Café · Edinburgh
The Elephant House
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- Price
- €€€€
- Where
- Edinburgh · George IV Bridge, Old Town
Every day from 9:00 to 18:00 · no booking
The Elephant House opened in 1995 on George IV Bridge, in the heart of the Old Town, as a tea and coffee house. Its fame comes from a back room with windows onto the castle and Greyfriars cemetery: J.K. Rowling wrote there in the years when the first Harry Potter came out, and in 1997, after the book's success, she introduced herself to the staff while being interviewed in the café itself. Ian Rankin, the author of the Inspector Rebus novels, and Alexander McCall Smith also passed through its tables.
Closed for four years, open again
In July 2021 a fire in the neighbouring premises spread to the café and left it badly damaged. Problems with the building kept it closed for more than four years, and it reopened in December 2025 after a complete refurbishment. If you read that it had closed for good, that is no longer so: it is open every day from 9:00 to 18:00 and tables cannot be booked.
What to do there
It is a café: you come for a tea or a coffee at a leisurely pace and to sit in the back room, the one with the window onto the castle, if it is free. It fits in before the Harry Potter walk, which leaves at 11:00 two minutes from here.
The other premises, on Victoria Street
Since 2023 the house has had a second café, The Elephant House Cafe, at number 30 Victoria Street, the curving street that many fans identify with Diagon Alley. It has the old wooden table Rowling wrote at, and serves its Butterscotch Beer, a creamy drink topped with cream, and afternoon tea. It is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00, also without booking.
What to order: a tea or a coffee in the back room, the one with the window onto the castle; at the second premises on Victoria Street, their Butterscotch Beer with cream
Practical details
- Opening hours
- Mon–Sun09:00–18:00
- Cuisine
- café, tea
House specialities
- Tea and coffee
- Butterscotch Beer (at the Victoria Street premises)
Tips
- Have breakfast before the walk It opens at 9:00 and The Potter Trail leaves from Greyfriars Place at 11:00, two minutes away.
- Do both premises George IV Bridge for the history, Victoria Street for Rowling's table; they are a few minutes' walk apart.
Frequently asked questions
Is The Elephant House open?
Yes. It reopened in December 2025 after the 2021 fire, at 21 George IV Bridge.
What are The Elephant House's opening hours?
Every day from 9:00 to 18:00. The Victoria Street premises, from 10:00 to 18:00.
Do you need to book?
No, at neither of the two premises.
Where did J.K. Rowling write?
In the back room of the George IV Bridge café, with views of the castle.
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