Studying English in Edinburgh: 2026 destination guide

Edinburgh is a mid-sized capital of dark stone, steep closes and changeable skies, and it suits students who like to learn by wandering. The medieval Old Town and the Georgian New Town together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2004 the city also became the world's first UNESCO City of Literature, which explains the bookish streak in its museums, festivals and cafes. The Firth of Forth gives the city a coastline, After class, expect a museum, a walk up a hill and a pub table before dinner.

28km coastline length
7 city hills

Best for: History, books and hill walks
Known for: Castle, festivals and literary heritage
Region: Central Belt of Scotland
Setting: Capital on the Firth of Forth

City size compared to other cities in Scotland

531,370 inhabitants

531k Edinburgh

654k Glasgow

148k Dundee

94k Stirling

9.1M London

284k Brighton

588k Manchester

406k Bournemouth

166k Oxford

You will feel at home in Edinburgh if you

Like exploring a city on foot
Enjoy museums, galleries and bookish events
Want Pentland Hills walks south of the city
Like a promenade beach at Portobello
Enjoy cafes, markets and pub evenings
Want easy day trips by train

You may prefer another destination if you

Want a language school choice beyond one
Need dependable warm, sunny weather
Want a quiet town rather than a capital
Want a budget-friendly city for your trip
Prefer a modern skyline to medieval streets

Alternatives nearby: Oxford

View CES Edinburgh in Edinburgh

Language schools in Edinburgh

One school offers courses in Edinburgh. Prices, reviews and what the school is like are below.

CES Edinburgh

8.6 Good · 52 reviews

General course from €322 per week 20 lessons per week

Stay from €351 per week Host Family, single room

Max. 16 per class
10 min from public transport

View school and prices

What students say about Edinburgh

Reviews of Edinburgh are still few, so each one reads as an individual experience rather than an established pattern. The students who have written so far give the city a high overall mark.

Francisco

Aug 2019

6

"spend less time in a city than expensive as Edinburgh"

Common drawbacks

Edinburgh was considered expensive

Read all reviews of CES Edinburgh

Day and weekend trips from Edinburgh

Edinburgh is in Scotland's Central Belt, so most trips start at the station. Direct trains reach Linlithgow in about 20 minutes and North Berwick in about 30. Glasgow and Stirling take about 50. South Queensferry is a short train ride plus a walk, and the Pentland Hills are under an hour away. All of these fit a free afternoon or a full day. St Andrews, Loch Lomond and Pitlochry are worth a longer stay.

North Berwick is a seaside harbour town with sandy beaches and the Scottish Seabird Centre. The direct train takes about 30 minutes each way, so it works as a day trip.

Stirling suits a history-focused day, with Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument as the main draws. The direct train takes about 50 minutes each way.

Glasgow has museums, shopping, architecture and a live music scene. Direct trains take about 50 minutes each way, so it works as a day trip or a weekend.

Linlithgow has Linlithgow Palace, walks along the Union Canal and a historic town centre. The direct train takes about 20 minutes, which suits a half-day.

South Queensferry looks out on the UNESCO-listed Forth Bridge. Take the train to Dalmeny (about 16 minutes), then walk the short distance down to the waterfront for the bridge views.

The Pentland Hills lie under an hour from the city. Walking trails climb to views back towards Edinburgh.

St Andrews is a university town with medieval cathedral ruins, golf heritage and beaches. Take the train to Leuchars, then a bus. You can see it in a full day or stay overnight.

Loch Lomond offers loch scenery, cruises and walking. The train runs to Balloch, at the southern end of the loch, where the walks and boat trips begin.

Pitlochry gives you Highland scenery and access to walking routes. The train from Edinburgh takes around 1 hour 20 minutes, so it is best saved for a weekend.

Places students often explore

Student life in Edinburgh

Edinburgh has a large international and student population, so you are rarely the only newcomer at a café table or a pub quiz. Evenings gather around the pubs, bars and restaurants of the Old Town, Grassmarket and West End, and frequent cultural events keep the calendar full. Between lessons, most students drift towards museums, independent cafés and walks through historic streets. Your classmates come from many countries, which makes friendships easy to start, while the city keeps its own distinctly Scottish character. A short stay is enough to cover the main sights. A longer one gives you time to get to know each district properly.

Getting to know the neighbourhoods

Old Town

Medieval and crowded with history, with pubs in the Grassmarket that fill up after class. Good if you want your evenings close to the action.

New Town

Georgian architecture sits beside the West End, where the pubs and restaurants cluster. A natural base for study and a night out.

Stockbridge

Independent shops, cafés and parks, with a market on Sundays. It suits a slow weekend morning.

Leith

A waterfront district with a Saturday market and a good choice of places to eat.

Southside

Home to the university, museums and leafy spaces. Quieter afternoons suit it well.

Portobello

A seaside suburb with a promenade and cafés. It is a trip out of the centre, so save it for days off.

What everyday student life looks like

Bus, tram and train stops about ten minutes from the language school
Museums and free galleries to visit after class
Walks through historic streets between lessons
Live music and street food at The Pitt in Granton
Markets across several neighbourhoods
Parks, gardens and hills for time outdoors

How English is spoken in Edinburgh

Ask for directions on the Royal Mile and you will hear English with a Scottish lilt, though not in a single voice. Edinburgh speech sits on a continuum between Scottish English and Scots, so vocabulary and accent shift with the speaker, their background and their neighbourhood. There is no uniform Edinburgh accent to learn. That variety is useful practice, because your ear learns to adjust to several voices. English is the dominant everyday language in shops, cafes, markets and public spaces, with Scots and other languages also present, so you will use it constantly without trying. For one immersion tip, join an English conversation cafe. Conversation groups meet in Leith and Gorgie, and you can practise with locals and other learners over a coffee.

What a week in Edinburgh costs

Courses

per week, from

General Long Term Courses 20 group lessons a week, fixed start dates, from 24 weeks: £ 270
General Courses 20 group lessons a week, fixed start dates: £ 290
Young Adult Programmes 20 group lessons a week, fixed start dates: £ 290
Teacher Training 20 group lessons a week: £ 405
Exam Preparation Courses 10 group lessons a week, fixed start dates: £ 410.00
General + Focus Courses 20 group lessons a week, fixed start dates: £ 560
Prive Exam Preparation Courses 6 group lessons a week, fixed start dates: £ 645
General + Private Courses 20 group lessons a week, plus 6 private lessons, fixed start dates: £ 645

Accommodation

per week, from, own room

Host Family own room, half board: £ 294
Student Residence own room: £ 420

From-prices apply to a 2-week booking outside high season. Book longer and the weekly price drops. Registration fee and materials are not included.

Around 10% dearer than Glasgow · Around 15% cheaper than London

Work out your price

Edinburgh is not a cheap city. Student living costs are high, and accommodation is the biggest expense by a clear margin. Food is where you can win some of it back: Aldi and Lidl keep the weekly shop affordable, and cooking for yourself holds down daily spending. Eating out is a mixed picture, with budget casual meals on one side and restaurant bills that climb quickly on the other. Much of the city centre is walkable, so a transport budget matters mainly for longer bus or tram journeys, where a travel pass cuts the cost if you ride often.

Check prices and start dates at CES Edinburgh

Things to do in Edinburgh

Edinburgh gives you plenty to fill the hours after lessons: castle ramparts, free galleries, Saturday stalls, a hill to climb before dinner. Which activities run depends on the school, the season and your travel dates, and some can be arranged independently. The cards below are sorted by the kind of week you want.

Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile make an obvious first day, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse is also on the historic route. The National Museum of Scotland and the free galleries suit a wet afternoon. If you like your history darker or more bookish, try Surgeons' Hall Museums or the Writers' Museum. Literary events and book festivals are part of the city's calendar.

Start with haggis, neeps and tatties, then work through Cullen skink and cranachan. Shortbread and tablet cover the sweet end. The Edinburgh Farmers' Market on Castle Terrace, the Grassmarket Market, Leith Market and Stockbridge Market offer places to browse.

Holyrood Park puts hill walking inside the city. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is a calmer choice for a slow afternoon. The Pentland Hills Regional Park, south of the city, has walking routes with views back over Edinburgh. At Portobello you can walk the promenade and the sandy shore, and swim in the designated bathing water. Cramond has sandy beaches and an exposed tidal shore.

Meet people over coffee at neighbourhood cafes or in the pubs around the Grassmarket. Live music and street-food events run at The Pitt in Granton, and city festivals bring live performances.

Best time to study in Edinburgh

July is the warmest month, with highs of 18°C, and August has the warmest sea at Portobello, where swimming is possible at the designated bathing water. August is also when the Festival and Fringe fill the city with literary and performing-arts events. September stays mild, with fewer rainy days than the summer months. Winter has its own calendar: the Christmas Market and Hogmanay shape December, and Burns Night suppers bring haggis to the table in January, the coldest month in the table below. Between April and May the days warm up steadily, and the Pentland Hills are within easy reach of the city.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Sea temp	Rainy days
January	6°C	2°C	5°C	14
February	7°C	2°C	6°C	13
March	8°C	3°C	6°C	13
April	11°C	4°C	10°C	11
May	13°C	7°C	12°C	13
June	16°C	10°C	16°C	15
July	18°C	12°C	15°C	15
August	17°C	12°C	17°C	15
September	15°C	10°C	15°C	12
October	12°C	7°C	12°C	14
November	9°C	4°C	9°C	14

How to get to Edinburgh and get around

Edinburgh Airport sits about 13 km from the city centre, and three routes link the two. Edinburgh Trams run between the airport and the centre, and the journey takes around 30 minutes. The Airlink 100 express bus covers the same stretch by road. Taxis are available at the airport, which suits heavy bags and a late arrival. Once you are in the city, the centre and local high streets are walkable, and two-thirds of residents travel on foot or by wheel at least five days a week. Expect steep closes and cobbles, so wear sensible shoes. Some city-centre trips are easy on foot. For longer journeys, Lothian buses and Edinburgh Trams connect the neighbourhoods. A travel pass brings the cost down if you ride often.

Getting there: common questions

Take Edinburgh Trams (around 30 minutes to the centre), the Airlink 100 express bus, or a taxi from the airport. Choose whichever suits your luggage and arrival time.

Not necessarily. Parts of the centre are easy to walk, and buses and trams cover the longer journeys between neighbourhoods.

Lothian buses and Edinburgh Trams link the city's neighbourhoods. Single bus and tram fares are fixed, and travel passes reduce the cost if you travel often.

Is Edinburgh safe? What students should know

Edinburgh is generally regarded as a safe city for students, and university guidance points to a low crime rate. The one routine concern is pickpocketing in crowded tourist areas, mainly the busy Old Town streets and the closes off the Royal Mile.

Good to know before you go

No one can promise safety anywhere. Read "considered safe" as how visitors generally experience the place, not as a guarantee.
Take the normal precautions you would in any unfamiliar place, especially at night and in busy tourist areas.
Check your government's official travel advice for the destination before you travel.
Arrange your own comprehensive travel and health insurance for your stay.

Shops, food and opening hours in Edinburgh

Many Edinburgh shops open around 09:00 and close at 17:00 or 17:30, so a late afternoon errand can find the shutters down. Supermarkets and convenience stores stay open later into the evening, which is when most students do the weekly shop. Sundays are a normal trading day: shops open, though hours vary by retailer. Lunch usually falls between 11:30 and 13:30, and dinner between 17:00 and 19:00, so plan an early evening meal. Saturday and Sunday are market days, with produce and street food to browse. Between self-catering and a quick bite out, the budget end of the city works well.

Cafes and casual eateries

Affordable lunches
Supermarket meal deals

Budget option for students
Supermarkets and convenience stores

Groceries and household basics
Pharmacies

Found across city neighbourhoods
Farmers' markets

Fresh produce and local food

Frequently asked questions about studying in Edinburgh

It suits students who like to learn by wandering. The Old and New Towns together form a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the city adds museums, hills and a sandy beach at Portobello. English is the everyday language in shops, cafes and markets, so practice carries on after class.

Yes. Accommodation is the biggest expense, and eating out can add up quickly. Budget supermarkets and cooking for yourself bring food costs down.

Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile and the National Museum of Scotland are the obvious places to start, and the city has free galleries. Holyrood Park and the Royal Botanic Garden offer green space. In the evenings, try the pubs around the Grassmarket, or on a Saturday visit the Grassmarket Market or Leith Market.

It depends on what you want from the city. July has the highest average temperature, at 18°C. August brings the Festival and Fringe, with a sea temperature averaging 17°C at Portobello. September has an average high of 15°C and fewer rainy days than the summer months. Winter has the Christmas Market, Hogmanay and Burns Night.

Yes. It is generally regarded as a safe city for students, and university guidance points to a low crime rate.