Greetings and salutations fellow travelers, I hope you are all starting the new year off with plans and dreams of travel. To help you with this task here is a wrap-up of my reviews during my recent trip to Edinburgh. Well I did not stay at every hostel I did spend many hours visiting and touring them and have written a basic review and guide to 7 of the main hostels in Edinburgh.
Click on the links below for the full review of each hostel, including maps and photos for each location.
Castle Rock Backpackers : The 3rd of the Macbackpacker Tour Hostels in Edinburgh is located right at the base of Edinburgh Castle. It has great decorations based off Scottish life and history scattered throughout the hostel and is one of my favorites.
Edinburgh Backpackers : Back in 2000 this was the very first hostel I ever stayed in and it was a great experience then and you won’t be disappointed now. Located between Waverly Station and the Royal Mile, it is easy to get where you need to be going. With many amenities such as TV lounge and pool table, it has something for everyone. Just beware the very steep hill to get to it.
High Street Backpackers : Another of the Macbackpacker Tour locations, located opposite the Royal Mile Hostel, this is a bigger building with a full kitchen and lounge area. It is a great spot for the single traveler or a group.
Prince’s Street East Backpackers : Located not on the main Prince’s Street as you might assume but rather in a little alley that takes some exploring to find, this hostel’s dark and dingy entrance makes many think twice before entering. Well it has character, it’s confusing halls and dark appearance may be intimidating for the single first time traveler or even the veteran traveler for that matter.
Royal Mile Backpackers : Home of Macbackpacker Tours, this small hostel is cozy and laid back. Located right off the Royal Mile it is in a prime tourist area. There isn’t much in the way of a kitchen, but there is enough to equipment to get by. The super friendly staff make it a perfect place to take a load off.
Smart City Hostel : Located down the hill off the Royal Mile, this is one of the newer hostels in Edinburgh and brings all the modern amenities with it. Due to its large size it is more suited to groups of all ages and size. For the single traveler there isn’t much vibe and may seem a little sterile compared to some of the other hostels in the city.
St. Christopher’s / Belushi’s Bar : Just up the stairs from Waverly train station and right where the airport bus drops you off, for location you can’t get much better than this. One of the quirky things with most if not all St. Christopher’s is the lack of any kind of kitchen but the presence of a pub and restaurant on the main floor. So if you are not planning on saving money by cooking yourself and want a place close to the station this is a perfect stop.
“Carry the lad that’s born to be King
Leaving on a Friday morning we are met by our kilted guide, Neil Mclennan. After picking up the rest of the troops we head out of the city on our faithful steed, the Macbackpacker bus. Neil is a fantastic story teller and is soon entertaining us with legends and stories. Our first stop is “The Hermitage” (see photo left) , where, Neil reveals, he was possibly once approached by faeries who hoped to lure him to their kingdom. There is certainly a strange magical feel about the place for sure.Killicrankie is our picnic spot where Neil enthusiastically recreates the highland charge that scared the shite out of the British troops. A brief stop at Culloden Battle Field to pay homage to the many men who lost their lives in this historic battle, a battle that was surely a turning point in Scottish history. Nearing the end of a long day of traveling we search for Nessie at Loch Ness and dip our feet in the frigid water. Finally pulling into Kyleakin Town on the Isle of Skye in the early evening. 
8 years ago, Edinburgh Backpackers was the very first hostel I ever stayed in and it hasn’t changed much. It was a great place to stay then and it looks like it continues with that trend. One of the oldest hostels in Edinburgh, it has been there for the past 12 years. With 96 beds and 12 privates there is a community environment created. The Southern Cross Café next door provides guests a 15% discount. 
Located in a prime spot at the top of the stairs from Waverly Train Station and just round the corner from the airport bus drop off, St. Christopher’s has potential to be a great party hostel. St. Christopher’s is a chain hostel located all over the UK and parts of Europe. In most cases the hostel is attached to Belushis Bar. In fact, to check in you have to go to the bartender. 
Barely a year and a half old, Smart City Hostel is located at the bottom of a hill just off the Royal Mile. It is following the way of newer hostels, with the shiny, modern look. Unfortunately, this means that a lot of the vibe that makes a hostel so much fun is lost to glitz and glamour. Catering mostly to large groups with 622 beds in summer, they also offer winter student accommodation. There is a licensed bar and the Smart City Café, a small meeting room and a great outside area for BBQ’s, in summer the chef cooks up a great feast there. All the rooms are en-suite, shower gel and shampoo are provided, on the girl’s floors there is also lotion and conditioner. 
Located at the foot of Edinburgh Castle you are welcomed by exceptionally friendly staff along with stunning wall art, coat of arms and suits of armor. Castle Rock is one of the bigger hostels in Edinburgh with over 230 beds ranging from 4 to 16 bed dorms. The huge kitchen provides plenty of space and storage for you to cook to your heart’s content. There is a pool table in the large common room, a movie room with regular showings at 6pm and 9pm, not to mention the “Posh Lounge” for those who prefer a bit of quiet and an outside area that is great for BBQ’s. In the morning there is a decent continental breakfast for a mere £1.90 or you can head down to the Grassmarket and go to Biddy Mulligans for a 2 for 1 full Scottish fry-up, makes a great hangover breakfast and all you need is to show your little orange ticket from the hostel. On Thursday nights be sure to join the hostel for the local Pub Crawl, a great experience, visiting 4 pubs, or was that 3, might have been 5, it’s all a little hazy. 
Just off the Royal Mile you will find High Street Backpackers, one of three hostels where you can buy your 
Home of the 
One might normally assume that a hostel named after one of the main streets in Edinburgh would be located on it. However, this is not so, Prince’s Street East is located on a side alley behind the main drag and takes a little bit of exploring to find. Add to that the slightly scary looking alley that it is in and the dark, dingy entrance with a long twisty staircase and it almost made me want to run in the opposite direction. There is also the City Center Tourist Hostel located at about stair number 55, that adds to the confusion. 
Edinburgh is one of the favorite cities on a backpacker’s tour – there’s culture if you want it, and more partying than you can handle. But finding the right hostel to stay in during your trip to Edinburgh isn’t always easy – especially with so many booking sites to sift through. What’s more, many of the sites are actually listing the same properties, so what makes one different than another?