Getting Around Edinburgh

Edinburgh is a vibrant and historic city with a UNESCO world heritage site at its centre. The city is split into the old town area and the Georgian part of the city, which is referred to as the new town. There are many ways of getting around and to Edinburgh city. The city is 5.8 miles away from Edinburgh Airport and an airport bus service to the city runs from 5am to midnight every half hour and most buses stop on Princes Street. You can also take a taxi from the airport into the city and this journey normally takes about 20-30 minutes depending on time of day and traffic.

Walking Around Edinburgh

Edinburgh has some steep roads and streets because it is a hilly city but it is enjoyable to walk around, particularly around the old town sector of the city. If you are touring the city you’ll find that many of the major attractions are within easy walking distance of each other. The answer to finding your way around the city is Princes Street and it is worth exploring the street from one end to the other. The medieval streets in the old town deserve to be explored on foot as is the Royal Mile, the connector between the castle and the palace. You can also hire a bicycle if you don’t want to walk and this is an enjoyable way of seeing the city. The city runs organised walking and cycling tours of the city with a professional guide.

Bus

Buses are plentiful in Edinburgh, there are regular services and you should never wait too long at a bus stop. The buses run on a system of bus lanes that is very well organised. You can get a guided tour of the city on one of the open top buses and if you get a ticket that allows you to hop off the bus to look at something more closely and then hop on another when you need to move on, you will get to see many of the sites in a day.

Getting an overview of the city in this way makes it much easier to return another time to look at some aspects more closely. If you get on the bus at Princes Street you will be able to get to most parts of the city. City bus tours are great, especially if it is your first visit to the city, you can see it through the eyes of a professional who can explain the history of different aspects of Edinburgh. Tours generally depart from Princes Street and Waverly Bridge. Night buses run from Waverly Bridge and it is possible to get different bus passes for destinations in and outside of the city centre.

Taxi

In Edinburgh most of the taxis are traditional black hackney cabs that are licensed by the city. Taxis run on meters and you can simply hail a cab down in the street, there are also some minicab companies but these are privately run operations.