City Stories Index · United Kingdom · 2026 edition
Birmingham vs Edinburgh
Not opinions, measured walking data. On what we can measure, Edinburgh leads 4–2. Character is a different question: Birmingham is the city of a thousand trades; Edinburgh is the old town and the new.
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| What we measure | Birmingham | Edinburgh | Leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Places with a storyspots where a route tells you what happened there | 20 | 55 | Edinburgh |
| How often you pass a storymetres from one story to the next; fewer is better | 231 | 254 | Birmingham |
| Historical figuresreal people you meet in its stories | 1 | 13 | Edinburgh |
| Instagrammabilityscore /100, on the index’s fixed scale | 12 | 20 | Edinburgh |
| Group outingsof every 100 plays, how many bring a group of 3+ | 23 | 16 | Birmingham |
| International visitors% of player reviews written in a foreign language | 2 | 4 | Edinburgh |
Differences under 5% count as ties. Sample sizes and definitions on the methodology page.
What their stories are about
How many places with a story each city has per theme: Birmingham in orange, Edinburgh in blue. All bars share one scale, so lengths are comparable everywhere on the chart.
BirminghamEdinburgh
5 places
crime & dark history21 places
4 places
arts & culture16 places
0 places
royalty & nobility13 places
11 places
legends & myths13 places
1 place
faith & churches9 places
1 place
guilds & trade8 places
4 places
industry & modern era6 places
Birmingham scorecard →
The city of a thousand trades
Edinburgh scorecard →
The old town and the new