Edinburgh Travel Forum

Greetings from the USA:

We will be visiting Edinburgh in September, and
we finally found an apartment (flat) for the
time period we were seeking (see post below).

We have a few questions we hope that someone
can answer for us about the apartment and
getting from and back to the airport.

The apartment is located:

40 St. Mary's Street
Edinburgh EH1 1SX ( near the Royal Mile? )

Does anyone know the street or the area that
the apartment is located on?

The renters claim the following:
10 min. walk to Edinburgh Castle
10 min. walk to Princess Street
7 min. walk to Holyrood Palace
1 min. walk to Royal Mile

The renters suggest that we take the Express
bus from the airport to Waverly Bridge stop.
They say from there it is only a 5 minute walk
to the apartment. ( 40 St. Mary's Street )

Is anyone familiar with the "Edinburgh Shuttle"?
Supposed to be door to door service. They say it
only cost 15 GBP for 2 people.

Last choice would be taxi from the airport in
case of bad weather. What should the cost be for
a taxi approximently.

Is there a travel card available for the public
transportation like 3 - 5 - or 7 day card?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Happy Travels,
Al and Mary - USA

If you put the postcode EH1 1SX into www.streetmap.co.uk you will see exactly where the partment is in relation to the rest of Edinburgh. The timings seem pretty accurate (though it will depend on how quickly you walk, of course).

The Edinburgh Shuttle is a shared transport service (a private company, I think): if you want to use it the website is here:

http://www.edinburghshuttle.com/home.php

Getting the airport bus will be much cheaper: it stops at Waverley station, which is pretty near where you will be staying.

http://www.flybybus.com/index.php

I don't think there are travelcards as such, but you can get day tickets to cover buses. There are two carriers (Lothian and First Bus), and the day tickets do not work for both:

http://lothianbuses.com/tickets.php

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/scotland/sescot/fares/firstday.php

http://www.edinburgh.org/traveltips/aroundbus/





I wouldn't bother with a taxi personally, or pay for the shuttle: I'd get th bus. But that's a personal choice, of course.

The buses are right at the airport. Just walk out the door and across a small street and hop on the bus. It is about the easiest way to get into town.

I don't know about bus passes, but the first day we took one of the hop-on hop-off tours and used that as our transportation and to get oriented. Central Edinburgh is small enough you may find yourself walking after that. We did, although we truly enjoy walking and you may not.

The Edinburgh airport is one of the most friendly we have ever visited. Ask anyone about buses and they will be happy to help you.

I know exactly where St Mary Street is and the description of the location of the flat is absolutely correct. Excellent location. It's right off the Royal Mile. We've stayed in a hotel on St Mary Street on several occasions and it is our location of choice. On the corner of St Mary Street and the Royal Mile there is a very small newsagents/grocery store where you can pick up emergency supplies. Other than that, the only down side is that you will have to go over to the Prince's Street side to find an M&S or Sainsbury to buy groceries. I would take the bus from the airport, as recommended by previous posters. Now, I would say it is more than a 5 minute walk from Waverley Station. However, if you don't have much baggage and/or it has wheels, then you can easily walk in 10-15 minutes - it's not far but if you don't exactly know the way it can take longer than you think plus you will have to deal with the throng of people on North Bridge. Sorry, I can't help you with the travel card. However, I would stress that where you are located you will not need to use public transport for the main tourist sites, as they are all easily reached by foot, including the Scottish Portrait Gallery and National Gallery of Scotland. If you want to go to the Dean Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, then there is a FREE bus that leaves from outside of the National Gallery of Scotland and goes via the Scottish Portrait Gallery. Hope this helps a bit and any specific questions you might have, please email me.

Yes, as the others have said the description is correct for your apartment location - great spot.

Transport from the airport - collect your bags and walk outside and you'll see the Blue double deckers with Airlink on them. Fare is £3.00 single or £5.00 for an open return. The drivers of these buses give change. They will announce when they reach Waverley Bridge and point you in the right direction for St. Marys Street. Buses run at least every 10 mins through the day, every 15 mins in the evening and half hourly through the night. Journey time is about 25minutes.

If you're arriving very late, or departing very early in the morning you may have to get the N22 night service from/to the airport. Takes about the same amount of time and is £2.50 each way.

Edinburgh is a fairly small city, you'll be able to walk around the city centre. If you want to take the bus use Lothian Buses as they're the biggest operator in town. £1.10 single or for better value buy a daysaver for £2.50 for unlimited travel. You need correct change for these buses.

You can go to the Lothian Buses shop (one on waverley bridge) and buy a travelcard, we call them smartcards for 7 days. You can also use this card to travel on the airlink service to the airport so if you're going to get a smartcard then don't buy a return ticket on the airlink. A 7 day smartcard is £13 for an adult.

If you're travelling about town between midnight and 5am then you'll be using the Nightbus network (I'm a nightbus driver). Flat fare on the nightbuses is £2.50, if you have a smartcard it's £1.50 - this is for all night travel and you can also use it if getting the N22 to the airport.

Hope you have a wonderful trip :o)

Chaumsong, Please please please post this information as a Tip on your Edinburgh Travel Page. This is extremely detailed and useful and will soon be lost on the Forum. Those of us who love to travel in Scotland will deeply appreciate your effort. 8^)

I have most of these details posted anyway. As to the Edinburgh Shuttle service, I still maintain that a taxi is just as cheap and certainly more direct as these minibuses can drop off several other passengers at points within the central zone which is not that easy to navigate around in a vehicle.

I've used every method of transport available from Edinburgh airport but for a long distance traveller with large baggage I'd recommend paying the little extra for a taxi.

You can see the route you would take should you decide to use the bus and get off at Waverley Bridge by using the excellent website below.

http://clicktowalk.com/edinburgh/index.php?locn_id=0640&lang=en&cat=culture

From the link head left along the Fruitmarket then veer to the right up Jeffrey St past Jury's Inn hotel and St Mary's Street is just over the Royal Mile.

Its all true, and good advice.

I've seen the Shuttle buses, and it looks interesting, but no first hand experience.

Can't speak for this particular address, but the street is almost the ideal location as a base for seeing the city.