Newington is about a 10 to 15 minutes walk from Edinburgh City Centre on the Southside of the city. To the North East of Newington is St Leonards and the windswept expanse of Holyrood Park. The leafy residential area of the Grange is to Newington's west, with Liberton and Gilmerton are to the South.
Newington was largely rural until the building of Edinburgh's South Bridge in 1788. The architecture of the area that remains today is typified by Victorian tenement flats seen throughout Edinburgh along Newington Road, turning into large detached villas along Minto Street.
The two main roads - Dalkeith Road and South Clerk Street/Minto Street can get busy - being main throughfares for traffic out of the city. But the area's proximity to the city centre means that it has many commercial, cafes, restaurants, and accommodation situated along the route.
There is also a large number of students in the area, with the main Edinburgh University campuses at George Square and the King's Buildings being nearby.