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Accessible Travel to Edinburgh
Overview/Layout
Edinburgh is wonderful medieval city that is also quite hilly. Knowing where the hills are located will enable you to move around the city efficiently. The Old Town is the highest part of town, and the New Town, located to the north, is much flatter. The Old Town surrounds a 1 mile long street known as The Royal Mile going east-west from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The hill is level 2/3 slope with the Castle at the top of the hill. Going north from the Royal Mile is level 3 downhill and going south from the Royal Mile is level 2/3 downhill. The main tourist sites are located in the New Town and the Old Town.
Getting There
Airport
The Edinburgh Airport is located 5 miles west of the city. On the street outside the airport, there is a booth where you can buy tickets for the Airlink #100 bus which takes you to Waverly Bridge in the center of Edinburgh. It leaves every 10 minutes and is about a 25 minute ride. It is accessible and costs £3.50 (3.50 pounds is about $5.75) for a one-way ticket and £6 for a round-trip ticket. The bus has a ramp that extends to the curb and a place on the bus reserved for wheelchairs. The bus lets you off at Waverly Bridge which is above the Princess Gardens. From there, there are level 3 slopes in either direction to get to hotels. If you do not want to walk/roll to your hotel, taxis are fully accessible (see the taxi description below) and you can hail one there.
Alternatively, you can get a taxi at the airport which will cost about £20 pounds to get to the city center.
http://www.edinburghairport.com/portal/page/Edinburgh%5EGeneral%5EAirport+information%5ESpecial+assistance/9933e5da2298c110VgnVCM10000036821c0a____/448c6a4c7f1b0010VgnVCM200000357e120a____/ - special assistance at airport
http://www.edinburghairport.com/portal/site/edinburgh/menuitem.29fd531eff03de8c63f0ec109328c1a0/ - transport to and from the airport
http://www.flybybus.com/index.php - accessible bus from airport to city centre, departs every 10 minutes, 25 minute ride, £3.50 one-way, £6 round-trip
http://www.disabledgo.info/AccessGuide.asp?VenueID=1724&TownID=12 – airport accessibility review
Train
The Waverly Bridge station is located in between the Old Town to the south and the New Town to the North. Taking a taxi from the station to your hotel is a good idea here. Although it’s not far to some of the hotels, there is a 150m level 3 ramp to get out of the station (shown on the map below). Once you get to the top of the ramp there are level 3 hills going up in either direction. The taxis are located next to platform 7/11 and there is no ramp to get to them. The omnipresent Black Cabs are wheelchair accessible.
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/documents/For%20Passengers/dddp/4692_Station%20summary%20-%20Edinburgh%20v2007_.pdf – Edinburgh Waverly Station accessibility info
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/HYM/details.html#Accessibility – Edinburgh Waverly Station accessibility info
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/system/galleries/download/mobility_maps/MapFront.pdf - accessibility map
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/system/galleries/download/mobility_maps/GlasgowEdinburgh.pdf - Edinburgh map
Getting Around
The tourist sites are not very spread out but there are some level 2 and level 3 hills in between many of them. Getting around in a wheelchair is doable, but you may want to use taxis up the big hills, particularly up to the Edinburgh Castle as well as from the train station up to the Royal Mile. The city busses are accessible but only have a few useful routes for tourists. The accessible City Sightseeing busses are more useful for getting between the sites and also have narration.
Maps
http://www.edinburgh.org/traveltips/maps/827189 - good map of Edinburgh city center
Bus
http://lothianbuses.com/lowfloornew.php - accessibility info on city busses
http://lothianbuses.com/routemap.php - map showing city bus routes
City Bus routes in the center of town:
Train
The train is not useful to get around Edinburgh. Edinburgh Waverly Station is the only station near tourist sites.
Tram
A single tram line is currently being built in Edinburgh
Subway (Metro)
There is no subway.
Taxis
Taxis are available throughout the city and near platform #11 at the Edinburgh Waverly Train Station. Most, if not all, taxis are wheelchair accessible and have a ramp to enter.
Accessible Taxis:
City 0131 228 1211
Radiocabs 0131 225 9000
Tourist Sights
Recommended itinerary
Day 1 – City Sightseeing Bus Tour (1 hr, start at Stop #5 so you can finish at Stop #5), Historical Walking Tour (2:15-3:45pm, meet at Mercat’s Cross behind St. Gile’s Cathedral on Royal Mile), St. Gile’s Cathedral (open until 7pm)
Day 2 – taxi up to Edinburgh Castle (3 hrs, opens at 9:30am), walk/roll downhill to Gladstone’s Land (20 min), walk/roll downhill to National Gallery of Scotland (1 hr)
Day 3 – National Museum of Scotland (2-3 hrs), walk/roll downhill or take taxi to Palace of Holyroodhouse (1 hr), taxi to top of Arthur’s Seat Hill (1 hr)
At night – Rose Street in New Town, Grassmarket
Bold – don’t miss!
Group Walking Tour
Walking Tour – depart 14:15 from Mercat Cross, High Street, 90 minutes, accessible with mainly level 2 slope, level 3+ slope for 20m going up Upper Bow street.
Mercat tours: http://www.mercattours.com/secrets-of-the-royal-mile.asp OR http://www.edinburghtours.com/main.asp?id=136
The Free Tour meets EVERYDAY at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm in front of the Starbucks Café by the Tron Kirk on the High Street*.
Walking Tour route (0.5 miles):
Private Walking Tour
Bus/Van/Boat Tours
Bus Tour – 4 bus tours, only the City Sightseeing Bus Tour is accessible, lasts 1 hr, depart every 20 min
City Sightseeing bus route:
Monuments / Bridges
Museums
National Museum of Scotland 10-17:00 – excellent history museum, 30 min intro tours at 10:30, 12:30, & 15:30, accessible
National Gallery of Scotland10-17:00 – small but good collection of artwork, Prince’s Street entrance is not accessible, Mound Precinct and Parks entrance are accessible, elevators to other floors
Scottish War Museum (at Edinburgh Castle)
Churches
St. Giles Cathedral 9-19:00 – Scotland’s most important church, probably is accessible
Castles / Palaces / Historic Homes
Edinburgh Castle 9:30-18:00 – Highest point in town, take taxi to get to it. Mainly accessible, Ask staff member at entrance bridge about accessible shuttle to top of castle and excellent audioguide. Visit on weekday to avoid crowds
Inaccessible portions - the military prisons, Queen Mary’s Room, King’s Dining Room
Gladstone’s Land 10-19:00 – 16th to 17th century merchant’s house, accessible ground floor only,
Palace of Holyroodhouse 9:30-18:00 – Royal residence, accessible except for Mary Queen of Scots apartments, audioguide
Plazas / Squares / Scenic locations
Royal Mile - will see it on the walking tour, always open, downhill towards Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh has some steep curb cuts on the Royal Mile
Grassmarket Square – Beehive Inn (pub) has wheelchair designed bathroom, Last Drop Pub has bathroom with wide enough door for a wheelchair but a sharp turn.
Arthur’s Seat hill ** – near Palace of Holyroodhouse, take taxi to top
http://www.wmcadenhead.com 10:30-17:30 – whiskey tasting on the Royal Mile
Scotch Whiskey Experience – might be cheesy, accessible but barrel train car is not
Georgian House 10-19:00 – 18th century house, steps to enter and to first floor
Hotels
Edinburgh Thistle (King James)
Wheelchair accessible designed rooms – room 544, 34” wide door, 18” high toilet
Other rooms - Bathroom door is 25.5”. Space between counter and door (to get to bathtub) is 21.5”
Restaurants / Going Out
Many restaurants have a step or two to get into the restaurant. Some have accessible tables on the sidewalk. Many bathrooms in restaurants are downstairs in the basement and not accessible. Two great areas for restaurants and pubs are Rose Street in the New Town as well as the Grassmarket area south (and downhill) of Dublin Castle.
Pub crawl – starts at 8 pm. In front of The Bank bar, opposite the Tron Kirk on the High Street. Be sure to look for our guides wearing their red T-shirts. http://www.newedinburghtours.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=29
Literary Pub Tour ** 19:30 – sent email about accessibility
Check Gig Guide for live music in pub
Additional Accessibility Resources
http://www.visitscotland.com/guide/where-to-stay/accessible-scotland/ - abundant country-sponsored wheelchair accessible hotel search, no accessibility description/details
http://www.disabledaccessholidays.com/disabled/accessible-holidays/City-Breaks-Edinburgh.asp - Edinburgh hotel
http://disabledholidayinfo.org.uk/ - excellent website for finding accessible hotels in the UK
http://www.winfried-h.de/trips/scotland/schottland.html - review of Scotland written in German
http://www.yourlevelbest.com/index.php - wheelchair accessible restaurants and pubs in England and Scotland
http://www.radar.org.uk/radarwebsite/ - purchase a key for wheelchair accessible toilets in UK
