Living in Newington, Edinburgh
Room to rent from private landlords Living in Newington, Edinburgh - no agency fees - Edinburgh
Quiet southern Edinburgh between the Meadows and Marchmont. Victorian tenements, family-favourite, the old Sick Kids hospital site recently redeveloped, and reliable proximity to the University.
Sciennes - pronounced sheens - is a small Victorian wijk between The Meadows and Marchmont, immediately south of Southside. The name comes from the medieval Convent of St Catherine of Siena that once stood here. The housing is dense Victorian sandstone tenements built mostly between 1870 and 1900, on streets named for the convent (Sciennes Road, Sciennes House Place) and for local landowners. The old Sick Kids hospital site on Sciennes Road - closed in 2021 when the new children's hospital opened at Little France - is being redeveloped into mixed-tenure housing.
Who lives here
Predominantly families and middle-aged professionals - academics from Edinburgh University, NHS workers, civil servants - alongside a smaller share of students and young graduates in HMO conversions. The international share is moderate. Long-term Scottish residents are present in the larger family flats. Turnover is slower than in Southside.
What it's like during the day
Quiet, leafy, daytime-domestic. The Meadows on the northern edge is the big green space, full of families and students. Sciennes Primary School (one of the city's most-requested) anchors the daytime traffic. Causewayside (the local shopping street on the eastern edge) handles daily errands.
What it's like in the evening
Calm. There is no bar strip inside Sciennes itself; what exists is a handful of restaurants on Causewayside (Forage & Chatter, Buckle & Boots) and Sciennes Road pubs (The Captain's Bar for trad music, The Old Bell Inn). For real nightlife residents walk five minutes north into Southside or Tollcross. After 11 PM residential streets are quiet.
Getting around
Lothian Buses 24, 38, 41, 42 cover Causewayside and Sciennes Road. The cycle into the centre is six minutes. Waverley station is a twenty-minute walk north - most residents bus or cycle. The walk to the University main campus is six minutes through The Meadows.
Eating and shopping
The food scene is small but reliable. Forage & Chatter, The Captain's Bar (live music). Buckle & Boots and a few Indian restaurants on Causewayside. Sainsbury's on Causewayside and Lidl on Newington Road are the supermarkets. The Stockbridge Sunday Market is twenty-five minutes' walk; the Royal Mile fifteen minutes north.
When NOT to pick it
If you want a doorstep bar scene. Sciennes is residential after 10-11 PM and the commercial cluster is small. Festival August affects the wijk modestly (less than Southside) but late-night noise from venues on the Pleasance is audible. The Victorian tenements are old, with shared stairs, no lifts, and often small kitchens unless renovated. Sciennes is at its best for families, academics, NHS workers, and anyone who wants a quiet southern wijk with The Meadows on the doorstep and a six-minute walk to the University campus.