Just a 'thankyou' to those who were kind enough to help recently with my local Edinburgh transport queries.
Whilst the bus situation changes virtually on a daily basis at the moment as a result of the tramworks, your information enabled us to get relatively close to the usual bus stops and there we were able to set up ad hoc meetings of helpful Edinburgh citzens who, between them, managed to work out and locate that particular day's bus route to the zoo. Even the bus driver admitted that he and his colleagues were having difficulties keeping up with ( and avoiding) the ever-fluctuating roadworks!
Once the actual stop had been located, we had less than five minutes to wait for a bus to the zoo and, as we left the zoo, a bus appeared within seconds and whisked us into the city centre.
We - well she - enjoyed George St. and we both loved Rose St. and it's 'different' pubs and shops. Princes Street proved a bit of a disappointment to us - maybe because the tramworks have turned it into a building site, but mainly, I think, because it resembles the main streets in almost any other major British city when we'd pictured it as still essentially Scottish and fairly unique.
One thing that did surprise me was the size of the bus shelters there - we have smaller supermarkets in our neck of the woods!! Maybe they seemed larger with the total absence of both buses and travellers because of the roadworks, but they did provide welcome shelter from the rain.
We believe that we didn't see Edinburgh at her best on this visit and look forward to returning before too long when the work on the transport infrastructure is complete - and the next time we may even make it to the zoo when the bloody pandas are awake !!!!
For anyone who may be there this weekend. Expect further chaos due to both finalists in the scottish cup final being from Edinburgh.
Saturday may be quiet but trains will be busy. But the town will be quiet.
Got off the train at Haymarket for the bus to Portobello (usually nearer a 26 bus stop than Waverley), crossed the road to find that even the bus shelter has now disappeared! No directions of course so headed east towards Shandwick Place as previous notices had directed. To cut a long story short ended up after a long circular walk just 100ms to the WEST of Haymarket station! Something I could have done so much more easily if there'd simply been a notice on the hoarding where the bus shelter used to be pointing away from the direction of Princes Street to what was now the neearest bus stop!
Rant over!
SM
Even the bus drivers don't know which bus stops are their buses stops. We needed the 12 and it was set to drive past until another passenger flagged it down. I walked along George Street before I found the right stop as they've been changed again, looking for the right stop.
SMa - I'm suprised there is no information at Haymarket given that currently it is the main interchange for the Airport and the west of the city.
There is information about buses going westward towards the zoo and the airport because they are still running pretty much on the 'normal' route past Haymarket and the bus stop for them has just been shunted a bit further up the road - with a notice to that effect where the buses used to stop directly in front of the station. So it's pretty clear that you now need to turn left as you come out of the station and get them where you used to get them before they erected the new bus shelters by Ryrie's. The problem is that the eastbound lane past the station is closed to all traffic and the bus stop and shelter where they used to post information on where to now get the buses that used to stop there has been completely removed! Hence my walkabout!
The important one for travellers to Edinburgh (and residents that use it as it is a direct route for them) is that the 35 because more frequent during the week it's becoming every 12 minutes during the day Monday-Friday. It's still every 30 mins in the evening.
Princes St will reopen to buses and taxi's by the end of this month. There is no set date for this as of yet.
MAY be running by Late 2013,
Rumours circulating that the Trams
Have just booked 2 nights at the Premier Inn Edinburgh East for the beginning of May and would appreciate help on what to see in such a short time. It works out as an afternoon, a full day and the best part of another day. Hubby will want to go to the Whisky Experience (!), so everything will have to be worked round that.
We`ve been going to Edinburgh for long weekends for some years now and still find lots to do.
Have a look at gigguide.co.uk for entertainment especially in the evenings, much of it pub based.
If I can help with anything else please ask.
Edinburgh Castle/Greyfriars Kirkyard/Holyrood Abbey/Moubray House/National Galleries of Scotland/National Museum of Scotland/Rosslyn Chapel/Royal Mile/Scottish Parliament Building and Water of Leith.
What are your thoughts on these?
Whereas it's easy to combine Holyrood Palace and the Parliament building in the same half day because they are just across the road from each other at the bottom of the Royal Mile. I would suggest that you book both in advance because the guided tour of the Parliament is well worth doing and does need to be pre-booked.
You could easily spend a full day 'doing' the various national galleries and museums in Edinburgh and still not see everything worth seeing. So have a look at the following to help you decide which ones to concentrate on
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/oct/12/top-10-edinburgh-museums-galleries
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/
http://www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/national_museum.aspx
My top two would be the National Museum of Scotland and the National Portrait Gallery - both re-furbished only recently and both have excellent cafes if you need a reviving cup and scone!
If you are reasonably fit I would also add the Scott Monument to the above list because the views from the top are magnificent and help you get a picture of the city's layout.
And it's never been on my list but the Britannia is easy to get to down in Leith and it is a surprising omission from the App list - you'll find more infor here
http://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/
And of course, they don't mention the shopping! Princes street is now filled with exactly the same chain stores as you'll find in your own high street whereas Rose Street and George Street which run parallel to it are much more interesting with smaller quirkier shops and/or more up market ones, as is Jeffrey Street (for women's clothes and shoes) and the part of the Mile that runs down from the junction with Jeffrey street to towards Holyrood where you'll find a number of designer knitwear shops. And if you are into vintage clothes then Armstrongs in the Grassmarket is a must. If nothing else the Grassmarket is worth a visit for the hat shop - every type of hat from the practical to the surreal!
http://www.grassmarket.net/fabhatrix.asp
Have a great time - the weather in May is usually quite settled and it should have warmed up by then!
SM
I'm wondering if it's worth doing the hop-on-hop-off on Tuesday; often they are a good way of seeing things in a short time.
As we don't have to leave for home on the Wednesday until late afternoon we could always visit places we hadn't time to do on the Tuesday, or would it be worth visiting Britannia - not sure on that at all.
The next day, our only full day, was when I thought we might use the HoHo Bus, but in the end we decided to do 'our own thing'. We visited the Castle which was much better than either of us had expected; we jumped out of our skins when the 1 o'clock gun was fired, it was much louder than we anticipated. They do free guided walks which last for about 40 minutes which was very interesting. It was the hottest day of the 3 and as a consequence we took longer looking round than we thought we would, having to stop and rest more. Our plan had been to go onto Holyrood and we did actually set off, but we were both already tired from the heat and I was beginning to wilt, so reluctantly we decided not to carry on and, in fact, we went back to the hotel for a couple of hours.
Our final day was spent visiting the Royal Yacht Britannia which was excellent. Again, neither of us had known was to expect, but the whole thing is done very well and the adjoining Ocean Terminal is also very good, especially as it was a rainy day.
My one regret is that we didn't get to visit Mary King's Close, and with hindsight we could have gone there after the Castle, leaving Holyrood for another time. But as I say, we will just have to go back again!!!!!
Overall, I'm more than happy with what we managed to do in a short time. I enjoyed wandering round the souvenir shops and sitting and 'people-watching'.
Until the next time...
both meters are set at the same rate, but the taxis use the green-ways in Edinburgh, so making your journey quicker and cheaper.
you pays your money you make the choice.
My understanding is that in Edinburgh, as in other cities in Scotland, is that only the licensed taxis are allowed to make street pickups or use the taxis ranks and that private hire cars are only allowed to make pre-arranged pick-ups. In other words you can't hail them in street but have to phone for one, so anybody arriving at any of the mainline stations or at the airport will only be able to get a black cab on one of the ranks but I wonder why anybody would pay for a taxi into town from the airport when the airport bus service is much, much cheaper and also uses the green ways and will take you right into the city centre.
My understanding is that in Edinburgh, as in other cities in Scotland, is that only the licensed taxis are allowed to make street pickups or use the taxis ranks and that private hire cars are only allowed to make pre-arranged pick-ups.
the airport authorities think its OK for you to come off a plane out to the PHC desk and tell the person at the desk you need a taxi to wherever (i know its a car, but they say taxi), they note it and send you out to a driver in a car...they say that's pre-booked.
As I've had black cab drivers get lost in Edinburgh and/or needed me to direct them to suburban addresses in Edinburgh in the past, I'm not sure that their knowledge of the topography of city is any more reliable than anybody else's. They all seem to rely on satnav these delays!
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