Is It Better To Stay In The Old Town Or New Town In Edinburgh?

Edinburgh's centre is split cleanly in two: a medieval Old Town stacked along the Royal Mile, and a Georgian New Town laid out in a rational grid across Princes Street Gardens. Both sit inside the same UNESCO World Heritage Site, both put you within a short walk of Waverley station, and both carry the same 5% visitor levy from 24 July 2026 on stays booked on or after 1 October 2025. The choice between them is rarely about sights, since you will walk through both anyway. It is about noise, price and what kind of cheap stay you want: a hostel bed in a centuries-old tenement, or a budget hotel room on a quiet Georgian street. Short answer: stay in Old Town for the historic core on your doorstep, or in New Town for calmer Georgian streets and a little more breathing room.

Is It Better To Stay In The Old Town Or New Town In Edinburgh?

For the cheapest bed and the most atmosphere, stay in the Old Town: dorm beds there start from £10 a night at Kick Ass Greyfriars, against £18 at Princes Street Hostel in the New Town. For sleep, space and quieter nights, choose the New Town, where budget double rooms such as Travelodge Edinburgh Central Queen Street start from £83. The Old Town wins on price and character; the New Town wins on calm.

The Old Town is where almost every famous postcard comes from: the Castle, the Royal Mile, the closes, Victoria Street and the Grassmarket. It is also where nearly every cheap hostel bed in the city sits. Eight of the hostels on this site's roster are in the Old Town, against two in the New Town, and the cheapest verified dorm rate in the city, £10 a night at Kick Ass Greyfriars, is on the Cowgate, right in the middle of it.

The New Town is the 18th-century answer to all that medieval chaos: broad straight streets, squares, Georgian terraces and the shopping of George Street. Cheap beds are scarcer and the feel is more polished, but budget hotels cluster here, and the trade is a quieter night for a slightly higher rate. Our Old Town and Royal Mile budget stay guide breaks down the eastern end of the Royal Mile street by street if you want the deep dive.

If you want the short version before the detail, these are three stays that split the difference nicely: a hostel bed steps from the Royal Mile, a New Town hostel on the tram line, and a central budget hotel double.

What Is The Old Town Like For A Cheap Stay?

The Old Town is loud, atmospheric and the cheapest part of the city for a bed, with dorms from £10 to £19.53 a night across the roster. The catch is noise: tenement buildings transmit sound, Cowgate and Grassmarket venues run until 3am during the August Fringe, and the whole district is packed in peak season. It suits travellers who plan to be out late themselves.

Listing data shows the depth of the cheap options here. Kick Ass Greyfriars has dorm beds from £10 (rated 8.38/10 across 8,963 reviews), Kick Ass Grassmarket from £12 (8.26/10 across 8,527 reviews), Castle Rock Hostel from £16 beneath the Castle itself (9.42/10 across a striking 25,769 reviews), and CODE The Court from £19.53 (9.36/10 across 1,935 reviews). For a budget hotel rather than a dorm, YOTEL Edinburgh on the Old Town side starts at £106 a night for a double room for two adults.

The noise question is not folklore. Reporting during the 2025 Fringe documented residents near venues describing serious disruption, and Police Scotland runs high-visibility operations, Operation Summer City and Operation Winter City, precisely because the City Centre ward is busy at night. The same ward recorded 336 crimes per 1,000 population in 2024, the highest figure in Edinburgh, though it covers both halves of the centre and violent crime against visitors remains rare. VisitScotland's own Old Town and New Town area guide describes the medieval layout honestly: a labyrinth of cobbled streets, alleys and hidden courtyards.

None of this makes the Old Town a bad choice, and for many travellers it is the whole point. You step out of a £12 dorm bed onto a medieval street, and everything worth seeing is on foot. It just means the cheapest beds and the loudest nights are the same product.

What Is The New Town Like For A Cheap Stay?

The New Town is calmer, better planned and better for budget hotel rooms than dorm beds: doubles here run from £83 to £99 a night at the Travelodge and easyHotel end. Hostel options are thinner, with Princes Street Hostel from £18 a night the standout. It suits couples and anyone whose priority is sleep.

The two budget anchors sit at very different price and quality points. Travelodge Edinburgh Central Queen Street has doubles from £83 a night (rated 4/5 across 101 reviews), while easyHotel Edinburgh on Princes Street is from £88 (5.7/10 across 2,216 reviews) with famously compact rooms. If you are weighing those two against each other, the rating gap is real and the room size difference is the reason.

Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel, from £21.42 a dorm bed and rated 9.2/10 across 935 reviews, and Princes Street Hostel, from £18 and rated 8.6/10 across 1,965 reviews, carry the hostel flag on this side. That is the honest picture: the New Town has two genuine hostels against the Old Town's eight, so hostel travellers usually end up across the Gardens whatever their intentions.

What you gain is proportion. Crime in the ward is shared with the Old Town, but the street pattern of the New Town, straight, wide and well-lit, feels quieter at midnight than a Cowgate alley, and there is no equivalent of the Fringe venue under your window. Trams run along Princes Street every 7 minutes through the day per the official timetable, and Waverley station is a short walk across Princes Street Gardens. For a fuller breakdown of this side, see our Princes Street and New Town budget hotel guide.

How Do Prices And Walking Times Compare?

Old Town dorms run £10 to £19.53 a night; New Town doubles run £83 to £99. Victoria Street reaches Waverley in about 7 minutes on foot, the New Town is a similar short walk across the Gardens, and both areas share tram and bus links at £2.40 a single. Neither side wins on transport; the Old Town wins on bed price.

All figures are low-season per-night from-prices on the site's stated basis: hostels are one dorm bed, hotels are a double room for two adults. August, Hogmanay and Six Nations weekends cost far more in both areas, and market data backs that up: advertised average rates tracked £199 for August 2026 against £111 for January 2027. The visitor levy, 5% of the room or bed price before VAT for the first five nights, applies equally on both sides of Princes Street Gardens. Once you've settled on a side of Princes Street Gardens, the cheapest ways to book Edinburgh hostels guide explains how booking direct, flexible rates, and well-timed nights can trim your bill.

One stay worth singling out for a location-first decision is Royal Mile Backpackers, a hostel rated 9.18/10 across 3,575 reviews with dorm beds from £18, tucked just off the Royal Mile itself; see current rates for Royal Mile Backpackers if being able to walk everywhere is your main criterion.

If a tiny but central private room appeals more than a dorm, hub by Premier Inn on the Royal Mile has compact doubles from £115 a night (3.5/5 across 306 reviews), the classic trade of space for address on the Old Town side.

Which Side Should Different Travellers Pick?

Solo travellers and groups on the smallest budgets should pick the Old Town: the £10 to £12 dorm beds exist only there. Couples, light sleepers and anyone booking a private double get better value and quieter streets in the New Town, with doubles from £83. Families have budget-chain options in both, and dog owners should check the pet policy per stay at checkout, since it varies by chain.

The August question deserves its own line. During the Fringe the Old Town is the festival: venues, street performers and pubs running late, which is either the reason you came or the reason you cannot sleep. Reported resident experience during the 2025 festivals was genuinely strained near major venues. The New Town absorbs festival overflow but keeps residential calm on its side streets, and going further out, Leith or Haymarket, buys even more quiet for less money, at the cost of a tram or bus ride.

For a decision shorthand: under £25 a night means a dorm, and the cheapest dorms are Old Town, full stop. Around £83 to £106 for a double means the New Town budget chains or an Old Town pod-style hotel. For longer stays, an aparthotel such as Aparthotel Adagio on the Royal Mile (from £163 a double) or Stewart by Heeton Concept in the New Town (from £125) adds a kitchen, and the aparthotel and serviced apartment guide covers those properly. Whatever you book on Cheap Hotels Edinburgh, remember breakfast and cancellation terms are per-stay details to confirm at checkout rather than givens.

Common Questions About Staying In Old Town Or New Town

Is It Better To Stay In The Old Town Or New Town In Edinburgh?

For the cheapest beds and the strongest atmosphere, the Old Town: dorms there start at £10 a night. For quieter nights and better budget double rooms, the New Town, with doubles from £83. Both are equally central for walking and transport.

is it better to stay in new or old town, edinburgh?

It depends on your budget and sleep needs. The Old Town has the cheapest dorm beds and the most noise; the New Town has calmer Georgian streets and the cheaper budget-hotel doubles.

is it better to stay in edinburgh, old town or new town?

Most first-time visitors on a budget choose the Old Town for the price and the location, accepting the noise. Travellers who value sleep, or who want a private double under £90, usually do better in the New Town.

is it better to stay in old town or new town, edinburgh?

The Old Town wins on hostel prices, from £10 a dorm bed, and on walking distance to the Castle and Royal Mile. The New Town wins on quiet, room size and budget-chain doubles from £83.

Is The New Town Quieter Than The Old Town?

Generally yes. The Old Town hosts the Fringe venues and late-night bars of the Cowgate and Grassmarket, while the New Town is largely residential and commercial Georgian streets with fewer late venues.

Can You Walk Between The Old Town And New Town?

Yes, easily. They face each other across Princes Street Gardens, and Victoria Street area to Waverley station is about a 7 minute walk. Most trips between the two take under 15 minutes on foot.

If you are still weighing specific beds, these three stays cover the honest middle of the market: the best-rated cheap hostel on the Royal Mile, the New Town's main hostel, and its cheapest central double.