Edinburgh is a perfect place to unleash your desire to discover beautiful shops and go on a shopping spree. Therefore, the malls in Edinburgh are the hotspots for visitors to find the perfect picks for themselves in the United Kingdom.
Edinburgh offers a variety of products starting, including clothes, accessories, cosmetics, decorative showpieces, shoes, and the list goes on.
The malls in Edinburgh provide a wide range of products on a wide spectrum of monetary ranges.
Indeed, it is easy to find anything suitable without burning a hole in the pocket.
Also, if you are a tourist on a visit to Edinburgh, the following places are an absolute must to buy gifts and souvenirs for your loved ones back home.
A Tour To 6 Best Malls in Edinburgh
1. Ocean Terminal
Location– Ocean Dr, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6JJ, UK.
Ocean Terminal is one of Edinburgh’s largest shopping centres. Located at the heart of Edinburgh’s flagship waterfront regeneration, Ocean Terminal is a state-of-the-art leisure and retail complex designed by Sir Terence Conran.
The Royal Yacht Britannia, moored on the outer side of the centre, is the spectacular former royal yacht of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. It served through the year 1997.
This shopping centre is part of Edinburgh’s revitalization of the waterfront district.
This shopping centre houses more than 70 shops and provides comfortable services, including a gym, spa, tons of cafes and restaurants providing lip-smacking delicacies, and the famous Royal Yacht Britannia.
This place offers a state-of-the-art complex for retail and leisure activities covering an area of 45,000 square metres of space spread over 3 stunning floors.
After a day of shopping, a visitor can relish a full-course meal at any of the spectacular onsite bars and restaurants.
Moreover, visitors can catch the latest blockbuster movie at the 12-screen multiplex cinema. It’s located at a distance of just 15 minutes north of the city centre.
2. Newkirkgate Shopping Centre
Location: Edinburgh EH6 6AD, United Kingdom.
Newkirkgate Shopping Centre, Leith, is located about 1.5 miles to the north of Edinburgh City. It is located at the junction of Constitution Street and Great Junction Street. The facilities for parking on-site and disabled access are available here.
The good news is that Wifi is available throughout the centre.
BHF Leith Furniture & Electrical Store is the ideal hunting ground for visitors looking for pre-owned, vintage, and new furniture on the high street.
With the presence of fresh stock daily, all of which is quality checked, this place is amazing.
How to get to Newkirkgate Shopping Centre?
- On Foot
The visitors can follow Leith Walk from the east end of Princes Street. The shoppers have the opportunity to enjoy the wide range of different shops along the route.
- By Bus
Several bus services are operated by Lothian Buses, the local operator, to connect Leith to Edinburgh City. Bus services 7, 10, 12, 14, 16, 22, 25, and 49 are available to travel down Leith walks from Edinburgh centre.
- By Car
Newkirkgate Shopping Centre is situated at the junction of Constitution Street and Great Junction Street, with parking access via St. Anthony Street.
Parking is free for shoppers for up to 90 minutes. However, any stay for longer than 90 minutes may incur a fine of £80.
- By Train
Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station is the nearest train station.
3. Fort Kinnaird
Location– 32 Fleming House, Newcraighall, Edinburgh EH15 3RD, UK.
Fort Kinnaird retail park is present just off the A1 located, on the outskirts of Edinburgh. The shopping center provides a wide range of shops, eateries, services, and a splendid cinema.
This place also houses stores offering kids’ clothing, toys, electronics, showpieces, gadgets, books, pretty gift cards, and stunning jewellery.
All kinds of health and beauty supplies, appliances, housewares, trendy shoes, and even specialty smartphones are available here.
Therefore, this centre serves as an all-in-one spot for shoppers who don’t like to hop around many centres.
Certainly, the centre also features many options for beautiful Instagram-worthy cafes, restaurants, and affordable fast-food outlets.
If shoppers are looking for entertainment, then they can stop by the onsite cinema to take watch a movie.
Like many other strip malls, plenty of onsite parking and bike parking locations are available with all manner of convenient amenities.
4. St. James Quarter- One of the Best Malls in Edinburgh
Location– St. James Square, Quarter, Edinburgh EH1 3AD, UK.
St. James Quarter is one of the best shopping malls. It is a contemporary and vibrant shopping centre located in the heart of Edinburgh.
This shopping centre offers a wide variety of many upmarket retail stores, restaurants, a food court, cafes, and bars.
This ideally located shopping destination spreads nearly 520,000 square metres of space, covering over 4 floors in the heart of the city centre on Princes Street.
Here the shoppers will find beauty supplies, accessories, high street shopping outlets, luxury shopping stops, activewear, and footwear.
Shoppers will indeed be happy with exclusive fashion brands, housewares, appliances, electronics, gadgets, and gifts available here.
It also houses the city’s first-ever Everyman boutique cinema.
The shopping space also hosts its aparthotel, where one can stay for a night, a week, a month, or even up to a full year.
Therefore, this is splendid “meets all the needs” shopping mall. The numerous shops provide an enjoyable shopping experience.
4.1. Perfect Place to Visit with Your Pet
St James Quarter is the perfect day out for shoppers and their canine besties.
St. James Quarter comes with a variety of extremely friendly retailers and restaurants to choose from for a visitor and his furry pet.
John Lewis, & Other Stories, Carvela, and H&M, are all available to inspire shoppers with the best fashion tips that even your pet dog will approve of.
To finish off the look, Superdrug, the Body Shop, Kiehls, and many more are all here to serve those skincare necessities.
The products may not be dog friendly, but the staff certainly will help out the shoppers to find the perfect products.
Lego and Hamleys are present here, encouraging your pet dogs to come along and play joyfully in their Edinburgh store. Hamleys have the rule that if shoppers can pick their dog up, they’re welcome to come in.
To grab a bite or quench the thirst with the precious pet, the shopper is welcome at Tortilla, Hotel Chocolat, Black Sheep Coffee, The Alchemist, or Pho.
Therefore, a very quick pick-me-up head to Starbucks to relish a coffee and a ‘cappuccino‘ with your pooch is a great idea at the Quarter.
4.2. Flavours To Relish
Visitors can relish an al fresco dining experience at the Quarter by popping along to Little King Street. Visitors can most certainly find delicious lip-smacking street food from the Independents lining the bustling thoroughfare.
For the lovers of Japanese Cuisine, shoppers can fill themselves up with an authentic Japanese poke bowl or the famous sushi burrito from fan-favorite Harajuku Kitchen.
For shoppers with a sweet tooth, Churro’s Baby has all of the amazing goodies to satisfy their sugary needs. This place offers to-die-for hot chocolates, soft-serve ice cream, and irresistible piping hot churros made fresh with an array of additional toppings.
The Jolly Lobster has officially made their debut in the St. James Quarter, giving you the best of amazing Scottish seafood and more with absolutely fresh produce daily.
Indeed, no one would like to miss out on their Lobster roll and some of the other mouth-watering options, such as the flavourful venison burger.
The amazing purveyors of Mac N Cheese cannot be missed here too. Mac Love at the Quarter cooks up food that’s good for the shopper’s soul.
4.3. Roomzzz Aparthotels
Roomzzz Aparthotels offers its visitors to Edinburgh a splendid boutique city living experience in its debut Scottish location located inside the St James Quarter.
It will give tourists and business travellers alike the option of a short or long-stay luxury serviced apartment in a beautiful city centre location.
Roomzz is efficiently complemented by breathtaking views of one of the United Kingdom’s most charming and historic cities.
Roomzz is complete with the presence of 75 spectacular apartments. It is available with a variety of facilities, modern appliances, and remote workspaces to serve the needs of any regular traveller.
Indeed, visitors will be able to indulge in the efficient premium services of the hotel that feel like home.
5. Waverly Market, Formerly Princess Mall
Location– 3/48 Waverley Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1BQ, UK.
Waverley Mall is a huge modern shopping centre located at the east end of Princes Street in the heart of the city centre, next to Edinburgh Waverley railway station.
Its prime location on the corner of Princes Street and Waverley Bridge means that it is ideal to escape the cold. The most unique part about this one is that it’s all underground.
A shopper can also find a wide variety of shops and food outlets. Visitors can access directly to Edinburgh Waverley Train Station at Waverley Market, which is open seven days a week.
This is indeed one of Edinburgh’s shopping centres offering 3 levels of goods and services as well as food outlets.
It lies directly adjacent to the Edinburgh Waverley railway station. Therefore, it’s a prime location to visit when the shopper is waiting on the train.
5.1. Major Attractions
The shoppers can check out great clothing shops and high street shops. The shoppers can buy a few souvenirs.
Visitors can browse everything, starting from shoes and jewellery to accessories, gadgets, and showpieces.
To shut down a hungry stomach, the shopping mall has a full food court serving delicacies covering all kinds of cuisine.
The major brands available at this shopping centre are Avalanche Records, Born in Scotland, Damaged Society, and New Look. The Body Shop has outlets here for shoppers looking for cosmetics.
The services provided by Waverly Mall are Euro exchange, Luggage Point, No1 currency and Post Office.
Game and Mobile Plus also have outlets in this shopping centre.
Artist Pip Thornton’s Arcadia (2020) has been made especially for The Fruit Market Gallery’s pop-up space in Waverley Mall.
This space uses LED screens hung in the bookshop’s beautiful windows to display text. The text will be viewed in the communal mall space below.
Every single word appears on the display along with a price which is allocated from Google’s advertising platform. Arcadia invites shoppers to consider the processes that generate efficient monetary value around everyone in both physical and virtual marketplaces.
5.2. No1 Currency
No1 Currency is currently one of the UK’s leading foreign currency exchange retailers. It has a network of shops covering most of the United Kingdom.
It is well-known for its efficient reputation, quick and professional service with unbeatable rates.
One of the most crowded No1 Currency bureaus is their corner store located on Waverley Bridge.
No1 Currency is proud of the local service it offers and its commitment to diligently meeting the needs of the customer.
The story began when the shop was inaugurated outside the Waverley Market on 31st January 2003. The aim was to serve customers and those returning home from several countries.
In the present day, the bureau is efficiently accessible to all travelling via Waverley train station or the city centre of Edinburgh overall.
This shop is located within a 5 min walk from Edinburgh bus station and Airlink. About 100 airport buses stop at St. Andrews Square.
As a result, they work with a wide range of different currencies and stock many in the store.
No 1 Currency is also one of the very few places in Edinburgh to accept 500 euros notes and euro coins. The best part is that they work completely commission free.
It sounds too good to be true, isn’t it?
This place is ideal for shoppers who have some serious money-exchanging business to carry out.
The shops are painted in the red and white shop always prepared to serve the customers.
A shopper can order anything starting with popular currencies such as euros, American, Australian, and Canadian dollars, and Swiss Francs. Specific ones like Philippine pesos, Jamaican dollars, and Omani Rials can also be ordered here.
6. Gyle Shopping Centre
Location– Gyle Ave, Edinburgh EH12 9JY, UK.
The Gyle spans over 20 hectares with 27,870sq m of retail space.
The Gyle is a flagship shopping centre to the west of Edinburgh’s city centre close to the airport and city bypass.
It has 2,500 car parking spaces and more than 600,000 people living within a 20-minute drive. The centre accommodates more than 45 shops and food outlets.
The Gyle Shopping Centre spreads over 50 acres of land. This shopping mall offers more than 70 outlets of major retail brands and services, from big boxes to boutique brands.
Here a shopper can most certainly discover just about anything he/she needs.
The shoppers will find most of the big names here. Independent shops and specialist shops that other retail parks and centres do not carry are available here, for example, Austin Reed for haute fashion or Ortak jewellers.
The huge number of options available here for eateries is also mind-boggling. In summary, this place provides a gigantic range of options for health-conscious eaters as well as amazing coffee shops for caffeine addicts.
This place is also a paradise for those who want takeaway fast food.
Even though it lies on the outskirts of the city’s west side, transportation is served by a regular bus service.
The Gyle Shopping Centre is located on one level, all under one roof and fitted with efficient automatic sliding entrance doors.
This shopping centre is equipped with convenient parking on one level with no ramps, lifts or stairs. Disabled bays are positioned near each entry point to provide easy access to all entrance doors.
Conclusion
In summary, these malls are an asset to Edinburgh. These malls make Edinburgh a hotspot for shoppers from all around the world.
The comfort of choosing from a wide range of items is most certainly an unmissable privilege at these splendid shopping malls.
Adding to these comforts, the city is well-equipped with a good transportation system that connects the malls. Therefore, shoppers don’t need to go wandering the streets of Edinburgh in search of suitable transport facilities.
Any visit to Edinburgh is indeed incomplete without taking a tour around these vibrant marketplaces to enjoy the spectacular and colorful ambiance of various shopping delights.
