Edinburgh Taxi Service — Book a Ride Across the Capital

Getting around Edinburgh — where local knowledge matters

Edinburgh looks small on a map, but the topography, cobbles and one-way system make journey times unpredictable if you don't know the city. The Old Town runs along a ridge from the Castle down to Holyrood, ringed by steep closes and vennels that most sat-navs happily ignore. Below it, the New Town is a Georgian grid on Princes Street, George Street and Queen Street — beautiful, but half of it turns one-way during weekday peaks and the tram line down Princes Street has changed traffic patterns considerably since the extension to Newhaven opened.

Add in the seasonal factor and it gets harder. During August the Fringe and International Festival more than double the city's population, and streets like the Cowgate, Chambers Street and parts of the Royal Mile become effectively pedestrian. Hogmanay closes wide swathes of the centre from mid-afternoon on 30 December. A local driver plans around all of this without being asked, and picks the drop-off street that actually gets you closest to the door.

Taxis to Edinburgh Airport (EDI)

Edinburgh Airport lies about eight miles west of the city centre, most commonly reached via the A8 or the M8 westbound with the airport junction just after Ingliston. From the West End or Haymarket you'll usually see a 15–20 minute run in light traffic; from Leith or the eastern suburbs closer to 30–35 minutes; and during weekday morning peaks (roughly 07:30–09:00) allow an extra 10–15 minutes.

We track your flight in real time so your driver arrives to match the actual landing time, not the scheduled one. Meet-and-greet is available in the airport's short-stay car park, with the driver waiting inside arrivals holding a name board. For departures we recommend booking to arrive at least two hours before short-haul and three hours before long-haul, and we'll factor in traffic on the day. Fixed fares are quoted upfront based on your postcode, and there are no additional charges for card payment, luggage or waiting time within the standard allowance.

Edinburgh Waverley and Haymarket stations

Waverley is the city's main railway station, sitting in the valley between Old and New Town with entrances on Waverley Bridge and Market Street. Haymarket is the smaller west-end station, better placed for Murrayfield, the Financial District and cross-country services to Glasgow, Perth and beyond.

Both stations have official ranks, but if you're travelling with luggage or off-peak they can be slow — pre-booking a pickup at a specific spot (usually the Waverley Bridge taxi rank or Haymarket Yards) is faster and comes at a fixed fare. Trains from London King's Cross via LNER take around four and a half hours, and we time your pickup to the scheduled arrival rather than the booking time, adjusting if the train runs late.

Match day — Murrayfield, Tynecastle and Easter Road

Edinburgh is a serious sporting city and three grounds see heavy taxi demand:

• Murrayfield is the home of Scottish rugby (SRU), hosting internationals, autumn tests and Six Nations fixtures. It also stages larger concerts. Traffic on Roseburn Street, Corstorphine Road and along the A8 becomes very heavy from around two hours before kick-off and again for at least an hour after full-time.
• Tynecastle Park in Gorgie is the home of Heart of Midlothian, tightly wedged into the residential streets around McLeod Street.
• Easter Road, on the eastern side of the city, is Hibernian's ground, close to Leith Walk.

For match days we always recommend pre-booking. Our drivers are briefed on the closures around each ground and know the drop-off streets that clear fastest after the whistle. If you're travelling as a group, an MPV or six-seater takes the pressure off booking two separate cars.

Sightseeing runs — Old Town, Royal Mile and Leith

The classic Edinburgh visitor route runs from Edinburgh Castle down the Royal Mile — Castlehill, Lawnmarket, High Street and Canongate — to the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Scottish Parliament at the foot. Beside it, Arthur's Seat and the crags of Holyrood Park offer the city's best walks.

Further afield are the Royal Botanic Garden in Inverleith, the Scottish National Gallery on the Mound, the Royal Yacht Britannia at Ocean Terminal in Leith, and Portobello's promenade and sandy beach on the Firth of Forth. Drop-off restrictions apply on much of the upper Royal Mile, so drivers typically use George IV Bridge, Johnston Terrace or Holyrood Road depending on where on the Mile you're heading.

Longer runs — Glasgow, Fife and the Lothians

Beyond Edinburgh itself, common longer runs include:

• Glasgow via the M8 — around 47 miles and typically an hour in light traffic; longer on Friday afternoons and around Old Firm matchdays.
• St Andrews and Fife over the Queensferry Crossing — around an hour and a quarter, with golf-friendly fleet options for clubs and cases.
• Stirling and Falkirk (including the Kelpies and Falkirk Wheel) via the M9 — 45 minutes to an hour depending on time of day.
• Livingston, Bathgate and other West Lothian towns along the M8 corridor.
• Rosslyn Chapel, Dalkeith, Musselburgh, and the coastal East Lothian villages of Gullane and North Berwick.

All longer runs are quoted as fixed fares before you book, so you know the total price whether you're travelling at 6am on a Sunday or 5pm on a Friday.

Fleet options

• Saloon — up to four passengers with reasonable luggage; the default and quickest to dispatch.
• Estate — same passenger count but noticeably more boot space, ideal for airport runs with two large suitcases and hand luggage.
• Executive — smarter cars for business travel or corporate accounts, with drivers in business attire.
• MPV / six-seater — for larger groups, family trips, or hen and stag runs across the central belt.
• Wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs) — advance booking recommended so we can dispatch the correct vehicle to your pickup point.

Suburbs and areas we cover

We cover the full City of Edinburgh council area and beyond: Leith, Portobello, Newhaven, Trinity, Granton and Cramond along the coast; Stockbridge, Comely Bank, Inverleith and Blackhall to the north; Corstorphine, Murrayfield, Ravelston and Roseburn to the west; Morningside, Bruntsfield, Marchmont, Newington and the Grange to the south; and Willowbrae, Duddingston and Craigmillar to the east. Beyond the city boundary we serve Musselburgh, Dalkeith, Loanhead, Bonnyrigg, Penicuik, Livingston, Kirkliston, South Queensferry and North Berwick, along with regular runs to Glasgow, Stirling and St Andrews.