Property for sale in Edinburgh

The local area guide to living in Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, and can be found in Lothian, to the south of the Firth of Forth. In the 18th century, Edinburgh was comprised of just the Medieval Old Town, but it became too populous, so the New Town was built to merge together with the former. They are both now listed together as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Stunning Georgian architecture can be seen all over Edinburgh, including The Georgian House, which is located in the New Town and attracts over 40,000 visitors each year.

The Edinburgh Festival is world famous, and draws in incredible amounts of visitors and tourists each year for a whole month. The festival puts on a wide ranging spectacle of all things associated with the arts, and has been going strong since 1947, when it was initially created to instil a feel-good factor following the war.

Edinburgh is widely known as being a hub for education, and the University of Edinburgh, which was created way back in 1582, was ranked 17th in the QS World University Rankings.

Information about the local residents

There are around 495,360 inhabitants in Edinburgh, with almost one in ten of all Scots in the country residing here. Roughly 95% of the population are either homogeneous or from a white background, followed by Indian at 1.6% and Chinese at 0.8%. Interestingly enough, 22% of the population were actually born outside of Scotland, most of them being students or EU migrants.

Edinburgh is a young city, and this is reflected in the high proportion of 16-29 year olds that live here, which adds up to nearly a quarter of the total population. By contrast, those aged 60 years and older only represent 19.3% of the capital’s population, which is significantly lower than the national figure of 23.3%.

Nearby schools

In Edinburgh, the options for education are endless, with over 18 nurseries, 94 primary, and 23 secondary schools. Schools that deserve special mention are Boroughmuir High School, which sees 80% of their leavers go onto Higher Education, James Gillespie's High School, which won the Scottish State School of the Year Award by the Sunday Times, and Leith Walk Primary.

Getting around

Transport is very accessible in the capital, with a range of ways to get around the city and beyond. There is an extensive railway service, with the main railway station being Edinburgh Waverley. There are also direct trains that run to Glasgow in just over an hour.

Bus services are ever-present in the city, and the new tramline was completed in 2014 allowing passage from New Town all the way to Edinburgh Airport. The airport is Scotland's most used airport for vacating the country.

Local shops

For all shopping needs, Princes Street is the place to go for all types of purchases. Here, you can find a whole selection of retailers and brand names, and also the Jenners Department Store, which was acquired by House of Fraser. John Lewis can be located at the St. James Centre, which is also a hugely popular spot for shoppers.

There is a bustling nightlife scene in Edinburgh. In places like Lothian Road, Rose Street, and Grassmarket, you will find a wide array of pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants. The Edinburgh Filmhouse and the Cameo are ideal spots to go and watch the latest movies. Theatres are another popular form of entertainment here, with the Royal Lyceum Theatre, the King's Theatre, and Edinburgh Playhouse all being highly frequented places.