Café Royal, Edinburgh, Scotland

Designer: Robert Paterson and J MacIntyre Henry 1862, 1893 and 1901

Without it being intimidating or unwelcoming (quite the opposite), the Café Royal is the type of place that subconsciously makes the chin lift up, shoulders go back, and posture straighten. Cole Porter would undoubtedly have described it as 'swellegant' and it is hard to ignore the sophisticated surroundings. Yet this is an establishment for everyone whether they like to drink cask ale, good wine or a cup of coffee in a room with a view. And what a splendid prospect it has. The public bar is called the Circle Bar, though semi-circular is more accurate.

Down one wall is a series of irreplaceable Doulton Lambeth Faience wall panels that depict inventors and scientists at the moment of their discovery, for instance William Caxton, Benjamin Franklin, Louis Daguerre and James Watt. If the Science and Nature questions in Trivial Pursuit were formerly a no-go area, then after a visit to the Café Royal that will no longer be the case. "The father of electrical engineering? Easy, that's Michael Faraday."

Nowadays this must-see pub is protected by a Grade A heritage listing but that was not always the case. In the 1960s, retail chain FW Woolworth attempted to buy the property and demolish it to provide access for their adjacent Princes Street store. Thankfully the plans were rejected. For lovers of Victoriana, it is impossible not to feel schadenfreude, the Café Royal is now in its 3rd century as an Edinburgh institution, whilst the local Woolworth's has ceased trading.

Photographer: Helen Peyton