Compare Edinburgh flights

Dubbed ‘The Athens of the North’ due to the Greek city’s influence on Edinburgh’s architecture during the 18th century, the city is accustomed to handling hordes of human traffic.

Coming in just behind London and Manchester, Edinburgh International Airport (EDI) is the UK’s third-busiest for air passenger numbers, with over 300 flights taking to the skies each day.

Flights to Edinburgh arrive almost as regularly as London buses, so getting to the Scottish capital is a doddle. The journey by air from London takes under one hour 30 minutes and the airport is located just 13 kilometres (8 miles) west of the city centre, making the entire door-to-door trip refreshingly quick.

British Airways offers direct flights to Edinburgh from London Gatwick (LGW), London City (LCY) and London Heathrow (LHR), while Ryanair flies direct to Edinburgh from London Stansted (STN), easyJet links Edinburgh with London Gatwick, London Luton and London Stansted, and Flybe runs a handful of the cheapest flights to Edinburgh from London City.

Cheap flights to Edinburgh leave from regional airports all across the British Isles on a daily basis. So wherever you are in the UK, you’re just a stone’s throw away from your first dram of fiery Scotch whisky and a generous helping of haggis.

Flybe operates the lion’s share of these services within the UK, running flights to Edinburgh from East Midlands (EMA), as well as Birmingham (BHX), Cardiff (CWL), Exeter (EXT), Norwich (NWI), Newquay (NQY), Stornoway (SYY), Belfast City (BHD), Kirkwall (KOI), Liverpool (LPL), Manchester (MAN), Southampton (SOU) and Wick (WIC).

While the welcomes are warm in Scotland, the weather can be cold to say the least. Even summers can be brisk up here, so if you’re craving a dose of Vitamin D, you’ll probably need to get on a plane.

Luckily, it’s easy to fly to warmer climes, with cheap flights from Edinburgh to Palma, Corfu, Ibiza, Italy and several other sun-kissed destinations in Europe offered by the likes of TUI, easyJet and Flybe. If you’re planning to go further afield, Etihad runs direct flights from Edinburgh to Abu Dhabi, Qatar jets off to Doha, and United, Delta, and American Airlines fly directly from Edinburgh to New York.

While getting airborne is the speediest way to get to Edinburgh, you can also reach the city by rail. Setting off from London, the journey takes around five hours.

Virgin Trains East Coast connects Edinburgh with London, York, Leeds, Newcastle and Aberdeen, while Virgin Rail travels from London along the West Coast via Coventry, Birmingham, Preston and Lockerbie. Alternatively, take ScotRail’s Caledonian Sleeper, an overnight service leaving from London Euston every night.