Overview

Browsing around the Festival I found the Marketplace in Parliament Square toward the top of the Royal Mile. A colourful collection but tricky with the cobbles!

Transport & Parking

Parking or any vehicular access to this part of town during the Festival is very much a non-starter. The nearest low floor accessible buses pass along George IV Bridge which is 500 metres or so from the Square. Much of the road is closed for the Festival period.

Access

The colourful array of market style stalls sell all sorts of art and craft style items. Every accessory for the Festival connoisseur :-) The access around the stalls is spacious enough; albeit very crowded at times. The great challenge for many wheelchair users or those with limited mobility will be the cobbles. Once you leave the relative safety of the nearby (smooth) pavements the Square is a vast cobbled area. Tricky to get over with a wheelchair so you balance the desire to checkout the merchandise with the energy and discomfort of traversing the cobbles.

Toilets

There are no accessible toilets, or any toilets, in the Square.

Staff

Anything else you wish to tell us?

On one side of the square sits St. Giles Cathedral and there's large ramp and platform area at the front door. If you wheel to the top of the ramp you can get a great view of the Square without having to do battle with the cobbles. While you're there it's worth taking a look inside St. Giles as it's wheelchair friendly.

Photos