Scotland’s remarkable capital city is the perfect choice for a weekend break or longer stay. Set back from the Firth of Forth, and with the Pentland Hills just to the south, Edinburgh boasts a fine mix of neighbourhoods. The castle perches on a rocky crag, with the Royal Mile running down through the Old Town to Holyrood Palace. Explore the little alleys (called wynds or closes) which lead off the Royal Mile. Make time too for gracious Princes Street and the elegant New Town. After a few hours tramping the streets of Edinburgh, head for one of the city’s cosy pubs or bars for a wee dram of Scotland’s national drink.

Edinburgh's tram system has made it much easier to get around the city and recent traffic management projects have done much to make Edinburgh a far nicer place for pedestrians. The main rail hub is Edinburgh Waverley (for bookings on our website and app we refer to it simply as Edinburgh). It is at the eastern end of Princes Street Gardens in the very heart of the Scottish capital. The other main station, just west of the city centre, is Haymarket.

Edinburgh Waverley is a major hub for rail services across Scotland and cross-border links to England. Trains to London leave at least hourly. The east-coast route services take four to five hours to reach King's Cross station, while trains to Euston (which use the west-coast route) take closer to six hours to reach London.

There are several trains an hour to Glasgow, by a number of different routes; the fastest take less than an hour for the journey. Regular trains leave Edinburgh for all main Scottish cities including Stirling (less than an hour), Aberdeen (about 2 hrs 30 mins) and Inverness (3 hrs 30 mins). If you are tempted to head to remoter areas of the Highlands, bear in mind that longer journeys take time. The train journey from Edinburgh to the west coast port of Mallaig takes over six hours; Edinburgh to Thurso takes eight hours.