Bus

National Express provides a coach service to and from London and other major towns and cities. The main terminal, Edinburgh Bus Station, is a short walk north of Edinburgh Waverley station, immediately east of St. Andrew Square. Long-distance coaches must be booked in advance online, by phone, or at the terminal. Edinburgh is approximately eight hours by bus from London.

Lothian Buses provides most of the services between Edinburgh and the Lothians and conducts day tours around and beyond the city. First Bus runs additional buses out of Edinburgh into the surrounding area. Megabus offers dirt-cheap fares to selected cities across Scotland.

Lothian Buses is the main operator within Edinburgh. You can buy tickets from the driver on the bus, though you will need the exact fare. Alternatively, you can buy tickets in advance at a Lothian Buses store or on your phone through the Lothian Buses M-Tickets app. On a limited (but ever-increasing) number of routes, contactless card payment is also available. In all cases, it's £1.70 for a single ticket or £4 for a day ticket, which allows unlimited one-day travel on the city's buses. A single night ticket costs £3, or you can get unlimited travel from 6 pm to 4:30 am with a DAY&NIGHT ticket (£3.50). Buses can be packed on Friday and Saturday nights, so you may want to consider a taxi instead.

Bus Contacts

First Bus. 0871/200--2233; www.firstgroup.com.

Lothian Buses. 0131/554--4494; www.lothianbuses.com.

Megabus. 0900/160--0900; uk.megabus.com.

National Express. 0871/781--8181; www.nationalexpress.co.uk.