Outdoor seating cafés in Edinburgh

Pavement tables and their hours

A pavement table needs a council permit, which allows tables and chairs on the public footway from 09:00 to 21:00 every day; an extension to 07:30–22:00 is possible with approval.² For 2026/2027 the permit costs £213 per square metre inside the World Heritage Site and £169 outside it.²

So an outdoor table before 09:00 depends on that extension, even at cafés that open earlier. Gordon Street Coffee at 6 Market Street opens at 07:00 on weekdays, and so does Little Fitzroy at 46–48 Easter Road.

The Meadows and Marchmont

The Meadows was once the Burgh Loch, partly drained in the mid-17th century; in 1722 Sir Thomas Hope drained it further and laid it out with paths and lime avenues.³ The park is bordered to the north by the University of Edinburgh's George Square campus, with Marchmont to the south.³

Uplands Roast trades on North Meadow Walk with direct-trade Vietnamese coffee and calls itself the home of the proper hot chocolate.⁴ It is open 08:00–20:00 every day. On the south side, the Pavilion Cafe is on Melville Drive, and Machina at 36–38 Marchmont Road has a few outdoor tables among its communal ones.⁵ The Birchwood, at 146–148 Marchmont Road, keeps its doors open to 22:00 Tuesday to Saturday.

Royal Botanic Garden and the green edges

Entry to the Royal Botanic Garden is free; it covers more than 70 acres, one mile north of the city centre, and is open 10:00–17:00 from February to October, closing at 16:00 in November and January and 15:30 in December.⁶

The Terrace Café sits above Inverleith House Lawn with views across the skyline. You find a table, order at the counter and food is brought to you; it opens daily 10:00–17:00, with last orders at 16:15.⁷ The East Gate Shop & Café at the Inverleith Row entrance has picnic benches and opens 10:00–16:30.⁷

Elsewhere, Cafe Calton is at 38a Calton Hill, and Dean Village Coffee House at 54 Belford Road opens 08:30–15:30 every day. Several of the city's old police boxes, designed by Ebenezer James MacRae and 86 strong at their peak, now serve coffee.⁸

Leith, the Shore and Newhaven

In Leith, outdoor tables gather on the Shore and Constitution Street. Cafe Truva is at 77 Shore, and Constitution Street has Printworks Coffee Company at 42 and Rocksalt Café Deli at 46, which opens 08:00–17:00 on weekdays and from 09:00 at weekends.

Newhaven, by the harbor, runs later: porto & fi at 47 Newhaven Main Street opens until 20:30 on Fridays and Saturdays and is closed on Mondays. On Montgomery Street, Renroc stays open to 22:00 most nights and to 23:00 Thursday to Saturday, and closes on Tuesdays.