Southside Guest House Edinburgh Southside GH offers an ideal place to stay in Edinburgh: lovely rooms, sparkling clean, delicious breakfast. What raises Southside to a higher level, however, are the owners. One can travel a long time before finding such nice people. You have the sense that you are the guest in the home of good friends. Some of the rooms make ideal romantic retreats, with four-poster beds and plenty of space. The inn sits near a major intersection, which provides the plus of frequent bus service to city center (5-7 minutes by bus). You can easily walk to the castle, museums, etc: it’s about 20 minutes on foot to the castle. The walk takes you by the University and the lively student quarter, with many charming coffee houses (personal favorite, the aptly named Black Medicine). The slight downside of the location is traffic noise early in the morning (I had a front room). In the evening, in contrast, traffic dies down by 8 and I did not hear much noise. I’m an early riser, so I did not care, but if you want to sleep in, I’d suggest a room at the back, not facing the street.
(Solo Traveller USA May 2009)