Edinburgh: Can a pretty city have a crazy nightlife?
Edinburgh. Notorious for having its own castle, a stereotypically old style High Street more commonly known as the Royal Mile, and home of numerous top class prestigious University’s, most notable, Edinburgh University.
So among the city which has many beautiful sights to visit and see, among the rural feel that you get after spending time in Edinburgh, in the suburbs lays a whole different type of world.
A world of adventure. A world of bright lights, dance floors, hedonistic alcohol consumption and the people that come alive at night!
With a population of roughly Four hundred and Forty Eight thousand, Edinburgh is vastly populated by students. Many of these students live away from home, and therefore have access to a student loan. This spells a recipe to turn the city into a swarm of madness after the Sun sets on the tourist attraction that is the meadows.
You don’t have to look far to spot a nightclub at all. Students with less disposable income than others generally head down the Cowgate direction, where as running parallel (With a few roads in-between), is George Street, swarmed at night with upper and middle class clubs where door entry, on average, is between four or five pounds.
Then, in between these two areas, you will come across one of Edinburgh’s largest Nightclubs, “City”. All classes of students congregate here, and minus the occasional spot of bother that this densely populated club produces, there is to be had for all.
It is fair to say that underground Scotland’s capital, where most of the festival tourists will never get to see, there is a lot of something for every party animal to enjoy.
Take the two extremes, Cowgates Caberate Voltaire and George Streets Opal lounge.
Caberate Voltaire is a club deep underground; with very little ventilation causing a claustrophobic atmosphere (I guess you can liken to the first times you ever went weaselling when you were a lad at school), Drum and Bass is what it is all about here.
It is deafeningly loud, packed every night, and without a doubt the home to the typical rave scene kids. The ones who are drugged up and controlled by the heavy beats of the modern day music that is played here. This is the sort of Den where you can go with your friends and never feel judged, dress as you wish and simply have a great time.
You would expect so for the Eight Pound admission fee that is been known to be implied on a Saturday night. Despite this, the club does have its free nights or low admission nights, typical of a club in such a location.
These lower priced nights still however have the exact same adrenaline fuelled atmosphere that everyone loves about Caberate Voltaire.
Then you have the Opal Lounge. The average price on the door? Roughly Four or so pounds, every night. For that, yes, you would expect drinks to be cheap. Well, to be honest, they really aren’t.
They don’t really need to be when you take a look inside. With elegant stairwells, a clean and proper approach, plus the notorious diamond encrusted walls, this is a place for people who have money to burn.
And rightly said… this is the venue to burn it! With a delicate mixture of RnB, powerful rock classics and popular dirty rock sounds, a good night is available to all of those with a fat enough wallet.
Of course though, there is a midpoint. Reasonably priced drinks, decent music and a spacious environment can all be found at clubs such as Berlin, Bongo, City and Studio 24. These clubs are just off the two distinct beaten tracks I have talked about.
It appears to me however that it is the places where both Cowgate and George Street students venture too that there seems to be the most trouble. This must just be a coincidence, because no rivalry exists at all between the different classes in Edinburgh.
My own experiences in such Nightclubs was fun, but even back in my hometown far away from the student based Capital of Scotland I have never seen as many police units gathered too organize and resolve any disputes. Such a site is common at Edinburgh’s City Nightclub.
Typically, it is at the end of the night that most of this trouble starts, probably not helped by the large consumption of alcohol.
Despite this, I have never felt, strangely enough, more secure than I have in Edinburgh’s Nightclubs than I have on a night out anywhere else in the country.
With vast numbers of internal and external security, and police prominent on every street next to every major Nightclub, it is actually rare to see any real serious trouble.
After a chat with an anonymous Napier student, I was able to reassure myself that a night out in Edinburgh is as good as any, because of how he spoke about the security.
He described one friend who disobeyed the rightful will of a bouncer, and paid the price for his yobbish behaviour. Trust me on this one; you will be glad I spared you the details.
Edinburgh also has an upcoming music scene, which although is still rooted in its early stages, seems to have been taken with high regard by the citizens of the city.
From the intense room of “Whistle Binkies”, to the HMV sponsored “Picture House”, Edinburgh now has some style of gig on most nights of the week.
There has definitely being a notable increase in local band shows, allowing you, for under five pounds, to catch some fresh talent before heading out to a club, before hitting the hay. No doubt, happy and seriously drunk!
Even reasonably early in the night, good respectable pubs begin playing rock music, and switch the food menu for an after tea drinks and cocktail menu. The only thing that hinders a night out in one of the United Kingdoms most visited city’s is the prices these pubs charge for drinks.
It makes starting your night out really early almost impossible if you are strapped for cash as the stereotypical student is.
However, in a Summary of all the places I have mentioned, Edinburgh does have a fantastic Nightlife. In the day, of course people go about their normal daily business.
If you’re a citizen, you may be on the road of education or out at work. If you’re a tourist, you will be seeing the sights.
But at nights, generally speaking, there is something for everyone. Edinburgh is undeniably the place to be when it starts to get dark.
Posted on June 27, 2009 | Filed Under Travel
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