Edinburgh Pub Guide: White Horse

White Horse on Canongate

Canongate's White Horse is by some margin the smallest pub on the Royal Mile. It is also perhaps the last remaining Royal Mile pub that aims mainly to cater for locals and regulars: though it is hugely welcoming to anyone who comes through the front door.

Pub Sign

If you want to get a feel for a really traditional Scottish bar that no-one has ever tried to make over to attract tourists, then this is about as close as you'll get to the real thing in this part of town. It should not be confused with the Old White Horse Inn in Old White Horse Yard, no longer an inn, and in a different part of Canongate.

White Horse Interior

The narrow black frontage makes it too easy simply to overlook the White Horse. And the sign proclaiming it to be a cellar bar means that you enter expecting to find a flight of stairs leading down to some long lost part of Edinburgh's Old Town. Instead you simply walk through to the attractive single room of the pub, with the bar in the corner and seating along the side wall.

Address: 266 Canongate, EH8 8AA
Telephone: 0131 556 3403
Opening hours, normal: 11.00am to 11.00pm
Opening hours, Friday & Saturday: 11.00am to 12.00 midnight
Opening hours, Sunday: 12.30pm to 11.00pm
Real ales: No
Whisky choice: A choice of malt whiskies is available
Cocktails: No
Hot drinks: No
Food: No
Music: Background music is played
Policy on children's access: No children's license
Disabled access: The White Horse is wheelchair friendly, but has no specific facilities for the disabled
Clientele: This is a traditional working person's pub
Outdoor seating: No
Other attractions: None other than those already listed
If there is anything above that needs updating, please let us know.