Edinburgh travel facts

Currency: £ GBP

Visas:
Generally tourists from Europe, USA and the Commonwealth do not require Visas for UK holidays. Check out: www.ukvisas.gov.uk
Getting there by plane:
Flights into Edinburgh Airport are serviced by an Express Bus (number 100). They run every 10 minutes during the day and take approx. 25 minutes to the centre of Edinburgh. Check out: Traveline Scotland
Getting there by train:
Trains to Edinburgh go into Waverley station. Waverley station is very central and exits into Princes Street.
Tipping:
10-15% is normal in cabs and restaurants (where a service charge is usually included in your bill).

There are many good reasons why Edinburgh is one of Europe’s most popular city breaks. In fact it would be hard to conceive of a more appealing escape than this spellbinding stunner of a city. Its situation, embedded amidst the crags and cliffs overlooking the rough romanticism of the North Sea couldn’t be more enchanting. Nor could its jumble of architectural intrigue and contradiction. From the medieval turrets and labyrinthine cobbled streets and alleyways of Old Town to the elegant gridded neoclassicism of New Town, Edinburgh’s ever-shifting personality makes it easy to see how the city inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Few cities wear history and culture with such dramatic flair as Edinburgh. Known as the Athens of the North, art, science, literature and philosophy are all deeply engrained constituents of the city’s persona. And of course there are the festivals, when the city plays host to a global audience of culture vultures and revellers. Edinburgh certainly loves a festival and probably does them better than anywhere else, in fact it’s rare that a month passes without Edinburgh playing host to some festival or other. Things really kick off in August however, when the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe come to town and Edinburgh feels like the centre of the world.

Edinburgh is about more than just the heady chaos of the summer though, you’ll find plenty of events to keep you busy all year round and for some the promise of a slightly more sedate Edinburgh experience will make a non-August visit preferable. Although don’t turn up for Hogmanay expecting a quiet New Year!

There are always plenty of things to do in Edinburgh but one of the city’s great pleasures is simply strolling around and taking in the picturesque sights. Edinburgh is frequently named as one of the world’s most beautiful cities and though that’s a tricky statement to qualify you’ll find it hard to disagree while wandering the winding streets past medieval tenements, discovering hidden courtyards and gazing up at the skyline dominating grandiosity of the castle.

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