Café, Globe and Banshee Labyrinth.
If you’re after a fancy, glamorous night out, Cowgate is your Kryptonite. Stay away! However if you’re looking for cheap beverages, relaxed locales and general random banter, there aren’t many better options than here.

Clubs, Bars and Hostels
A college kid’s night out dream
Weekends are crazy

As far as areas of Edinburgh go, I have a love-​hate relationship with Cowgate. Hidden under George IV bridge, and stretching from the Grassmarket to Pleasance, it is at once a cheeky guilty pleasure and a somewhere I sometimes want to avoid.
It reminds me of when I was 18, drinking cheap vodka-​cokes in the student union, then getting up to all sorts of general tomfoolery at 2am. Which is exactly what you can do here.
During the day it’s simply a slightly out-​the-​way large street, with some hostels, some bars and not much else. At night it turns into a drunken carnival of relatively good-​natured but still, drunk, students, locals and tourists pilling in and out of Bannerman’s bar, Banshee Labyrinth, Sneaky Pete’s and Opium.
So when I want a night of cheap drink in bars that smell like bodies and bodily smells, a right good reliving of my youth at Opium and then either some chips and cheese or a slice of pizza from Zara, this is where I’ll go.
The good: Brew Dog and Bannerman’s, Oz Bar for pool, and Under the Stairs for cocktails. The bad: Banshee Labyrinth and Sin. The ugly: the drunken crowd that hang around outside Zara’s pizza place at 2am.

Hidden away, in the depths of the old town is the area known as Cowgate.
Since, its cattle market days, this area has moved on to become one of Edinburgh’s most well known and popular night club districts! Pubs and clubs are spread about the entire length of this area including the Hive, Bannermans, Siglo, Cab. Voltaire, Opium and the Three Sisters!
The area can be dark and gloomy and as mentioned in previous reviews, that matches part of the atmosphere of the area. A lot of the clubs and bars are quite gloomy at times. Indeed, walking down this place at night is not one would walk alone either.
This area is always buzzing at the weekends and does have a reputation, which is why police cars consistently patrol the area. However, don’t be put off by this, Cowgate is worth a visit and is very popular with students!

When my mum tells me not to walk home at night, it is this specific area she’s talking about! It can get really dark and dingy and really quite haunting! Put it this way — the haunted tours in Edinburgh are set around the Cowgate.
There isn’t much here from September — July, but it comes alive in August! One of the main tents is here for the festival so it always buzzing. It is the best way to walk into the Grassmarket though because you get that tingly feeling when everything opens up around you.

When you first have a look around Cowgate, I wouldnt blame you if you wrote it off right away, especially if you went at night.
Hidden away inder the much, much grander George IV bridge, this relic of old Edinburgh is constantly in shadow, as it is in the bowels of the city, surrounded by buildings and the rest of the city above it.
However, once you start to look around — you will notice that life can thrive down here, as well as a vast number of pubs and clubs — some of the best in the city.
So yes, its dark, dindgy and can seem dangerous, but really its a social hub in Edinburgh, buzzing with life.

Named after the days when cattle used to herded down the street to be sold in Edinburgh’s market, Cowgate now hosts a handful of bars, pubs and clubs.
The street itself can be somewhat gloomy, especially in the evening as you approach the looming overhead George IV bridge. This dark and dingy setting adds to the character of Cowgate, but doesn’t exactly make it the safest place to wander either.
Don’t let this deter you too much from visiting Cowgate, it’s still a unique and interesting location.