Edinburgh Travel Forum

I arrive 10:30 pm at EDI on 2 August and am trying to arrange transport to our accomodation in Newington. As my wife and I are traveling with our young daughter, I prefer a simple and direct means of transport. As such, I am trying to book a private transfer through Onward Travel (www.onwardtravel.com), which is a recommended hire firm thru the EDI website. However, I can't make head or tails of the "destination" codes they ask you to provide (for instance they are labeled EH 4, EH 5 and so on). Can any local tell me what these codes mean? I can't get a response from the company. Any other suggestions would also be appreciated. Thank you.

That will be the postcode (like US zipcode)for your accommodation. It should be on your correspondence with them. It tells the transport people which street it is.

There is a minibus company which specialises in shared airport transfers - cheaper than taxi or limos, but still door to door. I'll try to remember the name (too early in morning right now).

They are the postcodes for the districts of Edinburgh (all addresses in the UK have their own postcode, the first part of which denotes the area).

Your hotel website will have its full address and postcode displayed. If for some reason you cannot find it, put the hotel's name and 'edinburgh' into

http://postcode.royalmail.com

Which postcode you need does depend on the exact address. Newington includes, for example, E9 and E16.

According to the airport website taxi arrangements on site are 'managed' by onward travel. This does not mean you have to book your transfer through them.
It might be a good idea to get quotes from other transfer companies before booking. There are many. Taxi hire is tightly regulated in the UK and reliability is the norm. Some companies listed here:

http://www.edinburghairport-transfers.co.uk/

http://www.edinburgh-airport-guide.co.uk/taxi-transfer.html

http://www.airporttaxisedinburgh.co.uk/

I think Iain means:

http://www.edinburghshuttle.com/

which would indeed be a cheaper option than taking a taxi.

I certainly do not think you need to pay for 'executive' onward transport of any type. A normal taxi (pre-booked, because it is cheaper) would be perfectly satisfactory if the shuttle does not appeal.

A slight wriggle to your question...... but make sure your accommodation knows you are arriving late. Some places don't have 24 hour reception, others lock the door and give the guests a key, etc. It all depends on the type of accommodation. As the address is in Newington, it may well be that you are staying either in a B&B or in a guest house, in which case you must let them know you are arriving late and ask for instructions re arrangements for late arrival.

Very good point.

By the time you have got through the airport and into Edinburgh (assuming no flight delays) it will be getting on for midnight. Best to make sure now that your accommodation is willing to deal with such a late arrival.

It was Edinburgh Shuttle I was thinking of.

To all, I appreciate your assistance and suggestions. The postal code threw me for a loop. Our accomodation is at a B&B in Newington and I have made arrangements for a late night arrival wth the Owner. I did try Edinburgh Shuttle, but they stop running as early as 20:30. Again, thanks.

For 3 people a black cab is your best bet, unlike what has already been said here a walk up metered fare is cheaper than pre booked. On the evening tariff you will pay no more than £20, probably a bit less. Edinburgh shuttle is no longer operating as of early May but became more expensive than a cab the minute you had more than 1 person.

Why not just get the airport bus to the city centre, it drops you off at Waverley bridge, you can then get a taxi from waverley train station to newington, should be fairly straight forward.

3 x £3.50 on bus = £10.50 plus £6.00 to £7.00 in a cab from waverly = no point.

Cab from airport < £20