Edinburgh/West

The west of Edinburgh is the area you traverse coming from the airport or Glasgow towards city centre. It's a modern low-rise tract of suburbs, retail and light industry that could be on the edge of any British city, but it has accommodation, the zoo, and Murrayfield rugby stadium.

The city is expanding rapidly at its western edge near the airport, with a new district taking shape around the villages of Newbridge and Kirkliston. The city boundaries extended in 1995 and now include South Queensferry, but this continues to feel like a separate town.

Get in
is at the west edge of the city, see Edinburgh for flights and facilities. The tram and Airlink Bus 100 run downtown with stops in the west city, and Skylink Bus 400 runs through the west and south city fringes.

is the west transport hub. All trains from the north, west and southwest stop here on their way to the main station at Waverley; so do the trams, Airlink Bus 100 and many city bus routes. The station is modern behind its Victorian facade, with ticket offices, machines, shops, toilets and waiting areas; lots more facilities in the streets outside. There is lift access to all platforms, including the mysterious Platform 0.

is a halt for trains from Fife.

has trains from Dunblane via Stirling and Falkirk, and from Helensburgh via Dumbarton, Glasgow Queen St and Livingston - don't take this ponderous route for Glasgow, go into Haymarket for the fast trains.

has even slower trains from Glasgow Central, taking 80 min across the central industrial brownfields. These also groan to a halt at, and. You'd only ride them to city centre to connect with another train, otherwise the bus is more convenient and cheaper.

Buses fan out from city centre across the west. Principal routes are:
 * - west from Haymarket to Murrayfield and Corstorphine: 12, 26 (with N26 at night), 31 and Airlink 100.
 * - southwest from Haymarket to Sighthill, Wester Hailes, Gyle and Heriot Watt University: 3, 22, 25 (with N25 the university night bus), 33, 34 and 35.
 * - from Haymarket to Slateford and Balerno: 44

The tram runs every 10 min from the airport to Ingliston Park & Ride, Gogarburn, Edinburgh Gateway station, Gyle Park shopping centre, Edinburgh Park central and station, Bankhead, Saughton, Balgreen, Murrayfield Stadium, Haymarket, West End, Princes St, St Andrews Square (for main bus and railway stations), then away down to Leith and Newhaven. See Edinburgh for times and fares.

See

 * Donaldson's School or Hospital is the grand mock-Jacobean building (pictured at top of page) on the main road a quarter mile west of Haymarket station. Completed in 1850, it was a school for pupils with communication difficulties. But it became impractical and the school moved out to Linlithgow in 2008; the building has been converted to luxury flats.
 * is the east terminus of the Union Canal. When completed in 1822 it continued a little further to Tolcross at the edge of Old Town. It fell into disuse and was closed in 1965, but re-opened in 2001 and is fully navigable, with a firm towpath for strolling or cycling. The canal courses west to Slateford, vaulting over the Water of Leith by an aqueduct, and out to Kingsknowe, Wester Hailes and eventually to Falkirk, where a wheel hoists boats into the Forth and Clyde Canal.
 * is an attractive little village at the outlet of the River Almond, popular with amateur painters. It may be older than Edinburgh itself, as there are Mesolithic remains from 8500 BC, and the Romans built a fort later called Caer Amon, fort on the Almond, hence Cramond. There's a little sandy beach behind the breakwater but the Forth this far up is muddy. Walks lead upstream to a waterfall and main road, out to Cramond Island at low tide, and east along the esplanade to Silverknowes. The ferry no longer rows across the Almond, so you have to divert upstream to join the coast trail west towards South Queensferry. Cramond has a pub and tearooms. The free parking lot is small and fills up on fine afternoons, or take Bus 41.
 * Cramond Island is reached by a rough, mile-long causeway passable for two hours either side of low tide. (Check Easytide for Leith online, and double-check with the times posted at the start of the causeway.) The island has grubby graffiti-covered World War II artillery positions, you come for the view across the Forth.
 * a mile east along the esplanade has lots of free parking, so it can be a better starting point for visiting Cramond. The esplanade continues east for two miles but becomes industrial towards Granton Harbour.
 * : see Edinburgh/South for this village at the head of the Water of Leith Walkway, Malleny Gardens, Currie rugby club, and access to the Pentland Hills.
 * Jupiter Artland is a modern sculpture park off A71 to the west, see Livingston (Scotland).
 * : see Edinburgh/South for this village at the head of the Water of Leith Walkway, Malleny Gardens, Currie rugby club, and access to the Pentland Hills.
 * Jupiter Artland is a modern sculpture park off A71 to the west, see Livingston (Scotland).

Do

 * Edinburgh Rugby Stadium (aka Hive Stadium) on the west flank of Murrayfield is the venue for club fixtures. Completed in 2021, it has a capacity of 7800 and is the home ground for Edinburgh Rugby, playing in the URC professional league. Tickets won't be a problem.
 * Cameo and Odeon cinemas are along Lothian Rd in Tolcross.
 * rises above the zoo to 528 ft / 161 m. It's a wooded park with multiple access points, popular with walkers, joggers and winter tobogganists, and its south is serenaded by exotic bellows from the beasts in the zoo. The tower near the top is dedicated to Sir Walter Scott, as if his Gothic Rocket on Princes Street wasn't enough. 200 yards west of the tower by Clermiston Rd is a walled garden. Views are somewhat restricted by the woods but here and there are vistas of the castle and sea.
 * Cameo and Odeon cinemas are along Lothian Rd in Tolcross.
 * rises above the zoo to 528 ft / 161 m. It's a wooded park with multiple access points, popular with walkers, joggers and winter tobogganists, and its south is serenaded by exotic bellows from the beasts in the zoo. The tower near the top is dedicated to Sir Walter Scott, as if his Gothic Rocket on Princes Street wasn't enough. 200 yards west of the tower by Clermiston Rd is a walled garden. Views are somewhat restricted by the woods but here and there are vistas of the castle and sea.
 * rises above the zoo to 528 ft / 161 m. It's a wooded park with multiple access points, popular with walkers, joggers and winter tobogganists, and its south is serenaded by exotic bellows from the beasts in the zoo. The tower near the top is dedicated to Sir Walter Scott, as if his Gothic Rocket on Princes Street wasn't enough. 200 yards west of the tower by Clermiston Rd is a walled garden. Views are somewhat restricted by the woods but here and there are vistas of the castle and sea.
 * Water of Leith Walkway traverses the city along the glen of this stream. It's paved, popular for cycling, and follows the track of a former railway. Its upper end is at Balerno on the edge of the Pentland Hills, and it descends northwest through Colinton (plunging through a long tunnel), Slateford (beneath the aqueduct of the Union Canal), Saughton, Murrayfield, and on down to Stockbridge and Leith.
 * Fishing on the Water of Leith is by permit. Obtained this from the City Council offices at Waverley Market in New Town or Cockburn Street in the Old Town. Most fishing tackle shops throughout the city can provide permits.
 * John Muir Way, named for the famous naturalist and outdoorsman, is a long-distance hiking trail from Dunbar his birthplace to Helensburgh on the west coast, where he embarked for the USA. The section through the west city is frankly scrappy, zig-zagging about through suburban streets and parks, touching on Water of Leith and the canal without seeing their best. See South Queensferry for the next leg west, from Cramond Brig down to the shore then past Dalmeny House towards the Forth Bridge.
 * Football: 
 * The Spartans FC were promoted in 2023 so they play in League Two, the fourth tier. Their home ground Ainslie Park (capacity 3600) is on Pilton Drive in the north end of the city.


 * Golf courses include Kingsknowe, Carrick Knowe, Murrayfield, Silverknowes, the venerable Bruntsfield Links, Turnhouse by the airport, Ratho Park and upscale Dalmahoy.
 * Lost Shore is an inland surfing centre at Ratho, opening in Sept 2024.
 * Lost Shore is an inland surfing centre at Ratho, opening in Sept 2024.
 * Lost Shore is an inland surfing centre at Ratho, opening in Sept 2024.

Buy

 * Coop Food is the closest top-up store to Haymarket, at 114 Dalry Rd, but Lidl another 200 yards out has better prices.
 * St John's Road in Corstorphine east of the retail park is a traditional High Street shopping parade, with all that's good and bad about that. You can't park on the busy main road, and the side-streets are clogged with commuter parking.
 * is a retail park at the junction of M8 and the city bypass. Stores here include Tesco and B&Q.
 * is a retail park at the junction of M8 and the city bypass. Stores here include Tesco and B&Q.
 * is a retail park at the junction of M8 and the city bypass. Stores here include Tesco and B&Q.

Drink

 * Roseburn Bar is a trad place 100 yards east of The Murrayfield, likewise popular with those going to the game; no food. It's open Su-Th 11AM-11PM, F Sa 11AM-midnight.
 * North British Distillery across the tracks from Murrayfield makes raw grain whisky, up to 70 million litres a year. No retail sales (and no tours) as all their output is blended, but if you drink any popular blended brand of scotch, you're quaffing their product.
 * North British Distillery across the tracks from Murrayfield makes raw grain whisky, up to 70 million litres a year. No retail sales (and no tours) as all their output is blended, but if you drink any popular blended brand of scotch, you're quaffing their product.
 * North British Distillery across the tracks from Murrayfield makes raw grain whisky, up to 70 million litres a year. No retail sales (and no tours) as all their output is blended, but if you drink any popular blended brand of scotch, you're quaffing their product.

Budget

 * Ibis Budget Edinburgh Park is at 6 Lochside View just south of Gogar Roundabout, for Glasgow Rd to the airport.
 * Ibis Budget Edinburgh Park is at 6 Lochside View just south of Gogar Roundabout, for Glasgow Rd to the airport.

Mid-range

 * Brooks Hotel is a stylish place on Grove Street near the canal terminus.
 * Premier Inn Edinburgh Park is next to Edinburgh Park Station, across the tracks from the Novotel.
 * Premier Inn Edinburgh Park is next to Edinburgh Park Station, across the tracks from the Novotel.
 * Premier Inn Edinburgh Park is next to Edinburgh Park Station, across the tracks from the Novotel.
 * Premier Inn Edinburgh Park is next to Edinburgh Park Station, across the tracks from the Novotel.
 * Premier Inn Edinburgh Park is next to Edinburgh Park Station, across the tracks from the Novotel.

Airport

 * You might also stay at these for the Royal Highland Showground.



Connect
There are internet stations and printers at all public libraries, see Edinburgh for how to access these. Branches in the west of the city are Balgreen, Blackhall, Corstorphine, Drumbrae, Fountainbridge (the most central), Sighthill and Wester Hailes.

Go next

 * Buses and the tram eastwards bring you to Princes St in New Town. The castle and Old Town are a short walk away.
 * The Pentland Hills rise to the south, described as part of Edinburgh/South.
 * South Queensferry northwest is a pleasant old harbour town. High above, trains rumble over the Forth Bridge into Fife.
 * Linlithgow west has a ruined medieval palace, abode of Mary Queen of Scots.