How to get to Edinburgh | Intrepid Travel UK

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland. It's well connected to other cities in the UK and Europe by air, train and bus.

By air

You can fly direct to Edinburgh from major UK cities including London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Belfast and Southampton. There are a number of ways to get to the city from the airport, including:

Airlink 100 bus: Departs for York Place in the city centre every 15 minutes from 04:30-00:30, and every 30 minutes from 00:30-04:30. The journey takes 30 minutes. Adult tickets cost £4.50 one way, or £7.50 return.
Tram: Trams depart for St Andrew Square every seven minutes from 07:00-19:00, and every 15 minutes from 19:00-07:00. The journey takes 30 minutes. An adult ticket costs £6.50 one way, or £9.00 return (a return ticket is open-ended). You can also buy combined tickets for tram and train travel.
Taxi and rideshare: You can jump in a cab at the taxi rank located in the East Terminus across from the main terminal. The drive takes 25 minutes and costs about £20. Rideshares like Uber and Guru are also available at the drop-off and pick-up points.
Driving: You can hire a car at Edinburgh Airport and drive via the M9, one of Scotland’s main motorways. It takes about 25 minutes to drive to the city centre. Popular car rental companies include Avis, Hertz, Thrifty, Budget, Alamo and Europcar.

By train

Rail travel has a lower carbon cost and is a convenient way to get around the UK. You can jump on a National Rail train directly to Edinburgh from several cities including Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester and London. Below are the average journey times to Edinburgh:

London: 4.5 hours
Manchester: 3.5 hours
Birmingham: 5 hours
Liverpool: 4.5 hours
Newcastle: 1.5 hours
Glasgow: 1 hour
Dundee: 1.5 hours
Inverness: 3.5 hours
Aberdeen: 2.5 hours

By coach

Travelling by coach is the cheapest option. Coach companies including National Express, Citylink and Megabus operate services to Edinburgh with reclining chairs, wi-fi and onboard toilets.

By road

Scotland has great road connections to the rest of the UK and the drive to Edinburgh is fairly straightforward. Below are the average driving times from major UK cities (excluding rest stops):

London: 8 hours
Manchester: 4.5 hours
Birmingham: 5.5 hours
Liverpool: 4 hours
Newcastle: 2 hours
Glasgow: 1 hour

How to travel to Edinburgh from Europe

Edinburgh Airport is well connected with Europe with over 180 air routes. There are also direct flights from the United States and Canada including Washington and Toronto. Popular airlines include Ryanair, British Airways, Flybe, Norwegian and EasyJet.

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