The Beehive Inn (Edinburgh, UK)

The Beehive Inn is a friendly Scottish pub located in the Grassmarket area just below Edinburgh Castle. Visit for classic fare and a beer or cider.

By: Alisha Trenalone

There are so many different ways to organize a visit to Edinburgh.

Want to base your exploration around pubs? There's a walking tour for that. Twelve pubs owned by Belhaven (the oldest brewery in Scotland) can be found in central Edinburgh, and you can collect stamps and then a t-shirt if you try a drink at all of them.

I only visited one, but if you manage to get to all 12, I hope the t-shirt is nice!

The Beehive Inn, Belhaven's pub in the Grassmarket area, is directly below the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle. Here's what a visit is like!

The Atmosphere

If you go to the "Events" page on the pub's website, only one thing stands out: sports matches.

And, yes, there are multiple TVs in the different dining rooms of the pub.

If you're not a big sports fan (like me), don't worry. (Me being me, I barely noticed there was a game on.) This is also a neat old building with a relaxed, family-friendly feel, so there's plenty to enjoy about it.

That's what I love about pubs in the UK: none of them are cookie-cutter locations, and they're incredibly inviting if you just want to linger over your drink and take in the experience.

The Beehive Inn is one of the contenders for Edinburgh's oldest pub, being perhaps around 400 years old and claiming to have served Robert Burns back in the day.

On the Menu at The Beehive Inn

The menu doesn't feel exclusively Scottish, although you can certainly get fish and chips or a steak and ale pie.

But you'll also find a vegan burger, several types of gourmet sandwich, a duck hash with an orange and blackcurrant dressing, and chicken Kyiv, among other things.

As per usual in British pubs, you'll find your table first, take note of the table number, and then head back to the bar to order and pay.

I ordered a sandwich of sirloin steak and sautéed red onions, which was delicious, and completed the meal with a glass of hard cider.

That brings me to mention one of my other favorite things about British pubs: there's always cider. I think every place we went had a different brand on tap, and they were all excellent.

This pub was actually our last meal out in Edinburgh before we headed to the airport the following morning. It was a great place to have a last hurrah on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

There are plenty more food options in the Grassmarket area! We also loved the pizza at Made in Italy Pizzeria, ice cream at Mary's Milk Bar, and lunch at L'etoile Salon de Tea.