Living in Broughton, Edinburgh
Bohemian central-north Edinburgh just east of New Town. Broughton Street's café and bar strip, the Pink Triangle gay village around Picardy Place, lively and creative.
Broughton sits immediately east and north-east of New Town, centred on Broughton Street and stretching north toward Canonmills. The wijk has been a bohemian and creative pocket since the 1970s — it's home to the Pink Triangle, Edinburgh's gay village, clustered around Picardy Place and Broughton Street. The architecture is mostly Victorian tenements above ground-floor commercial, with pockets of Georgian remnants. The Scotsman Hotel, the BBC Scotland old headquarters, and Mansfield Place Church (the Mansfield Traquair Centre — frescoed by Phoebe Anna Traquair and one of Edinburgh's hidden masterpieces) anchor the cultural side.
Who lives here
A genuinely mixed population. Long-term LGBTQ+ residents, creative professionals, civil servants, journalists, and a younger graduate population in shared flats. International presence is significant. Students from Edinburgh University are present in the southern blocks. Families are less common — apartments are mostly small-to-medium.
What it's like during the day
Active. Broughton Street runs as one of the city's strongest independent shopping strips — bakeries, butchers, delis, design shops, cafés, second-hand bookshops, queer-friendly venues. The Mansfield Traquair Centre opens occasionally; the Mary's Place small park is a green pocket. Royal Terrace Gardens and Calton Hill are five minutes' walk south.
What it's like in the evening
Lively. Broughton Street cafés transition to bars and restaurants from 6 PM — The Outsider, Urban Angel, Phenicia, The Roxy — and the Pink Triangle bars (CC Blooms, Planet, The Regent) keep the area busy until 1 AM. Restaurants close by 10-11 PM; bars run later on weekends. The atmosphere is queer-friendly, mixed in age and income, distinctly less corporate than New Town.
Getting around
The Edinburgh Tram stops at Picardy Place on the wijk's southern edge. Lothian Buses 8, 13, 14, 17, 22, 25, 36, 49 cover the corridor. Waverley station is a ten-minute walk south. Most central destinations are walkable.
Eating and shopping
Broughton Street is the food destination. The Outsider (modern Scottish), Urban Angel (cafés), Phenicia (Mediterranean). Delis (Crombie's of Edinburgh, Real Foods), butchers, bakeries fill the strip. The Sunday Edinburgh Farmers' Market (held at Castle Terrace in the West End) is twenty minutes' walk west. Sainsbury's on Broughton Street and Tesco on Leith Walk handle daily groceries.
When NOT to pick it
If you want quiet residential sleep or a non-tenement layout. Broughton Street carries bar noise into upper-floor flats until 1 AM most weekends. The Victorian tenements are old, steep, and limited in amenities. The Pink Triangle's character is loud and proud — uncomfortable for residents who want quieter streets. Broughton is at its best for LGBTQ+ residents, creative professionals, people who want a strong independent shopping strip at the door, and anyone who wants a five-minute walk into New Town without the New Town polish.