Cowgate

Great pubs, famous clubs and a fascinating history

Noteworthy for: Home to the highest concentration of pubs and clubs, this is also where you'll find the backpacker style hostels for those young travelling night owls on a budget.
Talk of the town: In 2002, a fire started in a nightclub destroyed many buildings here and took nearly two days and over 19 fire crews to combat.

Located in the Old Town, Cowgate lies in the shadows deep below the elevated South and George IV bridges, part of that alluring medieval labyrinth of streets that make up this city. It's gloominess, however, is well-suited to its role as the nightlife hub of the city with everything from warren-like club Cabaret Voltaire to craft beer fanatics BrewDog. There are a whole sleuth of club-cum-live music venues here: indie rock venue Bannerman's, the divey Sneaky Pete's or the more polished Electric Circus.
A trawl trail for boozing students and workers at weekends, there's a certain apt irony in its history: this lively street gets its name from the fact it was once used to herd cattle to market in the Middle Ages. From the mid-18th to mid-20th century it was also the city's overcrowded slum, though on a Saturday night, this might not be hard to imagine.