Student Nightlife Edinburgh

The Cowgate runs beneath the bridges that carry the Old Town traffic above it, which gives it a subterranean, slightly illicit character that suits late-night Edinburgh perfectly. La Belle Angele on Hastie’s Close is the Cowgate’s anchor – a mid-capacity venue that books credible electronic and indie acts, has hosted everyone from Primal Scream to emerging Scottish electronic producers, and has a student night on Thursdays that is cheap and consistently good. Cabaret Voltaire sits at the other end of the Cowgate in a former eighteenth-century cellars and has two rooms: one for live music, one for club nights. The Cab Vol is where Edinburgh students first encounter techno, drum and bass and house music at a volume that requires commitment.

Sneaky Pete’s on Victoria Street is small – capacity around 150 – and that is entirely the point. The sound system is excellent for the room size, the booking is consistently adventurous across electronic genres, and the atmosphere is the kind that only small venues with a dedicated following can generate. It has a strong claim to being Edinburgh’s best small club night venue. The queue can be longer than the venue warrants, which is a good sign.

The square below the castle has a bar for every mood – Biddy Mulligans for a busy Irish pub atmosphere, The Last Drop for a pint under the castle, and several options that blend into the general Grassmarket noise on a Friday. It is louder and more tourist-facing than the Cowgate but perfectly functional as a starting point for a night out.

Opium on Niddry Street has multiple levels and plays to the mainstream student market – big pop anthems, cheap VK, long queues that move slowly. The Hive on Niddry Street does something similar at a different price point. Neither is trying to be credible. Both are very popular with first-year students discovering that they can go out on a Tuesday because nobody is checking.