Shopping

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When it comes to shopping, Edinburgh has it all from department stores to friendly little boutiques.

Markets
South of the Royal Mile, Victoria Street leads down to the Grassmarket, a trading place since 1477. Both the Grassmarket and Victoria Street are packed with arts and crafts shops, bookshops and specialist food stores, including a wonderful cheese shop, Ian Mellis.

Shopping centres
Princes Street is the location for Edinburgh's most famous department store, Jenners, which has stood on this site for over 100 years. It is now part of House of Fraser, although the Jenners brand has been retained. In nearby St Andrew Square is Scotland's only branch of Harvey Nichols, with five floors of designer clothing. The newly regenerated port of Leith also boasts the Ocean Terminal, a shopping complex housing over 70 different stores.

Key areas
Multrees Walk has several designer shops including Armani, Louis Vuitton and Calvin Klein.

George Street is also flanked with designer stores such as Whistles, Hobbs, Jaeger and Scotland's very own Cruise.
Visitors to Edinburgh who want to take home a little piece of Scotland may be tempted by tartan fabrics, knitwear, Celtic-inspired jewellery and, of course, whisky. Princes Street and the Royal Mile are full of shops stocking these items and other souvenirs; some are high-quality while others are cheap and cheerful (some might say 'tacky'). At the top of the range, Romanes & Paterson at 62 Princes Street has sold kilts and other tartan items since 1878.

Shopping hours
In general, shops are open 0900-1730, with late-night shopping on Thursday until 1930 or 2000. Many larger stores open all day on Sundays.

Tax information
Visitors who are not resident in the UK can reclaim the VAT (Value Added Tax) on purchases from stores which operate the VAT Retail Export Scheme; tourist shops are usually part of this, but shoppers should check before making their purchases. The receipt and a completed VAT form must be presented to a Customs officer when leaving the EU. See www.globalrefund.com or www.hmrc.gov.uk for further information on tax-free shopping.