Leith

Understand

Leith was the port for Edinburgh, where foreign dignitaries and bodies of troops came and went, and the raffish element lived who couldn't afford or were unwelcome in the city. Its industries reflected its sea-going trade: whisky and wine storage, glass for wine bottles, sugar refining and soft drinks, fishing, soap from whale oil, ship building, and lead piping. Leith makes much of its historic independence from the city but its separate burgh council only came about in 1833. In 1920 there was a referendum on whether to re-merge with Edinburgh, and the stout people of Leith voted 26,810 to 4,340 against; whereupon Edinburgh took over anyway, just to demonstrate how the world works. At last it was feasible to run trams between the two, instead of passengers transferring between incompatible systems. But Leith's industries, already past their heyday, withered during the 20th century, and the port became tatty and seedy. It was gradually revitalised from the 1980s, with gentrification, white-collar jobs and boho bistros, not least because city centre rentals were soaring. The signature development from 2001 was the completion of Ocean Terminal complex and the permanent mooring of the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Getting there

See Edinburgh#Get in for long-distance routes by air, rail and road. Leith is two miles northeast of Edinburgh's main railway and bus stations, so on a fine day with only light luggage you could walk straight down Leith Walk. Leith was the historic port of arrival for packet ships from London (three days upchucking beats nine days jolting in a stagecoach) but there are nowadays no ferries to Leith, and it's too small for modern cruise liners: these anchor out in the Firth and bring their guests by tender either here or to South Queensferry. The infamous Leith Central railway station is now a Tesco supermarket, see Buy.

By tram The tram runs from Edinburgh Airport via city west end, Princes Street, St Andrew Square (for main railway and bus stations) then down Leith Walk (stopping at Macdonald Road; Balfour Street and Foot of the Walk), then The Shore, turning west to Port of Leith, Ocean Terminal and Newhaven. They run 5AM-11:30PM every 10 min or better. You must buy your ticket from a platform machine before boarding. See Edinburgh#Get around for fares: it's a flat fare within the city but more from the airport.

By bus From the airport, take Bus 17 (formerly Skylink 200). This runs from airport stop B via Corstorphine down to Newhaven seafront and Leith Ocean Terminal - it doesn't pass anywhere near city centre. It runs daily every 30 min, 5PM-midnight towards Leith and 4AM-11PM out to the airport, taking an hour. In 2025 a single ride is £5.50 and an open return is £8. You have to pay the driver the exact fare, but contactless card or mobile phone payments are accepted. At night from the airport the only public transport is Airlink Bus 100 to South St David St (by the railway and bus stations; silent at that hour) then find a night bus or taxi. Several buses travel down Leith Walk from central Edinburgh, so the service is almost every minute: Bus 7 (from Royal Infirmary), 10 (from Bonaly), 11 (from Hyvots Bank and Napier University), 14 (from Craigmillar),

Getting around

The historic core is compact, so walk. The sprawling districts east and west are served by bus. Bus 16 is the way to go west along the coast: from Leith Walk it goes to Newhaven, Granton and Silverknowes. Bus 21 goes west along Ferry Rd to Corstorphine and Gogar, and also takes you east to Craigentinny, Portobello beach and Craigmillar. You can also get east on Bus 49. Leith Cycle Co is the only place offering bike hire - the others just do sales and maybe repairs. It's by Hing Sing Chinese supermarket at 276 Leith Walk, open M-Sa 8:30AM-5:30PM. The same taxi firms ply in Leith as in the rest of the city.

See

1 Royal Yacht Britannia, Ocean Terminal, Leith EH6 6JJ (Access is through the shopping centre; on the 2nd floor), ☏ +44 131 555-5566. Apr-Oct 9:30AM-6PM, Nov-Mar 10AM-5PM. Last admission 2 hrs before closing. This ship was commissioned in 1954 and was the royal transport and residence on overseas tours until 1997. She has a length of 412 ft / 126 m and oil-fired twin turbines; she was also designed to act as a hospital ship in wartime but was never so used. Symbolically her last duty was to bring home the Governor of Hong Kong after the crown colony was handed over to China, and the last scrap of British Empire was ceded to the rising superpower. She was not replaced, in spite of a rearguard action by the flag-waving political right wing. Princess Diana took her honeymoon cruise aboard with Charles and must have experienced utter heart-sink: the average double-glazing millionaire has a better yacht than this. The royal apartments exhibit all the flair and comfort of the parlour of the deputy headmistress of a genteel boarding school. (See the Fingal Hotel; owned by the Britannia Trust and moored nearby; for what design pizzazz and a big budget can achieve.) Almost 270 crew were needed to sail this vessel, which is more military-meets-cruise-ship than a luxury yacht. Adults £25, students and children 7–21 £17.50. UK taxpayers can Gift Aid their admission. (updated Jun 2026) 2 Martello Tower is within the restricted dock precincts but can be glimpsed across the harbour. Originally on an islet but now built into the harbour, it's one of dozens of similar stubby towers and gun emplacements erected around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland to deter attack from revolutionary France. 3 North Leith Parish Church or "Old St Ninian's" is an Italianate church on the north harbour bank. 4 Newhaven harbour was created in 1504 to build a warship too big for the existing Leith harbour. The fishermen's houses are distinctive, with an external stairway to accommodation on the f

Do

What's on? Most radio, web and print material covers all of Edinburgh, but The Leither is a quirky magazine with news, listings, articles, reviews and so on. It's free, and published every six weeks. Football: 1 Hibernian FC, Easter Road, Albion Place EH7 5QG, ☏ +44 131 661 2159. The "Hibs" play soccer in the Premiership, Scotland's top tier. The all-seater stadium, capacity 24,000, is at the south edge of Leith. Hibs have played at Easter Road since 1893; in 2000 the pronounced slope of the ground was levelled out. Their traditional city rivals are Hearts. Buses 1 and 35 run down Easter Road but there are more frequent buses down Leith Walk just west or along London Road (A1) just south. (updated Nov 2023) Water of Leith Walkway and cycle path is a linear park transecting the city from the edge of the Pentland Hills to Leith Harbour. It's firm going, much of it on the track bed of former railways. The route is indicated by brown signs with a water wheel logo - this little river once powered dozens of mills. The local, lowest section is from Canonmills near the Botanic Gardens through Warriston and Bonnington to end at Leith harbour. This doesn't