Is Edinburgh Expensive? A Guide to Prices in Edinburgh

From its historic castle to its spooky graveyards to its world-famous fringe festival, visiting Edinburgh is absolutely essential on any trip to Scotland. As one of our absolute favourite cities not just in Scotland or the UK but in the whole of Europe, Edinburgh is also a notoriously pricey place to visit.

There is no getting around it – Edinburgh can be expensive to visit and you can expect to spend around £95-280 ($126-373 USD) per person per day while there.

Accommodation Prices

If you are travelling on a tight budget while in Edinburgh, you will be happy to know that there are countless hostel options scattered throughout the city with the cost of a dorm bed starting at around £30 per night.

If you’re looking for a bit more privacy, most hostels also tend to offer private rooms (with or without an ensuite bathroom) and you can expect these to start at around £50-60 per night.

If you’re after privacy and don’t care too much about foregoing the social atmosphere of a hostel, a far more affordable option is to go for a private room through Airbnb.

Staying in a local’s home will allow you to get a more holistic view of the Scottish capital and can be preferable to staying in a hostel — expect prices to start at around £80.

Conversely, if you’re looking for an entire private flat to let, then expect that to start at around £100-150 per night for a one-bedroom or studio.

Staying in your own residence can have the added benefit of giving you access to a kitchen to prepare some meals, saving you money even further.

If you’d rather stay in a budget hotel or B&B, expect those prices to start at around £100 per night for the most basic of rooms. Mid-range hotels will cost closer to £125 per night and up. If you’re looking to sleep in the lap of luxury in Edinburgh, you shouldn’t expect to pay fewer than three figures per night with most high-end hotels start at about £250-300 for the nightly rate.

All in all, accommodation prices in Edinburgh can vary, however, if you’re travelling on a low to mid-range budget, then you can plan to spend about £30-150 per person per night on accommodation in the Scottish capital.

Transportation Prices

Transport doesn’t have to be too expensive and the cost of transport can actually end up being incredibly minimal.

Central Edinburgh is actually fairly compact and most of the top sites and attractions for tourists in the city all lie within relatively easy walking distance of each other.

If you do plan to rely on your own two feet for the entirety of your time in the city, it can be worth ensuring that your itinerary doesn’t involve too much uphill walking. the Scottish capital can be a hilly city so you don’t want to unnecessarily tire yourself out wandering around Edinburgh!

Even if you do plan to walk the majority of your time in Edinburgh, you do need to factor in a few transport costs. Namely, how much is it going to cost you to get from the airport or train station to your accommodation?

The cheapest and easiest way to get from Edinburgh airport to the city is by taking the airline bus number 100. A ticket for this bus costs £6 for a single journey and £8.50 for a return journey.

The bus drops you off at Waverly Train Station in the centre of the city. You can pay for the bus using a contactless credit or debit card or with exact change to the driver.

If you need to take the regular city bus while in Edinburgh, the system is fairly easy to navigate and relatively affordable, as well. A single bus fare is £2.20 and, if you use a contactless card to pay, you will be capped at £5.50 each day.

Food Prices

You can obviously save money by going the typical budget traveller route of staying in accommodation with self-catering facilities and cooking a good portion of your own meals, but Edinburgh does have an excellent restaurant scene and it would be a shame to miss out on that completely!

One great way to save money on your food costs in Edinburgh is to have breakfast at your accommodation (whether it is included at your hotel/hostel or you make it yourself) and have the rest of your meals out and about.

Lunch options can be quite affordable depending on where you may go. For instance, you can get a meal deal of a sandwich, drink and snack at any supermarket for around £5.

If you’re more interested in heading to a pub or affordable restaurant, then expect a main dish to cost closer to around £10-15 per person. For mid-range to higher-end restaurants, then expect most main dishes to start at around £15-20.

All in all, food prices in Edinburgh don’t really have to set you back too much if you’re smart enough about where you spend your money and you cut costs where it works. In general, plan to spend about £25-40 per person per day on food in the Scottish capital, depending on how often and where you eat out.

Activity Prices

A lot of the best things to do in Edinburgh are absolutely free!

Want to spend time wandering through a museum when you visit Edinburgh? Chances are, it’s free. Want to take in the iconic view from the top of Arthur’s Seat or Calton Hill? Also free. Curious to see where JK Rowling drew some inspiration for her iconic Harry Potter characters? Wandering through Greyfriars Kirkyard is also free!

Not everything in Edinburgh is free of charge, however, and some of the most popular activities will set you back a little bit of cash.

For instance, we highly recommend a visit to the iconic Edinburgh Castle. Though you can enjoy views of it without spending a thing, you do have to pay an entry fee to actually tour the castle and its grounds. Entry into the castle is £21.50 if you purchase online or £24 at the door.

We also think it’s a lot of fun to go on ghost tours in Edinburgh, which can take you around the city’s more spooky sites after the sun has gone down. This can also set you back around £20 per person.

There are so many free things to do in the Scottish capital that you don’t even need to splash out the cash for a paid activity to still get a great experience of the city.

However, if you want to splurge a little bit while still sticking to a budget, plan to spend about £20-50 per person per day on activities in Edinburgh.

Entertainment Prices

Going out in Edinburgh can be expensive, especially when you factor in how much the cost of booze can be in the Scottish capital (and in the UK in general).

All in all, the average cost of a pint in Edinburgh is about £5, and if you have more than one this can end up adding up very quickly. If you’re more interested in sipping on that fine dram of a single malt scotch, then expect that to start at around £4-5.

Cocktails tend to be more expensive, with a more basic one like and gin and tonic starting at about £8 and something more complicated clocking in closer to £10-15.

If you want to learn more about Scotland’s deep whisky tradition, then it can also be worth going to the Scotch Whisky Experience.

Though it is quite touristy, you can learn quite a bit about the history of this world-renowned spirit and get to sample a number of different styles with packages starting at £24 per person (concession pricing is available).

Edinburgh is also very well-known for its stand-up comedy scene and it’s worth seeing a show with local comics while you’re there. There are lots of venues that sometimes even offer free shows, or else some shows can be as little as £5-10 for entry, depending on the comedian or venue.

How much you spend on entertainment per person per day in Edinburgh really comes down to your habits and interests, but I recommend budgeting £10-30 per person per day on entertainment, and more if you plan to go out and do more.

Average Edinburgh Prices

Edinburgh certainly isn’t the most affordable destination in the world (not by a long shot).

If you’re sticking to a tight budget but don’t want to sacrifice spending on activities or entertainment, then have a look at the cost breakdown below.

Expect your average daily cost of a trip to Edinburgh to be around £95-280 per person per day. Of course, if you really pinch pennies, that can be les,s and it is also definitely possible to spend a whole lot more.

Keep in mind that this doesn’t include any pre-trip expenses such as flights or travel insurance.

Prices in the Scottish capital can be high, but they don’t have to be so expensive that they prevent you from visiting!

Are you visiting Edinburgh? Have any questions? Let us know in the comments!