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Morningside & Bruntsfield: the douce southern suburbs

Bruntsfield's cafés and delis, Church Hill's villas, and the genteel pleasures of the south side's smartest mile.

Photo: John Lord / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Drafted by Claude — the editor hasn’t walked this one yet. We’ll update this notice once it’s been verified on the ground.

Distance

3.6 km

Time

~ 85 min

Difficulty

Easy

Start

Edinburgh Waverley

End

Morningside Station (Lothian Buses)

Best at

morning

Right now

15°C· Overcast

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

South of the Links the city softens into the suburbs it's quietly proudest of. Morningside and Bruntsfield are douce — a good Scots word for genteel, respectable, faintly self-satisfied — and they wear it well: delis and dress shops, villas behind monkey-puzzle trees, a junction with so many churches it's just called Holy Corner. This is the walk through Edinburgh's comfortable south, and it's a morning walk, when the cafés are filling and the light's on the sandstone.

Start across Bruntsfield Links, the common where golf began, and into Bruntsfield Place for the delis and the coffee. On through Holy Corner — four churches, most now something else — and up the short climb of Church Hill, where the grandest villas hide behind their walls.

Then the long browse down Morningside Road, charity shops and ironmongers and a clock that's reputedly always wrong. Finish at the Canny Man's, the panelled pub that's resisted the century since 1871, and take a bus from Morningside Station.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Elevation

↑ 28 m·↓ 33 m·81–105 m ASL

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
Bruntsfield Links
Start on the open common where golf was played centuries before the rules existed — a short-hole course still runs across it in summer, clubs hired by the round. Cut across the grass towards Bruntsfield Place; the southern suburbs begin where the Links end.
01
Bruntsfield Links
Start on the open common where golf was played centuries before the rules existed — a short-hole course still runs across it in summer, clubs hired by the round. Cut across the grass towards Bruntsfield Place; the southern suburbs begin where the Links end.
02
2
Bruntsfield Place delis and cafés
The first good eating of the walk — a tight run of independent delis, bakeries and coffee rooms along Bruntsfield Place. Buy something for later; the walk has plenty of bench. This stretch does the everyday douce thing Edinburgh excels at.
02
Bruntsfield Place delis and cafés
The first good eating of the walk — a tight run of independent delis, bakeries and coffee rooms along Bruntsfield Place. Buy something for later; the walk has plenty of bench. This stretch does the everyday douce thing Edinburgh excels at.
03
3
Holy Corner
The junction so thick with churches the city named it for them — four on the four corners, or near enough. Most are no longer kirks; one's a community hub, another served coffee for years. A quietly Edinburgh kind of landmark: piety, then property.
03
Holy Corner
The junction so thick with churches the city named it for them — four on the four corners, or near enough. Most are no longer kirks; one's a community hub, another served coffee for years. A quietly Edinburgh kind of landmark: piety, then property.
04
4
Church Hill
Climb the short rise into the grandest villas of the south side — detached Victorian houses behind stone walls and monkey-puzzle trees. This is where Morningside keeps its money. Read the gateposts; the names are half the pleasure.
04
Church Hill
Climb the short rise into the grandest villas of the south side — detached Victorian houses behind stone walls and monkey-puzzle trees. This is where Morningside keeps its money. Read the gateposts; the names are half the pleasure.
05
5
Morningside Road
The long shopping spine — charity shops the city's smartest cast-offs land in, old-fashioned ironmongers, a clock that's been telling the wrong time for decades, locals say. Browse it slowly. Morningside shops the way it speaks: unhurried and well-spoken.
05
Morningside Road
The long shopping spine — charity shops the city's smartest cast-offs land in, old-fashioned ironmongers, a clock that's been telling the wrong time for decades, locals say. Browse it slowly. Morningside shops the way it speaks: unhurried and well-spoken.
06
6
The Canny Man's
End at the pub that's resisted change since 1871 — wood-panelled snugs, walls hung with clutter, no photos at the bar and a reputation for being particular about it. Have a drink in one of the wee rooms. Buses run from Morningside Station back to town.
06
The Canny Man's
End at the pub that's resisted change since 1871 — wood-panelled snugs, walls hung with clutter, no photos at the bar and a reputation for being particular about it. Have a drink in one of the wee rooms. Buses run from Morningside Station back to town.

Morningside & Bruntsfield: the douce southern suburbs

On the map.

Things to notice.

Bruntsfield Links

Bruntsfield Links

Bruntsfield Place delis and cafés

Bruntsfield Place delis and cafés

Holy Corner

Holy Corner

Church Hill

Church Hill

Morningside Road

Morningside Road

The Canny Man's

The Canny Man's

Two more, on similar days.

Stockbridge: the colonies, the market and St Stephen Street

Grassmarket: the under-city below the rock