The Edinburgh Tour Guide
The tram is the answer you will be given. It is the one the airport signs point at, the one the forum threads recommend, and the one most visitors end up on. It is also more expensive than the bus, slower than the bus, and unavailable for eight and a half hours a day at an airport that never closes. We pulled the fares and the timetables from Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams directly rather than from other guides, and the comparison is not close.
Take the Airlink 100 bus. It is £1.90 cheaper each way, about eight minutes quicker into the centre, and it runs through the night, while the last tram out of the airport goes at 22:52 and the first at 06:30. Take the tram instead in two cases: you are staying in Leith or going to Ocean Terminal, where the tram runs through and the bus does not, or step-free access matters, because the tram stop is next to the terminal on a covered walkway. A private transfer only starts making sense for a family of four with luggage or a middle-of-the-night arrival.
Airlink 100 bus, adult single
£6.00
Tram, adult single
£7.90
Bus to Waverley Bridge
24 min
Tram to Princes Street
32 min
The fares, side by side
Every figure below is from the operator's own fares page, checked on 9 September 2026. The bus is cheaper in every single row, and the gap widens as the group grows.
| Ticket | Airlink 100 bus | Tram | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult single | £6.00 | £7.90 | £1.90 |
| Adult open return | £8.50 | £9.50 | £1.00 |
| Child single (5 to 15) | £3.00 | £4.00 | £1.00 |
| Child open return | £4.25 | £5.00 | £0.75 |
| Family return, 2 adults + 3 children | £22.00 | £28.00 | £6.00 |
| Network day ticket, all zones | £14.00 | £14.00 | identical |
The family row is the one worth pausing on. Two adults and three children pay £22.00 return on the Airlink against £28.00 on the tram, which is most of a round of drinks for the same journey. Up to three children under five travel free with a fare-paying adult on either.
One caveat in the tram's favour, because it is real: buying online rather than at the platform machine takes 40p off the adult airport single and 25p off the open return. That narrows the single-fare gap from £1.90 to £1.50. It does not close it.
If you are planning to use buses and trams around the city on your arrival day anyway, the Network day ticket at £14.00 costs the same on both and covers everything, including the airport leg. Whether that beats a £6 single depends entirely on how much you actually move, and our itinerary guide makes the case that Edinburgh's centre is small enough to walk most of.
The bus is also faster, which surprises people
This is the part that runs against intuition. Trams feel like the quick modern option and buses feel like the slow one, and here it is the other way round, for a structural reason: the Airlink is a limited-stop express down the A8, while the tram threads through Ingliston Park & Ride, Edinburgh Gateway, the Gyle Centre and Edinburgh Park before it gets anywhere near town.
| From the airport to | Time | Service |
|---|---|---|
| West End | 18 min | Airlink 100 |
| Waverley Bridge | 24 min | Airlink 100, end of the line |
| Haymarket | 25 min | Tram |
| Princes Street | 32 min | Tram |
| St Andrew Square | 35 min | Tram |
| Ocean Terminal (Leith) | 54 min | Tram, no bus equivalent |
| Newhaven | about 55 min | Tram, end of the line |
The clearest row is the one the two services almost share. The bus reaches the West End in 18 minutes; the tram reaches Haymarket, a few hundred metres short of it, in 25. Same corner of the city, seven minutes apart, and the cheaper one gets there first.
None of these are single readings. The official Service 100 timetable prints around twenty overnight departures, and every one of them gives exactly 24 minutes from Edinburgh Airport to Waverley Bridge, and 18 to the West End. The tram figures hold up the same way, identical across the first departure of the day, a mid-evening one and the last one.
Be honest with yourself about traffic, though. Those bus times are the overnight schedule, when the A8 is empty. The daytime timetable is published as a frequency rather than as clock times, so we cannot give you a verified rush-hour figure, and the sensible assumption is that a weekday teatime arrival will be slower than 24 minutes. The tram, running on its own alignment, is the more predictable of the two even though it is the slower one on paper.
The 06:30 problem, at an airport that never shuts
Edinburgh Airport operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The tram does not, and this is the fact that no comparison seems to lead with, even though it is the one most likely to strand somebody.
| Airlink 100 bus | Tram | |
|---|---|---|
| First departure from the airport | runs through the night | 06:30 |
| Last departure from the airport | runs through the night | 22:52 |
| Daytime frequency | up to every 10 min, 04:12 to 01:00 | every 7 min |
| Overnight frequency | up to every 20 min, 01:15 to 04:00 | no service |
| Last departure towards the airport | 03:25 from Waverley Bridge | 23:56 from Newhaven, reaching the airport at 00:51 |
Read the last two rows together, because they contain a genuine asymmetry. You can reach the airport by tram late, arriving at 00:51. You cannot leave the airport by tram after 22:52. Plenty of people take the tram out for an early flight, remember it as easy, and then discover on the return leg that a 23:30 arrival has no tram waiting.
One exception on the bus side, and it lands on the single busiest night of the Edinburgh year. The overnight Airlink journeys marked N on the timetable do not run on the mornings of 25 December, 26 December and 1 January. If you are flying in for Hogmanay and land in the small hours of New Year's Day, neither the tram nor the night bus is there.
The other half of a late arrival is what you are walking into. Edinburgh in December is dark by 15:39, so an evening landing means arriving into a city that has been dark for hours. That is not a problem, but it does change how you plan your first evening.
When a taxi or a private transfer is genuinely the right call
For one person with a cabin bag, a £33 transfer against a £6 bus is not a decision, it is a donation. The honest arithmetic only turns at a specific point, and it is worth doing rather than asserting.
Two adults and two children pay £18.00 for four singles into town, against from £33 for a private transfer that takes the whole group door to door. That is a £15 gap for the arrival, not the £27 a solo traveller is looking at, and you are carrying four sets of luggage to a bus stop rather than into a boot. Book the return leg as well and the bus pulls away again, because the Airlink family return covers the whole round trip for £22.00 while a second transfer is another £33. Land at 01:00 and the night bus runs every 20 minutes rather than every 10, which is a different proposition with tired children. And if anyone in the group has mobility or luggage constraints, the door-to-door price is buying something the fare comparison does not measure.
Two Viator transfer listings show the shape of that market. Note the trade-off in the numbers themselves: the cheaper one has twice the reviews and a lower score, which is usually what a larger and more honest sample looks like.
Private Airport Transfer To or From Edinburgh Airport, One Way
The cheapest credible option with a real sample behind it. Door to door, one way, free cancellation.
Edinburgh Airport Private Transfers To and From the City Centre
Nearly twice the price of the listing beside it, and a 4.95 across 94 reviews. Worth it only if the schedule is tight.
Black cabs are available from the rank outside arrivals and are metered rather than fixed-price. We are not quoting you a taxi fare, because we could not source one from the airport or the trade, and every figure circulating online traces back to somebody else's blog post rather than to a tariff.
The thing that actually decides it: where each one leaves you
Everything above says take the bus. This is the section that can overrule it, and it has nothing to do with money. The two services overlap for the middle of the journey and then diverge completely at the end, and if your bed is at the tram's end of that split, none of the three arguments above matters.
Both call at Murrayfield and Haymarket, so if your hotel is in the West End or you are catching an onward train from Haymarket, either one works and you take whichever is at the stop.
The bus finishes at Waverley Bridge, which is underneath the east end of Princes Street and beside Waverley station. For the Old Town, the Royal Mile, the Grassmarket and most of what this site writes about, that is the useful end of town. It is a short walk from there to the underground vaults and to where most free walking tours start.
The tram carries on north and east through St Andrew Square and Picardy Place to Foot of the Walk, Ocean Terminal and Newhaven. If you are staying in Leith, that is the difference between one journey and two. It also matters for two specific things this site covers: the Royal Yacht Britannia is at Ocean Terminal, and Port of Leith Distillery, one of the only two working distilleries in the city, is down the same line. Nobody arriving to do those should be on the bus.
The ticket traps that cost people money
Four of these, all from the operators' own terms, and all of them catch visitors who assume a city ticket is a city ticket.
Read before you tap
- The tram has a pre-purchase policy and a £10 penalty. You must buy, validate or activate before you board. Get on without a valid ticket and you pay a £10 on-board fare, which is more than an open return.
- Lothian DAY and LATE tickets are not valid on the Airlink at all. Not reduced, not topped up. Not valid.
- The tram's City Zone excludes exactly one stop: the airport. City Day, City Late, Family City Day and the DAY cap all stop at the boundary. The ticket that does cover the airport on both networks is the Network day at £14.00.
- American Express is not accepted on Lothian buses, and cards issued outside the UK may pick up an overseas transaction fee from your own bank.
One genuinely useful thing that is easy to miss: since 6 April 2025 the former Skylink services, now numbered 17 and 18, carry the ordinary city fare to and from the airport rather than the airport fare. They are local buses rather than an express, so they are slower and they do not run to Waverley Bridge, but if one is at your stop and it is going your way, it is the cheapest wheels at the airport.
What we can and cannot tell you
What the data supports: every fare and every time on this page comes from Lothian Buses, Edinburgh Trams or the official Service 100 timetable PDF, read on 9 September 2026. The return fares are confirmed twice, once on Lothian's fares page and once on the Airlink's own ticket shop, and they agree. The journey times are not single readings: the 24-minute bus run appears identically on around twenty printed departures, and the tram's 32 and 35 minutes are consistent across three separate columns of its timetable.
Why this page distrusts second-hand fares, with evidence: the photo at the top of this page was taken in March 2025 and the bus in it is advertising a £5.50 single and an £8.00 open return on its own bodywork. Both are now 50p higher. That also explains, rather than just contradicts, the highest-ranking community answer to this question, which quotes the open return at £8: it was right when it was written, and it has been quietly wrong ever since. Fares move about once a year and forum posts do not move at all.
What it does not support: a taxi fare, a daytime bus journey time, or a claim about which service is more comfortable. Edinburgh taxis are metered rather than fixed-price, the airport's own fares page returns a 404 at the address its navigation points to, and we have not timed either service at Friday rush hour. Where we could not verify something, it is absent rather than estimated.
Before you land
Before you land
- Default to the Airlink 100. £6 single, £8.50 return, 24 minutes to Waverley Bridge, and it is there whatever time you arrive.
- Check your arrival time against 06:30 and 22:52. Outside that window the tram does not exist, no matter what the signs say.
- Staying in Leith, or going to Britannia? Take the tram. It runs through to Ocean Terminal and Newhaven, and the bus does not go near either.
- Buy your tram ticket before you step on. The on-board fare is £10, and buying the airport single online saves 40p on top.
- Do not assume a day ticket covers the airport. On both networks it almost certainly does not. The Network day at £14.00 is the one that does.
- Arriving overnight on 25 or 26 December, or 1 January? The overnight Airlink journeys do not run on those three mornings. Arrange something else in advance.
Quick answers
What is the cheapest way to get from Edinburgh Airport to the city centre?
The Airlink 100 bus, at £6.00 for an adult single and £8.50 for an open return. The tram costs £7.90 single and £9.50 return for the same journey, so the bus saves £1.90 each way. For families the gap is wider: an Airlink family return covering two adults and three children is £22.00, against £28.00 on the tram. Children aged 5 to 15 pay £3.00 on the bus and £4.00 on the tram, and up to three under-fives travel free with a fare-paying adult on either.
Is the tram or the bus faster from Edinburgh Airport?
The bus, by around eight minutes. The official Airlink 100 timetable gives 24 minutes from the airport to Waverley Bridge, and every night departure printed on it shows the same 24 minutes. The tram timetable gives 32 minutes to Princes Street and 35 to St Andrew Square. The bus is quicker because it runs a limited-stop express route down the A8, while the tram calls at Ingliston, Edinburgh Gateway, the Gyle and Edinburgh Park on its way in.
What time does the last tram leave Edinburgh Airport?
22:52, and the first one is at 06:30. That is the single most important fact on this page, because Edinburgh Airport operates 24 hours a day. If you land before half six in the morning or after ten to eleven at night, the tram is not an option at all, whatever a search result tells you. The Airlink 100 runs through the night: up to every 10 minutes from 04:12 to 01:00 and up to every 20 minutes from 01:15 to 04:00.
Does the Airlink 100 bus run 24 hours?
Yes, with one exception worth knowing if you are coming for Hogmanay. Lothian runs it as a 24/7 express service, but the overnight journeys marked N on the official timetable do not operate on the mornings of 25 December, 26 December and 1 January. If you are landing in the small hours of New Year's Day, the night bus you were counting on is not running.
Where does the Airlink 100 drop you in Edinburgh?
Waverley Bridge, beside Waverley station and directly below the eastern end of Princes Street, which puts you within a short walk of most Old Town accommodation. On the way in it also calls at Edinburgh Zoo, Murrayfield, Haymarket, Shandwick Place, Princes Street and Hanover Street. The full stop list is short because it is an express: Airport, Airport Hotels, Maybury Road, Drum Brae South, Edinburgh Zoo, Western Corner, Murrayfield, Wester Coates, Haymarket, Shandwick Place, Princes Street, Hanover Street, Waverley Bridge.
When is the tram the better choice from Edinburgh Airport?
In two situations, and both are genuine. First, if you are staying in Leith or heading for Ocean Terminal, because the tram runs through to Newhaven and the bus does not go near it, so the tram saves you a change. Second, if step-free access matters: the tram stop sits next to the terminal on a covered walkway, and every tram has six luggage racks including space for large cases. Neither of those is a price argument, and outside them the bus wins.
Can I use a day ticket on the Airlink or the airport tram?
Usually not, and this is where people get caught. Lothian's standard DAY and LATE caps and tickets are not valid on the Airlink 100 at all. On the tram, City Day, City Late, the DAY cap and Family City Day are all valid only in the City Zone, which is defined as every stop except Edinburgh Airport. The ticket that does cover the airport on both bus and tram is the Network day ticket at £14.00 adult and £7.00 child.
Do I need to buy a tram ticket before boarding at the airport?
Yes, and it is an expensive habit to break. Edinburgh Trams operates a pre-purchase policy: you must buy, validate or activate before you step on. Board without a valid ticket and you pay the £10 on-board fare to the Ticketing Services Assistant, which is more than a return would have cost you. Buy at the platform machine, in the app, or online, where the airport single is 40p cheaper than at the machine.
About this guide
Written by Diego Fresno, Independent travel writer and researcher. Guides are based on first-hand research in Edinburgh and verified against operator and official sources for the 2026 season. Verified: August 2026. About the author →