threeweeks guide to edinburgh

If you're only here for a few days then shopping won't figure too much. However, if you fancy shedding a few pounds (of the fiscal variety), you might want a few recommendations as to where to shop.

It all depends on what you're looking for really. Princes Street is the main shopping street in Edinburgh and is packed with the sort of chain shops that you can find almost anywhere: BHS is here, Marks & Spencer, Next, La Senza, Jaeger, River Island, Virgin Megastore, Waterstones, Gap and hundreds more ... You get the picture. The one place you might want to make a special effort to check out is Jenners, the large department store, if only because it's very much like a proper old fashioned department store, with mezzanine floors, and the like - the toy department is highly recommended by the ThreeWeeks team. The side streets leading off Princes Street onto George Street and beyond are more interesting than Princes Street itself, and George Street, running parallel, is home to more upmarket and designer-ish shops as well as all those recruitment consultants and auction houses. On St Andrews Square you'll find Harvey Nichols, in case you are missing that Knightsbridge lifestyle...

There are also a couple of shopping centres in the central area. The St James Centre at the East end of Princes Street (enter opposite the Balmoral Hotel) is again full of chain store shops and also houses the Edinburgh branch of John Lewis. A bit further up, by the station, is the Princes Mall - more chain stores, but a slightly more interesting variety of local interest and bits and pieces shops too, especially in the basement.

If it's more character in your shopping bag that you are looking for, then we would recommend Cockburn Street (off the Royal Mile) for such amusements as Whiplash Trash (53 Cockburn st), Ground Control (33 Cockburn st) and Pie in The Sky (21 Cockburn st). We also like Beyond Words (42-44 Cockburn st), for all the beautiful photographic books to remind you of all the places you'd like to go to. Other recommended shops on Cockburn Street include Lava and Eden, for funky nik-naks, and three great music shops - Fopp, Avalanche and Underground Solution. Also Hog’s Head Records (62 South Clerk Street) deals in second hand music and video merchandise and very much a shop to browse and pick up a bargain of nostalgic significance orotherwise.

Pretty much as good as Cockburn Street for the quirky and interesting are Victoria Street and the Grassmarket, In the Grassmarket you will find the Edinburgh institution known as Armstrongs - ‘undeniably the best second hand vintage clothes shop in the world' - and Wind Things, a shop which should come in very useful when you need to buy a kite.Charmingly name Mr. Wood’s Fossils (5 Cowgate, Grassmarket, EH1 1JY) has an international reputation as a result of Mr Wood’s discoveries in the field of fossils.

Other randomly placed and categorised shops that we like follow. Edinburgh Bargain Stores (St Patrick Square), just a bargain store, as it's name suggests, but oh so mighty and comprehensive! Party Mania on 30 West Nicolson Street is good for all your balloon and frippery needs.Coco of Bruntsfield (174 Bruntsfield Place, EH10 4ER) is a shop that makes its fortune from the wonderful world of organic chocolate and other chocolate related gems. Robert Cresser Brush Shop (Victoria Street) is up for sale and perhaps getting the brush-off when it comes to remaining true to its original trade. The outside of the shop is still worth a look because it is steeped in history. Applejack on 59 South Bridge, Joey D on Broughton Street and Ness on 367 High Street are all good for clothes. Finally we'd like to recommend The Charity Shop Mile. Start across the road from Alldays on Nicolson Street and work your way down. There's about four hundred. Well, okay. Eight.

If what you're looking for is kilts, tartan, dolls in tartan playing bagpipes, dolls playing tartan bagpipes, shops which specialise in whisky, shortbread, tartan shortbread, Edinburgh Rock, or a little more tartan, then look no further than the Royal Mile, where I guarantee you'll find everything you need - and more postcards than you could ever get round to writing. Also to be found here is an international newspaper shop called, surprisingly, International Newsagent – 351 High Street (close to the Fringe Office) for all your international news and magazine needs.

While we're on the subject of words, Edinburgh has some of the best book shops we've ever been in - especially the whole plethora of second hand and antique book shops. These include the amazing Oxfam Book Shop in Stockbridge, the Barnardos Bookshop on Clerk Street, Armchair Books on West Port, and The Old Children's Bookshelf, Canongate, Royal Mile.

If you are here for some time and aren't wealthy enough to eat out every day, you might need some more practical shopping advice. The most central supermarkets include Sainsbury at 9 St Andrew Square (off east end of Princes Street), Scotmid on Leven Street (just up from the Kings Theatre), Tesco Metro at 94 Nicolson Street (not far from the Pleasance) and Scotmid at 34 Warrender Park Road (in Marchmont). There are two great Chinese supermarkets on Leith Walk: Pats Chung Ying at 199-201, and Hing Sing at 310. Also see Aihua Chinese Supermarket on West Crosscauseway, not far from Tesco Metro.

If its convenience you're after most of the residential parts of Edinburgh have local shops which stock a bit of everything, but which will cost you a little more than your proper supermarket. Alldays have a number of stores and local firm Margiotta have shops around the city (Margiotta's deli counter is very good). In the centre you will find a number of 24 hour shops for late night snacking purposes.

For bits, pieces and tasty morsels, Ian Mellis at 30a Victoria Street sells every kind of tasty cheese, and Valvonna and Crolla (Elm Row, top of Leith Walk) is a fantastic Deli, which also runs as a venue in August. Other Deli's include Jordan Valley at 8 Nicolson Street, Bonningtons at 75 Clerk Street, and Lupe Pinto's, a Hispanic deli on Leven Street . Go to Real Foods, at Broughton Street (near Leith Walk and the Playhouse) and at Brougham Street, Tollcross, and Natures Gate, 83 Clerk Street (near the Queens Hall) for vegetarian, dairy free, gluten free and general all round whole foods. This includes vegetarian Haggis. I've a friend in London whose craving for vegetarian haggis draws him to one of these whenever he's back in Edinburgh...