United Kingdom · Scotland · Edinburgh
Grassmarket, Edinburgh — Area Guide & Where to Stay
The Grassmarket is a broad square in the Old Town under the Castle Rock, with Victoria Street curving up to the Royal Mile. Edinburgh Castle looms above.
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Where to stay in Grassmarket
How the choice of base plays out on the ground.
Staying in the Grassmarket puts you at the foot of the Castle Rock, a few minutes' walk from Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile. The square is one of Edinburgh's liveliest evening quarters, ringed by pubs and restaurants, so light sleepers should ask for a room set back from the front. Beds here fill fast in August.
Several hotels and guesthouses line the square and the climb of Victoria Street, suiting sightseers and night-goers more than travellers after calm. For quiet, the Georgian terraces of the New Town lie a short walk north.
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About Grassmarket
What are the main landmarks in Grassmarket?
The square's defining sight is Edinburgh Castle, which rises on the sheer Castle Rock straight above the north side. It dominates every view. A memorial to the Covenanters marks the east end, where the public gallows once stood and dozens were hanged in the seventeenth century.
From that corner Candlemaker Row climbs to Greyfriars Kirk and its old kirkyard. The curving terrace of Victoria Street, lined with independent shops, is a landmark in its own right.
What is the history of Grassmarket?
The Grassmarket was first mentioned in 1363, and from 1477 it was one of Edinburgh's main market places, part of it given over to the sale of horses and cattle. Traders drove livestock down from the West Port, and the surrounding streets took names such as Candlemaker Row and the Cowgate from the trades and droves that used them. For some two hundred years the east end served as Edinburgh's public gallows, and many Covenanters were executed here in the 1600s.
A memorial now marks the spot. The Flodden Wall, raised after the Scottish defeat of 1513, still runs along the Vennel above the square's south side.
Where is Grassmarket?
The Grassmarket lies in a steep-sided valley. It sits directly below the Castle Rock, north of the Cowgate and west of Candlemaker Row. Its north-east corner feeds into Victoria Street and the West Bow, which wind up to George IV Bridge and the Royal Mile.
At the west end the old West Port marks a former gate into the city, while on the south side a stepped close called the Vennel climbs past a surviving stretch of the Flodden Wall.
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Updated October 2026