Hi,

I am moving to Edinburgh in a couple of months and would be very grateful for some advice about areas for renting a flat….
It’s a bit tricky as I need to use my car for work and would be working at different locations outside the city so was wondering which areas of the city are better re: less traffic congestion and parking, but ideally also somewhere with some good off road cycling and within walking distance of the city centre!
….and somewhere fairly lively but where it is possible to get a good night’s sleep- not too studenty and a safe area… max budget around £650-675 pcm
Thanks for your suggestions!

I don’t think such a place exists in Edinburgh, at least not in the city unless you can spend gazillions on an apartment. Parking is heinous everywhere.

If you need to get out of the city by car for work definitely south side – the north is all hemmed in by the firth of forth and you then have to cross the whole city to escape it.

Don’t be tempted by the partial gentrification of Leith – it remains a shithole. (sorry but is true I lived there for 6 months) and the traffic to get out to the A1 is always bad.

With that budget for rent you could get a decent place in Morningside or Bruntsfield way, not too studenty and decent bars etc, fairly quick exit to the A720.

P.S and south side gives easy access to the Pentlands – Curry and Balerno even better for that but bit more “mum dad 2 kids” territory.

Leithwalk is totally fine for parking in the side streets I can normally get pretty close to my flat.

Lively tick
Safe tick
its not actually that noisy and my room is on leith walk itself.
close to the city centre tick
Near to offroad cycling no tick

I don’t think you’ll get everything in one flat.

Parts of leith itself are shitty but I don’t agree woth hels its not a shithole

For that go up dalry road

Bruntsfield and Morningside on the surface are quite nice but you’re miles from the city centre and its mainly style with no substance

Leith is pretty good these days. I grew up there and 15-20 years ago it was rough. Now it’s nice; loads of nice bars and places to eat. I moved back a year ago and really enjoying it.

Can be in the pentlands in 30mins by car and prob cycle there I’m a similar time up the water of leith which is all off road and leads to balerno.

Also glentress is less than an hour away.

OP you lucky bastid 😀

Leith. The parking is not as shit as it could be; it is possible to find flats at the rate the OP desires; and it is entirely accessible.

True, there are bits of the neighbourhood that are a touch grotty, but I found it very congenial to live in, with some really nice cafes, barbers, a model shop, and even an LBS.

Do you need to be in Edinburgh? You could try somewhere in Midlothian. The centre of Edinburgh is over rated, mostly touristy tat and over crowded. The best biking near Edinburgh is not the Pentlands and Midlothian is closer to the Tweed Valley. Plenty of buses to take you into the city and there’ll be a train soon too.

I vote for Meadowbank.
Lots and lots of nice tenements for that kind of money, parking is generally OK, and they haven’t introduced parking permits there yet. Close to town, through Holyrood Park, excellent bus service, lots top do closeby, be that town, Leith, Portobello or further afield. Only thing is not all that close to the Pentlands, but it’s a nice cycle along the canal/Water of Leith to get there.

The centre of Edinburgh is over rated, mostly touristy tat and over crowded.

what a load of bollocks

Well other opinions are available but wild horses couldn’t drag me along Princes Street and I’m not trendy enough for George Street.

I love Edinburgh, I’m just questioning the need to be close to the city centre, plenty to do out with the touristy centre.

Ah well if you are talking purely princes to george then yeah I’ll give you that. But you don’t have to wander far to find genuinely nice places.

And thats an important point actually. Edinburgh isn’t that big the busses are cheap but most things are a wander away!

Having worked on George Street and all over the city for a number of years I agree with Stevenmenmuir – wild horses couldn’t drag me through Edinburgh city centre.

Walking distance of the city centre – why do that when we have a wonderful bus service, and a shonky tram service, and lots of rail links into town. If cycling plays a big part in what you want to do try somewhere further out. Penicuik maybe?

Because the OP said he wanted somewhere lively. Are you actually gping to claim Penicuik fits that description?

Define lively.

Penicuik is lively in a Muirhouse kind of way.

In fact Muirhouse ffits the bill perfectly for the OP.

I think he’s going to have compromise somewhere.

Perhaps by adding a zero to the end of the £PCM figure.

less traffic congestion and parking, but ideally also somewhere with some good off road cycling and within walking distance of the city centre!
….and somewhere fairly lively but where it is possible to get a good night’s sleep- not too studenty and a safe area… max budget around £650-675 pcm

here in sunny Morningside I have 30 min walk to city centre, 5-10 min drive to the bypass, 20 min ride to the pentland hills, 40 mins to glentress, waitrose 100 metres away, cafes, restaurants and a couple of bars nearby, not many students and very few neds, though I did see one last week (very alarming). I pay £650 for a 2 bedroom flat but most stw members would be horrified at the lack of wood burning stove.

Morningside would be a good option – for the reasons Bigjim has supplied. I note he didn’t he didn’t mention one of Edinburgh’s signature pubs – The Canny Mans.

Maybe he’s barred?

Other areas to look at would be Viewforth, Trinity and Craigleith. All nice enough areas close to city centre.

I got barred from the Canny Mans in 1993, my stag night started there and they were not happy about it…

Polwarth is decent too, bit cheaper than Morningside and Bruntsfield but close enough to them that all the same plus points apply.

I rarely go to the canny man these days, it has the novelty factor but is a bit too random/stuffy.

hi,

thanks really appreciate your comments… I agree it probably wont be possible to find all of that in one flat!…. leith walk/meadowbank/polwarth sound very interesting. I was also wondering about the abbeyhill/gorgie road/slateford road areas?….

In terms of road congestion around rush hour (eg 7.30-8am and 6-6.30pm), leaving the city by car to reach potentially east and west of the city does anyone have any advice about which areas might be best in terms of least traffic congestion
Thanks for your comments!

Will be pretty much impossible to live in the city and be able to go east or west without getting stuck in rush hour traffic. Edinburgh is a nightmare during rush hour. The ring road / by pass is horrendous too. I’ve had journeys that take 20mins by bike take nearly an hour in the car.
To avoid congestion you need to be as near to the city outskirts as possible

You appear to be asking for the moon on a stick

These ones

abbeyhill/gorgie road/slateford road

🙂
Staying a bit south of the city centre is the way to go. Stay east or west of it and there’s really no decent way across the city that avoids the traffic. I’d suggest Morningside and out as far as Colinton, Fairmilehead would at least minimise your congestion levels.

As others have said, Morningside is probably the best option. I live in Balerno which is better for exiting Edinburgh to the west and has better access to the hills, but it’s a lot further out and much quieter.

If you’re not barred from The Canny Snob then you havent been drinking right .

I’m near the Zoo and its perfect for everything but the city centre. Which is a cluster **** and a waste of time .

Edit: Not Gorgie. End of.

Leith is for more upbeat that Gorgie/Dalry; great places to eat and good shops. I live on the Firth equidistant from both ends of the bypass. Can’t really mountainbike from the door, but then, I’m only really missing out on the Pantlands; no heartache for me what so ever! Innerleithen natural stuff (some of the best technical riding in the UK!)is a 50min drive away (except at rush hour).

Yeah if rushhour times are going to be frequent definitly not leithwalk/leith. off peak driving in edinburgh is great though.

I’ll reluctantly agree with morningside its a bit boring though and parking isn’as easy.

The plus point to living on the north side of town is that heading north + west is much quicker. Dunkeld is 70mins away.
I grew up in Morningside. I love that part of town. Don’t know if I’d survive living that close to Henri’s Deli and its filled rolls…

Thanks for all your comments, that’s very helpful…. sounds like the south side of the city might be the best bet under the circumstances!

I’ve heard that westbound traffic can be fairly horrendous on the bypass and wondered if anyone has any experience of better routes for going westward at busy times?

You’ll not find a better route. There aren’t that many options and everyone else knows about them too.

What’s wrong with Gorgie??

Proper football team play there and there is always Stratfords for entertainment!!

Handy for the canal and the tram and……………erm not much else actually!!

Cross over Slateford Rd and things pick up a bit – Shandon, Harrison Park, or even Merchiston if you’re rich!

Thought about liberton, a bit further out but nearer the bypass. As others hav said with buses its no problem to city centre. I lived there for 3 years and enjoyed it.