# The Elephant House

Café en Edinburgh · George IV Bridge, Old Town · Edinburgh

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/scotland/edinburgh/where-to-eat/the-elephant-house · Revisado: 2026-11-13

- Precio: €

The George IV Bridge café where J.K. Rowling wrote with the castle in the window. Reopened in December 2025; 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.

Qué pedir: 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

A tener en cuenta: Every day from 9:00 to 18:00 · no booking

## Practical details

- Address: 21 George IV Bridge, EH1 1EN Edimburgo
- Opening hours: Mon–Sun 09:00–18:00
- No booking · the second premises, at 30 Victoria Street, is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00
- Cuisine: café, tea
- House specialities: Tea and coffee, Butterscotch Beer (at the Victoria Street premises)
- Details checked on 14 November 2026.

## Cómo llegar y contacto

- Web: https://elephanthousecafe.com/
- Coordenadas: 55.9476, -3.1918

## Cerca de aquí

- [Harry Potter walk through Edinburgh's old town: what is real and what is legend](https://www.geocalia.com/en/scotland/edinburgh/things-to-do/harry-potter-walk), a 89 m
- [Oink Victoria Street](https://www.geocalia.com/en/scotland/edinburgh/where-to-eat/oink-victoria-street), a 109 m
- [National Museum of Scotland, from Dolly the sheep to the rooftop terrace](https://www.geocalia.com/en/scotland/edinburgh/things-to-do/national-museum-of-scotland), a 175 m
- [Mary's Milk Bar](https://www.geocalia.com/en/scotland/edinburgh/where-to-eat/marys-milk-bar), a 206 m
- [The Royal Mile, from the castle to Holyrood along the Old Town's high street](https://www.geocalia.com/en/scotland/edinburgh/things-to-do/royal-mile), a 219 m
- [Castle Rock Hostel](https://www.geocalia.com/en/scotland/edinburgh/where-to-stay/castle-rock-hostel), a 273 m
- [The Witchery by the Castle](https://www.geocalia.com/en/scotland/edinburgh/where-to-eat/the-witchery-by-the-castle), a 278 m
- [The Witchery by the Castle, suites](https://www.geocalia.com/en/scotland/edinburgh/where-to-stay/the-witchery-suites), a 278 m

## Consejos

### 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.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### 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.

Destino: [Edinburgh](https://www.geocalia.com/en/scotland/edinburgh.md)