United Kingdom
Edinburgh: how much to budget
Plan €2096 for 7 nights in Edinburgh, return flight from London included, or €593 travelling cheap. On the ground that works out at €295 per person per day in comfort, €81 travelling cheap.
- From
- €81/day
- vs. London
- 114%
- Best month
- Jul
Your trip to Edinburgh
Set the length, the number of travellers and the comfort level: the figures recompute here.
€2,096
per person, flight included
- on the ground
- €2,065
- flight from London
- €31
- per person per day, on the ground
- €295
In short, where the money goes
- The heaviest line
- Accommodation51 % of the trip
- The strongest lever
- Accommodation€854 less travelling cheap
- Seven nights on the ground
- €2065excluding flights
Accommodation
€1057
Food
€588
Extras
€154
Activities
€140
Transport
€126
Over seven nights, accommodation accounts for 51 % of what you spend. The line where travelling cheap changes the bill most is accommodation, a €854 gap. The others are worth discussing, that one decides.
Basis: 21 hotel addresses surveyed for a 15 October 2026 arrival, 12 of twelve months of airfares, surveyed on 23 September 2026. The total excludes flights, insurance, personal shopping and any lodging split between several people.
InstantTripCost estimate
Full 7-night budget breakdown
Per-person estimate including flights from London, split across the six expense categories.
per person · Comfort
| Category | Budget | Comfort | Luxury |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flights | €26 | €31 | €47 |
| Hotel | €203 | €1057 | €1260 |
| Food | €252 | €588 | €1344 |
| Transport | €56 | €126 | €315 |
| Activities | €28 | €140 | €434 |
| Misc | €28 | €154 | €399 |
| 7-night total | €593 | €2096 | €3799 |
Flight from London (annual median).
Unit prices
comfort
Enough to check the total yourself, line by line, at the comfort level you picked.
- €13
- Breakfast
- €24
- Lunch
- €48
- Dinner
- €6
- City ride
- €20
- Site admission
- €295
- A full day
Orders of magnitude derived from our measured ranges, not surveyed venue by venue. Prices vary by neighbourhood and season.
The three tiers
What a budget traveller, a comfort traveller and a premium traveller typically spend.
Budget
€81
per day, approx
- Hotel / night
- €29
- Food / day
- €36
- Transit / day
- €8
- Sights / day
- €4
- Extras / day
- €4
Comfort
€295
per day, approx
- Hotel / night
- €151
- Food / day
- €84
- Transit / day
- €18
- Sights / day
- €20
- Extras / day
- €22
Luxury
€536
per day, approx
- Hotel / night
- €180
- Food / day
- €192
- Transit / day
- €45
- Sights / day
- €62
- Extras / day
- €57
When to go, and what the month changes
Average temperatures and conditions by month in Edinburgh.
Mildest monthJuly
Cheapest flightOctober€16
Where to sleep in Edinburgh
Choosing a district
The city is small and walkable, so the neighbourhood decides less about the journey than about price and noise. The old town charges for itself; the quarters north and west are quieter and cheaper for an extra twenty minutes on foot.
Old Town
The rocky ridge between the castle and Holyrood, stepped closes and pubs. Crowded, noisy in the evening.
New Town
The Georgian grid, pale stone facades and shops. Quiet, expensive, central.
Haymarket
Around the second station, to the west. Chain hotels, little charm, well connected.
Leith
The old port, three kilometres from the centre, restaurants and converted warehouses. Served by the tram.
Newington
The student quarter to the south, a run of guest houses along the main road. Twenty minutes' walk from the centre.
The hotels we measured
Accommodation picks by price range.
High Street Hostel - Over 18s Only, Backpackers Atmosphere
Hostel, well rated (8.4/10) from 2,184 reviews.
Kick Ass Grassmarket (18+)
Hostel, well rated (8.3/10) from 10,272 reviews.
Kick Ass Greyfriars (18+)
Hostel, well rated (8.1/10) from 5,757 reviews.
Sonas Guesthouse
guesthouse, rated excellent (9.2/10) from 686 reviews.
Ashgrove House
guesthouse, very well rated (8.7/10) from 1,095 reviews.
A-Haven Townhouse Hotel
guesthouse, very well rated (8.7/10) from 797 reviews.
Scot Townhouse
guesthouse, rated excellent (9.5/10) from 136 reviews.
CODE - The Court, Edinburgh
Hostel, very well rated (8.8/10) from 7,632 reviews.
Kick Ass Grassmarket (18+)
Hostel, well rated (8.3/10) from 10,272 reviews.
All observed hotels in Edinburgh
24 of 24 surveyed properties shown, the cheapest in each tier. Nightly rate for a 2-night stay arriving 15 October 2026.
| Hotel | Category | Rating | From / night |
|---|---|---|---|
| MEININGER Hotel Edinburgh Haymarket | Budget | ★ 0 | €17 |
| The Hostel | Budget | ★ 7.2 | €17 |
| Safestay Edinburgh Cowgate | Budget | ★ 7.1 | €18 |
| Kick Ass Greyfriars (18+) | Budget | ★ 8.1 | €20 |
| Kick Ass Greyfriars (18+) | Luxury | ★ 8.1 | €20 |
| Revolver Edinburgh | Budget | ★ 7.7 | €22 |
| Revolver Edinburgh | Mid-range | ★ 7.7 | €22 |
| High Street Hostel - Over 18s Only, Backpackers Atmosphere | Budget | ★ 8.4 | €24 |
| Kick Ass Grassmarket (18+) | Budget | ★ 8.3 | €24 |
| Kick Ass Grassmarket (18+) | Luxury | ★ 8.3 | €24 |
| Just Sleep Hostel Edinburgh | Budget | ★ 8 | €28 |
| CODE - The Court, Edinburgh | Luxury | ★ 8.8 | €53 |
| Ashgrove House | Mid-range | ★ 8.7 | €78 |
| Alexander Guest House | Luxury | ★ 7.8 | €88 |
| A-Haven Townhouse Hotel | Mid-range | ★ 8.7 | €102 |
| hub Edinburgh City Centre - Haymarket | Mid-range | ★ 7.5 | €107 |
| Sonas Guesthouse | Mid-range | ★ 9.2 | €113 |
| Balmore Guest House | Mid-range | ★ 7.4 | €113 |
| Rosehall Hotel | Luxury | ★ 8.3 | €114 |
| Holiday Inn Edinburgh Zoo by IHG | Luxury | ★ 8 | €121 |
| hub Edinburgh City Centre - Royal Mile | Mid-range | ★ 7.1 | €128 |
| hub Edinburgh City Centre - Rose Street | Mid-range | ★ 8 | €132 |
| Scot Townhouse | Luxury | ★ 9.5 | €139 |
| Four Points by Sheraton Edinburgh | Luxury | ★ 7.8 | €147 |
What food costs in Edinburgh
Concrete benchmarks to set your meal budget, from the morning coffee to dinner.
Food is the second line, a long way behind lodging but ahead of everything else. Over seven nights at mid comfort it comes to a little over a quarter of what you spend on the ground.
The pub does the job here that the taverna does elsewhere: it serves food at midday and in the evening, below restaurant prices, and the cooking is often the same. That is the main lever, and it asks no particular effort.
Two local habits help. The midday meal is almost everywhere cheaper than the same dish in the evening, and many places run an early-evening set menu before the theatres come out. The full Scottish breakfast is often included in the guest houses that make up the city's mid tier: that is one line off the day, and it changes the arithmetic against a hotel where breakfast is charged separately.
Posted prices include tax, unlike the practice on the other side of the Atlantic, and tipping remains a moderate custom rather than an expected percentage. The bill you are quoted is the bill you pay.
Finally Leith, the old port, serves noticeably cheaper cooking three kilometres from the centre than you will find at the foot of the castle, and the tram goes there.
What getting around costs in Edinburgh
Transit, distances and the smart moves so you don't pay the tourist tax.
This is the smallest line of the trip, for a simple reason: Edinburgh is walkable. The castle, the old town, the new town, Holyrood Park and the national museums fit inside an hour's walk end to end, staircases included.
The bus network covers the rest, with a flat fare whatever the distance and a daily cap that applies automatically: once the day's amount is reached, further rides are not charged. So there is no calculation to make about whether a day ticket is worth it.
The tram links the airport to the centre and runs on to Leith. It is the one journey where the choice really moves the bill: the tram and the express bus both serve the airport, and the bus costs less for barely longer.
A car has no use in the city. The old town streets are narrow and partly closed to traffic, parking is expensive, and the gradients make driving unpleasant. It is only worth it for heading to the Highlands, and is then rented for those days, preferably from the outskirts rather than the centre.
What sightseeing costs in Edinburgh
Recommended activities and tours.
Scottish National Gallery
The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street.
Art museum
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
National Galleries Scotland: Portrait is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. Portrait holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots.
Art museum
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
National Galleries Scotland: Modern (the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art) is part of National Galleries Scotland, which is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Modern houses the collection of modern and contemporary art dating from about 1900 to the present in two buildings, Modern One and Modern Two, that face each other on Belford Road to the west of the city centre.
Art museum
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle (Scottish Gaelic: Caisteal Dhùn Èideann) is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age.
Archaeological site
Scott Monument
The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It is the second-largest monument to a writer in the world after the José Martí monument in Havana.
Monument
Craigmillar Castle
Craigmillar Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is three miles (4.8 km) south-east of the city centre, on a low hill to the south of the modern suburb of Craigmillar.
Castle
Princes Street Gardens
Princes Street Gardens are two adjacent public parks in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. The Gardens were created in the 1820s following the long draining of the Nor Loch and building of the New Town, beginning in the 1760s.
Park
Grassmarket
The Grassmarket is a historic market place, street and event space in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the south-west foot of the Castle Rock, lying in a valley, considerably below the surrounding area.
Square
St Margaret's
St Margaret's Chapel, in Edinburgh Castle, is the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh, Scotland. An example of Romanesque architecture, it is a category A listed building.
Church
Greyfriars Kirk
Greyfriars Kirk (Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais nam Manach Liath) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, located in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is surrounded by Greyfriars Kirkyard.
Church
Places referenced on Wikidata. Admission prices vary by season - check each venue's official site.
Paying less in Edinburgh
What moves the needle
What each decision takes off the €2114 total, strongest lever first.
- − €1498
Travel cheap rather than mid-range
Hostel or entry-level hotel, local canteens, public transport. Accommodation is where the gap opens up.
- − €590
Stay five nights instead of seven
Two fewer nights also removes two days of meals, transport and sightseeing.
- − €528
Travel as a pair
The room is shared, nothing else is. Travellers themselves name this as the strongest lever.
Differences computed from our own measurements, for a 7-night mid-range stay, excluding flights.
9 tips on the ground
- Lodging takes a little over half of what you spend on the ground, third of the forty-five cities for which we hold the breakdown. Any saving starts there, and nothing else makes up for getting that line wrong.
- The mid-range premium does not buy a better verdict. Between the entry and mid tiers the rating weighted by review count does not improve, it slips back slightly. If you are paying more, go straight to the upmarket tier, the only step that separates clearly in our survey.
- Edinburgh's mid tier holds as many guest houses as hotels, and breakfast is often included in the former. At the same posted price that removes a line from the day: comparing with a hotel cannot be done on the nightly rate alone.
- Scotland's national collections are free: the National Museum, the National Gallery, the Portrait Gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art. The sightseeing line stays one of the smallest of the trip, and the castle accounts for most of it.
- Edinburgh costs more than London in our survey, and the gap comes from the middle tier. At the top end it is slightly cheaper: that is the one tier where the Scottish capital undercuts the English one.
- Our hotel rates come from an October arrival. The August festival is not in them, and that is when this city's prices move most. For a stay in August, treat our figures as a floor rather than an estimate.
- The bus applies an automatic daily cap: once the day's amount is reached, further rides are free. No calculation to make before buying a ticket.
- Leith, the old port, serves cheaper cooking three kilometres from the centre than you will find at the foot of the castle, and the tram goes there.
- Lunch at a pub costs less than dinner in the same room, for cooking that is often identical. It is the simplest lever on food.
FAQ
FAQ - Edinburgh
- What does a trip to Edinburgh cost on average?
- Reckon on around €2,065 on the ground for seven nights at mid comfort, excluding the flight, or about €295 per person per day. On the cheap formula the same week falls to €567. The fare is on top and is observed between €16 and €55 across the months surveyed.
- Is Edinburgh cheaper than London?
- No, it is the other way round in our survey, and that is this city's surprise. Its index comes in at 114 %, above London's. The gap comes almost entirely from the mid-range hotel tier, observed more than half again dearer than in London. At entry level the gap is a third, and at the top it reverses: Edinburgh is slightly cheaper there.
- Why does lodging weigh so much in Edinburgh?
- It takes a little over half of what you spend on the ground, third of the forty-five cities for which we hold the breakdown, behind New York and level with Los Angeles. The city is small, demand concentrates on a tight centre, and the mid tier is particularly expensive. The practical consequence: it is the one line whose choice really moves the bill.
- Is it worth paying more for a hotel in Edinburgh?
- Not for moving from the entry tier to the mid tier. In our survey the rating weighted by review count does not improve between those two steps, it even slips back slightly. The city's mid tier holds many guest houses, often with breakfast, which is a real advantage, but not a better verdict from travellers. Only the upmarket tier, observed at €180, separates clearly.
- How much does sightseeing cost in Edinburgh?
- Less than elsewhere, because Scotland's national collections are free: the National Museum, the National Gallery, the Portrait Gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art. So are Princes Street Gardens, Holyrood Park, the Grassmarket and Greyfriars Kirkyard. The castle charges and accounts for most of the sightseeing line, which stays one of the smallest of the trip.
- What should you budget for the August festival?
- More than this page states, and we would rather say so than let you assume otherwise. Our hotel rates come from a single arrival date in October and therefore do not cover the month when this city's prices move most. Treat our figures as a floor for a stay in August, and book a long way ahead.
- What is the best month to visit Edinburgh?
- July is the mildest month, averaging 15 °C, and January the coolest at 4 °C. Eleven degrees separate the two extremes: it is never hot here and seldom very cold. June and September come within two or three degrees of it, with fewer people; August aside for the reasons given above.
- Do you need a car in Edinburgh?
- Not for the city. The castle, both towns, Holyrood Park and the museums fit inside an hour's walk end to end. The old town streets are narrow and partly closed, and parking is expensive. A car is only worth it for reaching the Highlands, and is then rented for those days alone.
- How do you get to the centre from the airport?
- The tram runs there directly and continues to Leith. The express bus covers the same route for less and barely more slowly. It is the one journey of the trip where the choice genuinely moves the bill, local transport otherwise being the smallest line of the budget.
- Where do you eat without paying tourist prices?
- At a pub rather than a restaurant, and at midday rather than in the evening: the cooking is often the same and the bill markedly lower. Many places also run an early-evening set menu. And Leith, the old port on the tram line, serves cheaper cooking three kilometres from the centre than you will find at the foot of the castle.
At a glance
Wikidata, Wikipedia and Open-Meteo data
- Population
- 488k
- Area
- 259 km²
- Elevation
- 47 m
- Language
- English
- Currency
- £
- Time zone
- UTC±00:00
- Founded
- 601
- Avg. July temp.
- 15°
- Avg. Jan. temp.
- 4°
- Rainy days / year
- 155
inhabitants
Pound
12° - 18°
2° - 6°
About
Edinburgh in brief
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. It is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in 2020, making it the second-most-populous city in Scotland and the seventh-most-populous in the United Kingdom. The wider metropolitan area had a population of 912,490 in the same year.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Keep exploring
Similar budget
Destinations at a similar price
Cost index close to Edinburgh.
Also in United Kingdom