Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
EDINBURGH
1
from Waverley to Glasgow, Fife and the Highlands,
although this is only really of use if you're staying
nearby.
Destinations
Aberdeen (hourly; 2hr 20min); Birmingham
(hourly; 5hr); Dunbar (8 daily; 30min); Dundee (hourly; 1hr
45min); Falkirk (every 15min; 25min); Fort William (3 daily,
change at Glasgow; 4hr 55min); Glasgow (every 15-30min;
50min); Inverness (6 daily direct; 3hr 50min); London
(hourly; 4hr 30min); Manchester (3 daily; 4hr); Newcastle
upon Tyne (hourly; 1hr 30min); North Berwick (hourly;
30min); Oban (2-3 daily, change at Glasgow; 4hr 10min);
Perth (6 daily; 1hr 15min); Stirling (every 30min; 45min);
York (hourly; 2hr 30min).
BY PLANE
Edinburgh International Airport
Edinburgh's airport
(
T
0844 481 8989,
W
edinburghairport.com) is at
Turnhouse, 6 miles west of the city centre, just off the A8.
Getting to/from the city centre
Airlink #100
shuttle
buses connect the airport with Waverley Rail Station in the
centre of town (30min; £3.50;
T
0131 554 4494,
W
flybybus.com), with services every 10-15min between
4am and midnight, then every 30min through the night.
Meanwhile, plans to reintroduce a tram service are nearing
completion, which will link the airport to the city centre;
for more info see
W
edinburghtrams.com. Otherwise, a
metered taxi will charge around £18-22 to go between the
airport and the town centre, while fixed-price taxis (£19.40
to the city centre) are offered by Onward Travel (
T
0131
272 8222,
W
onwardtravel.com) - you can pre-book larger
vehicles if required.
BY BUS
The bus and coach
terminal for intercity services is located
on the east side of St Andrew Square, a 2min walk from
Waverley Station.
Destinations
Aberdeen (hourly; 3hr 50min); Birmingham
(2-3 daily; 6hr 50min); Dundee (hourly; 1hr 45min-2hr);
Glasgow (every 15min; 1hr 10min); Inverness (hourly; 3hr
30min-4hr 30min); London (10 daily; 7hr 50min);
Newcastle upon Tyne (5 daily; 2hr 45min); Perth (hourly;
1hr 20min).
BY TRAIN
Conveniently situated at the eastern end of Princes St,
right in the heart of the city, Waverley Station
(
T
0845
748 4950,
W
nationalrail.co.uk) is the arrival point for all
mainline trains. There's a second mainline train stop,
Haymarket Station, just under 2 miles west on the lines
GETTING AROUND
Although Edinburgh occupies a large area relative to its population - fewer than half a million people - most places worth
visiting lie within the compact city centre, which is easily explored
on foot
. The reintroduction of
trams
by 2014 looks set
to redefine Edinburgh's travel map, but for the meantime it's most useful to note that most public transport services
terminate on or pass through or near
Princes St
, the city's main thoroughfare, which divides the Old Town from the New
Town, with the main
bus station
located just north of here on St Andrew Square.
and villages. They have their own system of tickets and
day tickets, similar in structure to Lothian Buses. Most
services depart from or near the main bus station at St.
Andrew Square.
Art Gallery Bus
A free service (see p.77) connects the
National Gallery of Scotland with the Modern One and
Two galleries.
BY BUS
Lothian Buses
The city is generally well served by
buses; the white and maroon ones operated by Lothian
Buses (ticket o
ces at Waverley Bridge, 7 Shandwick
Place or 27 Hanover St; 9am-6pm;
T
0131 555 6363,
W
lothianbuses.com) provide the most frequent and
comprehensive coverage of the city. Note that all buses
referred to in the text are run by Lothian unless otherwise
stated. Usefully, every bus stop displays diagrams
indicating which services pass by and the routes they
take. A good investment, especially if you're staying away
from the centre or want to explore the suburbs, is the £17
“Ridacard” bus pass allowing a week's unlimited travel on
Lothian services; Lothian also offer a day ticket allowing
unlimited travel for £3.50 or you can pay £1.50 for a
single journey. These can be bought as you board the bus
but you will need exact change.
First Edinburgh
The predominantly white, single-
decker buses of First Edinburgh (
T
0871 200 2233
W
firstgroup.com) run services on a number of the main
routes through town, but are better for outlying towns
BY TAXI
Edinburgh is well-endowed with taxi ranks, and you can
also hail black cabs on the street. Costs are reasonable -
from the city centre to Leith, for example, costs around £7.
All taxis are metered and the price structure is set by the
council. Companies include Computer Cabs (
T
0131 272
8000,
W
comcab-edinburgh.co.uk), Central Taxis (
T
0131
229 2468,
W
taxis-edinburgh.co.uk) and City Cabs (
T
0131
228 1211,
W
citycabs.co.uk).
BY CAR
Edinburgh is a relatively uncongested city (except during
the August festivals) with just a few traffic jam hot
