Scotland’s busiest airport: the tram versus the 24-hour Airlink bus, what each costs, the 2-litre liquids rule, onward travel to Glasgow and the Highlands – and the Edinburgh monument that delayed abolition.
Edinburgh is Scotland's busiest airport, eight miles west of the city centre at Ingliston, with a single terminal. It is easy to use and well connected – the tram and the 24-hour Airlink bus both stop right outside – but it is busy and expensive at the kerb, and in August, during the Festival, everything in the city costs more and books out.
Lothian's Airlink 100 runs 24 hours a day, about every 10 minutes in the daytime, to Waverley Bridge via Haymarket, in roughly 30 minutes. £6 single, £8.50 open return; a family return covers two adults and up to three children. Pay by contactless on board. Waverley Bridge is between the Old Town and the New Town, next to Waverley station.
Edinburgh Trams run from right outside the terminal through Edinburgh Park, Haymarket, Princes Street and St Andrew Square to Leith and Newhaven, every 7 minutes in the daytime. The airport is its own fare zone: you need an Airport Single (£7.90) – a cheap city ticket is not valid. A Network Day ticket (£14) covers trams and Lothian buses including the airport.
Black cabs wait at the official rank; expect roughly £25–40 to the centre, depending on traffic and destination. Outside the city boundary, agree the fare before you set off.
Allow at least 45 minutes for the tram or bus in rush hour, and remember security queues in summer can be long.
Edinburgh installed new 3D scanners and, in July 2025, became the first Scottish airport to allow liquids in containers up to two litres in hand luggage, with laptops staying in bags. The rule depends on the airport, not the country – check your departure and return airports separately.
Arriving from abroad, most visitors who do not need a visa now need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before they fly. See our UK visa and entry rules and UK visa and entry from Africa.
There are no direct flights from sub-Saharan Africa to Edinburgh. The usual routes are one-stop via the Gulf (Emirates via Dubai, Qatar Airways via Doha), via Istanbul, or via European hubs such as Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt. Changing at a hub abroad is often easier than flying into London and connecting, because you avoid changing airports and clear UK immigration only once, in Edinburgh. See flights from Africa to the UK, and for Ghana routes GhanaFlights.info.
Scotland's capital likes to present itself as a city of the Enlightenment – and it was. It was also deeply tied to the empire. Scots were heavily over-represented among plantation owners, managers and doctors in Jamaica and the Caribbean, and many Edinburgh fortunes came home from them. On top of the column in St Andrew Square stands Henry Dundas, the Scottish politician who, as Home Secretary in 1792, amended the motion to abolish the slave trade to make it "gradual" – a delay during which many more Africans were shipped across the Atlantic. Since 2021 a plaque at the base of the monument has said so. Read the wider story in our pages on abolition in Britain and slave-owner compensation.
Day tours from Edinburgh reach Loch Ness, Glencoe, the Highlands, St Andrews and the Borders, and the city's Old Town walking and ghost tours start minutes from the tram.
Entrance fees are included in the tour price; tips are not included but are always welcome.
Every major UK airport compared.
The 500 Express, Prestwick and the west of Scotland.
Castles, clans and the Scottish story.
Routes from Europe, the Americas, the Gulf and Asia.
Scots also served the empire in West Africa – as traders, soldiers, missionaries and colonial officials. Explore that history on our partner sites Ghana-Net, Cape Coast Castle and African Independence.
Britain Adventures is an independent partner website. Our partner sites on Africa and its history are where the stories on this page continue:
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