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Edinburgh

Coming & Going

AIR

Edinburgh Airport (tel (0131) 333 1000; website www.baa.co.uk/main/airports/edinburgh/) is a busy airport with flights to most major destinations in the UK and Ireland and major European cities. It is served by major airlines as well as cut prices carriers like easyJet and Ryanair.

The airport is located around 11km west of the city centre and Lothian Buses route 100 makes the 25-minute journey between the airport and Waverley Bridge in the city centre every 10-30 minutes. The one-way fare is £3.40.

Glasgow's two airports are also nearby and are an alternative gateway for people travelling to Edinburgh.

BUS

Express coaches arrive at the coach station on St Andrews Square. National Express (tel 0870 580 8080; website www.nationalexpress.co.uk) has coaches to London and other destinations in England and Scottish Citylink (tel 08705 50 50 50; website www.citylink.co.uk) have coaches to places in Scotland. The cheapest option is buses run by Megabus (website www.megabus.com), which go to Dundee, Glasgow, Perth and St Andrews. Megabus fares start at £1 (plus 50p booking fee).

HITCHHIKING

It's not too difficult to get a lift out of Edinburgh but you'll need to take a bus to the outer suburbs to get to the best hitching spots.

The A1 is the main road to Berwick-upon-Tweed, Durham, Leeds, Newcastle and York. Many hitchers take buses 15 26 40 44 44A X26 X44 N26 N44 to Musselburgh and try their luck there but there is still a lot of local traffic here and it may be better to take bus 15 26 X44 N44 a little farther to Tranent and try your luck on the A1 roundabout where there is more long distance traffic. Also the roundabout slows the traffic down making it safer for cars to stop for you.

If you're heading to most other destinations in England take bus 4 11 15 32 32A N27 to Fairmilehead and try your luck on the A702. The A702 passes Biggar and then joins the M74, which becomes the M6 after passing Carlisle. This is the best route if you're headed for Liverpool, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham, Oxford or London.

Hitchers heading north to Perth, Aberdeen and the Highlands will want to take the A90/M90. Take bus 18 to the corner of Maybury and Queensferry Roads and stick your thumb out on Queensferry Road (the A90).

TRAIN

Edinburgh's main station is Waverley Station, which is right in the city centre near Waverley Bridge. From here trains go to England and most parts of Scotland. Haymarket Station is a couple of kilometres west of the centre and it has trains to Glasgow and southwest Scotland.