Airports in Edinburgh

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Airports

Edinburgh Airport, 7 mi west of the city center, offers only a few transatlantic flights. It does, however, have air connections throughout the United Kingdom -- London (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, and City), Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Humberside, Jersey, Kirkwall (Orkney), Inverness, Leeds-Bradford, Manchester, Norwich, Sumburgh (Shetlands), Southampton, Wick, and Belfast (in Northern Ireland) -- as well as with a number of European cities, including Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Cork, Dublin, Frankfurt, Paris, and Zurich. Flights take off for Edinburgh Airport virtually every hour from London's Gatwick and Heathrow airports; it's usually faster and less complicated to fly through Gatwick, which has excellent rail service from London's Victoria Station.

Glasgow Airport, 50 mi west of Edinburgh, serves as the major point of entry into Scotland for transatlantic flights. Prestwick Airport, 30 mi southwest of Glasgow, after some years of eclipse by Glasgow Airport, has grown in importance, not least because of the activities of Ryanair.

Information

Edinburgh Airport (0870/040-0007. www.baa.com). Glasgow Airport (0870/040-0008. www.baa.com). Prestwick Airport (0871/223-0700. www.gpia.co.uk).

Transfers from Edinburgh Airport

There are no rail links to the city center, despite the fact that the airport sits between two main lines. By bus or car you can usually make it to Edinburgh in a comfortable half hour, unless you hit the morning (7:30 to 9) or evening (4 to 6) rush hours. Lothian Buses run between Edinburgh Airport and the city center every 15 minutes daily from 9 to 5 and less frequently (roughly every hour) during off-peak hours. The trip takes about 30 minutes, or about 45 minutes during rush hour. A single-fare ticket costs £3.

You can arrange for a chauffeur-driven limousine to meet your flight at Edinburgh Airport through David Grieve Chauffeur Drive for about £45 plus V.A.T; Little's Chauffeur Drive, £47 plus V.A.T; and W L Sleigh Ltd., £50 plus V.A.T.

Taxis are readily available outside the terminal. The trip takes 20-30 minutes to the city center, 15 minutes longer during rush hour. The fare is roughly £20. Note that airport taxis picking up fares from the terminal are any color, not the typical black cabs.

Contact

David Grieve Chauffeur Drive (5b Polworth Gardens, Tollcross. 0131/229-8666). Little's Chauffeur Drive (1282 Paisley Rd. W, Paisley. 0131/334-2177. www.littles.co.uk). W L Sleigh Ltd. (6 Devon Pl., West End. 0131/337-3171. www.sleigh.co.uk).

Transfers from Glasgow Airport

Scottish Citylink buses leave Glasgow Airport every 15 minutes to travel to Glasgow's Buchanan Street (journey time is 25 minutes), where you can transfer to an Edinburgh bus (leaving every 20 minutes). The trip to Edinburgh takes 70 minutes and costs £9.50 round-trip and £7 one-way. A somewhat more pleasant option is to take a cab from Glasgow Airport to Glasgow's Queen Street train station (20 minutes and costs about £18) and then take the train to Waverley Station in Edinburgh. Trains leave about every 30 minutes; the trip takes 50 minutes and costs £8.10. Check times on weekends. Another, less expensive alternative -- best for those with little luggage -- is to take the bus from Glasgow Airport to Glasgow's Buchanan bus station, walk five minutes to the Queen Street train station, and catch the train to Edinburgh. Taxis from Glasgow Airport to downtown Edinburgh take about 70 minutes and cost around £95.

Contact

Scottish Citylink (08705/505050. www.citylink.co.uk). Taxis (0141/848-4900).