EDINBURGH: THE CAPITAL GUIDE

La Senza
117 Princes Street
0131 226 1689

Sultry underwear and fun nightwear for the girls. (Although, really, it's for their partners, isn't it?)

see also the Leith section

If you don't find anything you want there, then there are several major department stores, notably:

Debenhams
112 Princes Street
0131 225 1320

Visit the Debenhams page

Jenners
48 Princes Street
0131 225 2442

Trading in the same building since 1838, the grand old dame of Edinburgh, Jenners is great for high quality clothing, shoes, gifts, toys, perfumery - oh anything. Even if you don't buy anything here, you should go in for a wander around anyway - especially if you're here in the run up to Christmas!

Marks & Spencer
54 & 91 Princes Street
0131 225 2301

Known affectionately to the British population as Marks and Sparks or Markie's, M&S is our old reliable. Known more than anything else for its lingerie department, it also stocks clothes for men and women as well as having a food hall, which is basically an upmarket supermarket.

There's one really good Scottish shop for tartan wear etc. on Princes Street, which is:

Romanes & Paterson
62 Princes Street
0131 225 4966

They specialise in tartan, tweed and knitwear, with other little Scottish goodies, like miniature whisky boxes. I've bought two tartan scarves here and managed to lose them both. Much to my annoyance, let me tell you.

Then there's a range of little and not-so little unique shops, like:

Lush
44 Princes Street
0131 557 3177

You'll smell this shop before you see it. They produce a range of handmade, natural soaps and beauty products, with cool little things called "bath bombs" among the novelties on offer.

The Body Shop
90a Princes Street
0131 220 6330

Visit the Body Shop page

The Disney Store
18-19 Princes Street
0131 557 2772

Uncle Walt's empire has an outpost here, selling toys, costumes, clothes and videos of all the classics and the new additions, too. Still not used to being called a "guest" and being served by the "cast", though. Still, great for kids, innit?

Thornton's
99b Princes Street
0131 225 9335

Mmmmmmmm. Chocolate. And lots of it. I recommend the little vanilla truffle ball things - fab!

Prego
122 Princes Street
0131 225 2009

Very nice new makeover for a shop that's been through a few incarnations, all of which seem to sell very good quality Italian leather and suede jackets for men and women, as well as handbags and shoes for ladies. They even have some couches to take the weight off while your partner oohs and ahs at themself in the mirror. Impressively, they have a tailor and sewing machine on site, so if you need your purchase adjusted, they can do it the same day…

Whittard of Chelsea
23 Princes Street
0131 557 9324

Lots of teas and coffees in all kinds of yummy variations, as well as some rather nice mugs to drink them from. Even have instant versions of nice coffees, like hazelnut.

There are also two major shopping centres at the East End of Princes Street:

St.James Centre

The St James Centre is right at the East End, where Princes Street meets Leith Street. It has a lot of small versions of the bigger shops on Princes Street, like Next, River Island, HMV, Top Shop and Thornton's. The biggest thing in there is John Lewis, a major department store with perfumery, clothes, home wares and the like, which has the operating slogan "Never knowingly undersold". There's also a decent sized food court upstairs.

And

Princes Mall

Visit the Princess Mall page

Of course there's a lot more than this on Princes Street and you'd be advised to just take a wander along to check it all out.

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