I
love and hate those things. You get there and you go for holidays, but they are so messy and you waste your time there.
TIP! – take something to waste your time at the airport. Unless you want to waste money, then you can try the duty not so free zone.
My modus operandi for the airport is to know the devil and this book I told you about. And that is only to survive the first part. Eventually, you arrive at your destination… and what next. Here is where knowing the devil comes in handy.
First step – the map of the place. In my opinion – there is no need to waste your time and strength at the airport just because you became lost. And those extra miles that you walk, with a backpack or a suitcase – really! – you can spend all this energy on some other things!
As for Edinburgh – usually, you get out with two possible exits (after you have your luggage, of course). One with a view for a supermarket and Starbucks, the other one – you can get coffee in there and looks like the end of the airport (2020)
Then you have two options for getting out of the airport (not counting taxis and a pick up).
Tram and the bus – these will be our main interest in this article.
So the supermarket point is close to both. The coffee exit is close to the buses (airport building length from the tram).
So where do we get with these two?
For now, there is only one tram line in Edinburgh – going as far as York Place, so not that far (more or less the center of the city). But it has a few stops that are close to various hotels: Haymarket Station, Princes Street stops, York Place stop.
The hotels that you have on the way are e.g. Haymarket Hub Hotel and others, West End Hotels, Morisson (Haymarket); Waldorf, Cityroomz, Motel One (Princess St); Holiday Inn, Picardy Place Hotels (York Place) and many, many others.
TIP! Remember – if you know it – buy a return ticket. You go from and to the airport and it will give you some savings. You need to buy the ticket before boarding the train – there are ticket machines on the stops (no change is given, but you can pay by card)
Tram Prices:
Return ticket: £9
One way ticket: £6,50
Trams are quite useful – it takes about 40 minutes to Princess Street. And they go roughly every 10 min, but at this link, you can have a timetable.
Busses
oh… here is where the fun starts. I suspect that most of you will be staying in Edinburgh – so I will just point to the main Skylink busses. But of course, there are others there, that are going a little bit further. Check the link if you will be going to Stirling, Glasgow, Fife or West Lothian.
The Skylinks are the Edinburgh airport busses. You can use them around the town (transport article), but for the airport, there is a fixed rate. They divide beautifully:
- Skylink 100 – goes to the heart of Edinburgh, the straightest way possible.
- Skylink 200 – goes to Leith through Northern parts of Edinburgh. It also stops in Newhaven.
- Skylink 300 – goes West and South, going through possible sleeping areas like Fountainbridge, Toll Cross, University area and following Newington St. is finishing at Cameron Toll.
- Skylink 400 – not to the city center. This one is the one for southern Edinburgh
Estimated times vary (traffic of course):
- Skylink 100 (every 10 min) – 30-40min between Wavery Station – Airport
- Skylink 200 (every 30 min) – 50-60min between Ocean Terminal (Leith) – Airport
- Skylink 300 (every 20 min) – 60 – 80min between Cameron Toll – Airport
Bus Prices:
Return ticket: £7,50
Single ticket: £4,50
For the unlucky ones arriving between 00:45 AM and 4:15 AM – there is a night bus N22, going every 30min. The fare is 3, and the bus goes from the Airport – City Centre – Leith Ocean Terminal.
There is a point to buy bus tickets, marked with that big blue house shape on the map underneath. You can pay cash and card there – so it is highly recommended.
TIP! REMEMBER – you can buy your ticket with the bus driver BUT you need to have the EXACT change to do so. No cards, no returns (if you have 10 pounds, you pay or you do not go)
Returning to things not covered:
Taxis are pointed on the map. You need to enter the parking building to get to them. When you get out of the airport it is the big grey building with an add on it in front of you:
The cost to Princess Street is: £20-25 (2019)
Uber – very similar to the taxi – I love the commonwealth in this country!
Rent a car section – just follow quite a long passage, going next to the tram line. At its end, there is a separate building designed for that (an orange one, bottom right corner).
So that is all. I hope I didn’t miss anything crucial. Hope you like maps as much as I do – did I tell you they are my Bible? There will be so many more of them.
PDF from the download section has everything in points, without me spilling my guts around.