Edinburgh Hostels Near the Fringe Festival

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There’s nothing like a local festival to make your visit to a new place special – and when that local festival is an enormous party pulling people in from all over the world, even better. Such is the case with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It happens each year in August, and celebrates art, music, and theatre – with a healthy dose of wacky thrown in everywhere for good measure.

The Edinburgh Fringe is part art show, part street party, and all social event. Everyone is welcome, from backpacking solo travelers to families, and there’s something to do that will suit just about every travel budget. Unfortunately, however, people book trips to the Fringe Festival well in advance (it’s that popular), so arriving in Edinburgh at the last minute and trying to find a decent bed at a cheap price is definitely not recommended. This is one instance where even those plan-o-phobes will have to think ahead and book a room before they arrive.

To help you figure out where to stay, here is a list of Edinburgh hostels near the Fringe Festival. Fringe events take place all over the city, so there’s no one area that’s perfect for making everything only a short walk away, but some of the hostels are better-placed for public transport than others – and some of them are art installations themselves.

Don’t be surprised if the prices during the festival are higher than they are at other points in the year – this is definitely part of Edinburgh’s very high season.

>> If you’re visiting during another time of year, or just want more choices for where to stay, you can hunt through our more complete Edinburgh hostels listings.

Edinburgh Hostels Near Fringe Festival

Royal Mile Backpackers

The name of this hostel says it all – Royal Mile Backpackers is right on the famous Royal Mile in old Edinburgh, and it’s a favorite with backpackers. It’s easy to see why it’s so well-loved, too, both when the Fringe is going on and throughout the rest of the year as well – but during the Fringe it’s especially great, as the hostel staff puts on a party of their own during the festival.

Royal Mile Backpackers isn’t a huge hostel. It’s actually fairly small, but that means you’ll get great personal service from the friendly staff and you’ll have an even better shot at making friends with fellow travelers. There’s a pub crawl every week that’s free to join, and breakfast is available for a cheap price.

Caldeonian Backpackers

If you can’t decide between Old Town and New Town for your Edinburgh homebase, then Caledonian Backpackers is for you. It’s right in the middle of these two parts of the city, so you will have easy access to the activities going on in both. The hostel has a super-social party atmosphere, boasting a lively bar that’s open until 5am, and has embraced its artistic side with murals on many of its walls.

Caledonian Backpackers is close to the city’s main bus and train stations, and is walking distance from most of Edinburgh’s main tourist sights. Not only that, the airport bus stop is a few steps from the hostel’s front door, just in case you need to make a quick exit. Guests at the hostel enjoy free WiFi and free breakfast, but internet access if you don’t have your own laptop will cost you.

High Street Hostel

High Street Hostel isn’t technically on High Street in Edinburgh, but it’s only a stone’s throw from the Royal Mile (which is High Street), so we’ll let them off the hook. Besides, there are so many other reasons to love the Royal Mile Hostel that it’s easy to overlook the name. For one thing, this hostel offers a great list of freebies including WiFi, a daily city walking tour, weekly pub crawl, and movie nights.

But what makes High Street Hostel even more special is that it’s environmentally friendly. The hostel uses renewable energy sources, recycles everything they can and is carbon neutral – they own and preserve a forested area that offsets the CO2 emissions from the hostel (as well as others in the chain).

Budget Backpackers

Budget Backpackers is another hostel in Edinburgh’s pretty and popular Old Town, but it’s still only a few minutes’ walk from some of the city’s best nightlife. A few years ago, this hostel was voted #1 hostel in Scotland in a customer poll on a hostel booking website, and it continues to get high praise from former guests.

If you stay at Budget Backpackers you can take advantage of the hostel’s free city tour and free pub crawl, and this place even offers free padlocks for your locker (you’ll get your deposit returned to you when you leave). And in addition to the bright colors throughout the hostel, the common room is all modernity with a 42-inch plasma TV.

Bus Station Backpackers

Again, here’s a hostel with a name that says it all. Bus Station Backpackers is a very short walk to the city’s main bus station, making it easy to get to the hostel when you first get into town, easy to leave when you’re all partied out, and easy to get around the city on Edinburgh’s city buses. But more than just a hostel with a good location, it’s one of the most social and friendly hostels in Edinburgh.

Among the many perks that come with being a guest at Bus Station Backpackers are free breakfast, free city tours, free internet access, and free WiFi. This isn’t party central, so you’ll actually be able to sleep when you want to, but it’s close enough to the action that you won’t miss out on anything you don’t want to. Note that during the Fringe Festival, this hostel does require a 5-night minimum stay.

photo at the top by Dick Penn