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Travel budget

How much does a trip to Edinburgh cost?

What a trip to Edinburgh costs, worked out for your days and your party, with every price traced to where it comes from. And then the part most budgets skip: how to actually pay once you are there.

Food, getting around and sights in Edinburgh come to £60.00 – £74.00 per person per day. Accommodation, flights and the airport transfer are on top. Prices reviewed: October 2026.

Full Edinburgh guide

Your trip

How much money you still need

Days, people and how you like to travel decide almost everything. Flights are left out: they depend on where you start.

6 nights

Counted at the child fares each operator publishes.

Travel style

Set meals and the odd sit-down dinner, and one paid sight a day.

Accommodation

We have no sample of hotel prices for this city yet, so we will not guess one. Type what you have seen and the lodging tax is worked out from it.

Adjust accommodation, food and the rest

In local currency. We do not estimate this: nobody knows what you will buy.

Already paid for

You still need, flights aside

£860 – £1,100

≈ $1,100 – $1,400 · rate of October 6, 2026

£62.00 – £76.00 per person per day · 7 days and 2 people

Expected
£860 – £1,100
Most trips land in here
Set aside
£1,100
With this you are unlikely to run short
Cushion, kept apart
£96.00
10% of the trip
  • Food£330 – £520
  • Getting around£80.00
  • Airport, both ways£24.00 – £32.00
  • Sights and activities£310 – £360
  • Nights out£37.00 – £72.00
  • Lodging tax and odds and ends£36.00 – £48.00

Of that, in cash: £10 – £110

The cash share is our reading of how each kind of place takes payment, not a measurement. Your own bank may charge on top; this page cannot know that.

  • Accommodation is not in this figure. Add your price per night to include it.
  • Flights are not included.
  • You probably will not spend the cushion. Having it to hand covers a night you had not planned, a taxi, or a changed ticket.
Styles

What a day in Edinburgh costs, by how you travel

Per person per day, two travelling, without accommodation, flights or the airport transfer. A style is not a figure: it is a way of eating, getting around and seeing things, and each one is spelled out below.

Budget

£41.00 – £45.00 per person per day

Local food, public transport, the odd paid sight.

FoodLocal and cheap
£22.00 – £25.00
Getting aroundPublic transport
£5.70
Sights and activitiesThe odd paid sight
£11.00 – £13.00
Sundries: luggage storage, laundry, water
£1.90 – £2.20

Mid-range

£60.00 – £74.00 per person per day

Set meals and the odd sit-down dinner, and one paid sight a day.

FoodMixed: set meals and one sit-down dinner
£24.00 – £37.00
Getting aroundPublic transport
£5.70
Sights and activitiesOne paid sight a day
£22.00 – £26.00
Nights outNow and then
£2.70 – £5.10
Sundries: luggage storage, laundry, water
£2.60 – £3.40

Comfort

£96 – £110 per person per day

The best food level we can price, a taxi when it helps, two paid sights a day.

FoodRestaurants most of the time
£34.00 – £38.00
Getting aroundPublic transport, and a taxi now and then
£8.30
Sights and activitiesTwo paid sights a day
£44.00 – £52.00
Nights outNow and then
£2.70 – £5.10
Sundries: luggage storage, laundry, water
£4.30 – £4.90

A style's total is not the sum of the extremes of its lines: nobody has a trip where everything comes out cheap, or everything dear. “Sundries” is an assumption of ours, 5% of food, transport and sights, not a measurement.

By length of trip

How much money for 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14 days in Edinburgh

Per person, two travelling together, without accommodation or flights. It is not the daily figure times the days: airport transfers are paid once, so they weigh less the longer you stay.

DaysBudgetMid-rangeComfort
3£140 – £150
£46.00 – £50.00 a day		£190 – £240
£65.00 – £79.00 a day		£300 – £330
£100 – £110 a day
5£220 – £240
£44.00 – £48.00 a day		£310 – £380
£61.00 – £75.00 a day		£490 – £540
£98 – £110 a day
7£300 – £330
£43.00 – £47.00 a day		£430 – £530
£62.00 – £76.00 a day		£690 – £750
£98 – £110 a day
10£430 – £470
£43.00 – £47.00 a day		£610 – £750
£61.00 – £75.00 a day		£980 – £1,100
£98 – £110 a day
14£590 – £650
£42.00 – £46.00 a day		£850 – £1,000
£61.00 – £75.00 a day		£1,400 – £1,500
£97 – £110 a day

Add your accommodation in the calculator above: it is the largest line and the one we cannot source yet.

Prices

What things cost in Edinburgh

Eating and drinking: the average of the prices the statistics office recorded that month in a sample of places. Expect to pay more in tourist areas and at well-known spots. The statistics do not break out Edinburgh: these are averages for all of Scotland.

WhatPriceSource
Eating and drinking
Hot drink to take away (coffee or tea)£2.59From the source Aug 2026
Coffee at a café£3.25From the source Aug 2026
Chilled sandwich to take away£4.29From the source Aug 2026
Hamburger£5.95From the source Aug 2026
Fish and chips to take away£11.28From the source Aug 2026
Hot meal in a pub£14.91From the source Aug 2026
Main course in a restaurant£16.01From the source Aug 2026
Bottled water in a café or restaurant£2.69From the source Aug 2026
Pint of lager (3.4–4.2%)£4.68From the source Aug 2026
Pint of premium lager (4.3–7.5%)£5.90From the source Aug 2026
Glass of wine (175–250 ml)£6.14From the source Aug 2026
Getting around
Bus, single fare by card£2.40From the source Oct 2026
Daily cap by contactless, bus and tram£5.70From the source Oct 2026
Taxi, 4 km by day, not counting waiting time£10.50From the source Oct 2026
Airlink 100 bus, airport to city centre£6.00From the source Oct 2026
Tram, airport to city centre£7.90From the source Oct 2026
Sights
Edinburgh Castle (online – at the gate)£23.50 – £26.00From the source Oct 2026
Palace of Holyroodhouse (in advance – on the day)£22.00 – £26.00From the source Oct 2026

From the source means we read it where it is set: the operator, the bank, the city or the statistics office. Reported means a guide or the press says so and we have not seen the original. Where sources disagree we show both figures and leave the price out of every sum.

What each food level is made of

A food level is not a number we chose. It is two lists of dishes from the table above, a cheap day and a dear one, and the price is the sum.

Bare minimum: convenience stores and counters
From Hot drink to take away (coffee or tea) + Chilled sandwich to take away + Hamburger (£12.83) to Hot drink to take away (coffee or tea) + Chilled sandwich to take away + Fish and chips to take away (£18.16).
Local and cheap
From Hot drink to take away (coffee or tea) + Chilled sandwich to take away + Hot meal in a pub (£21.79) to Coffee at a café + Chilled sandwich to take away + Hot meal in a pub + Bottled water in a café or restaurant (£25.14).
Mixed: set meals and one sit-down dinner
From Coffee at a café + Chilled sandwich to take away + Main course in a restaurant (£23.55) to Coffee at a café + Hot meal in a pub + Main course in a restaurant + Bottled water in a café or restaurant (£36.86).
Restaurants most of the time
From Coffee at a café + Hot meal in a pub + Main course in a restaurant (£34.17) to Coffee at a café + Main course in a restaurant × 2 + Bottled water in a café or restaurant (£37.96).
Getting around

The most a day of public transport costs

  • Pay by contactless and a day of public transport never costs more than £5.70: the cap applies by itself, with nothing to buy.
Accommodation

What the night costs, and the tax on top

There is no open source of hotel prices, and we have not sampled this city yet. So the calculator asks you for the price you have seen instead of printing one that looks plausible.

Lodging tax

  • From July 24, 2026

    • 5% of the room price
    • Only the first 5 nights are charged.
Saving

What saves money in Edinburgh, and what does not

Each line is a subtraction done with the prices on this page. No tricks: just the sum.

What saves

  • Eating “Mixed: set meals and one sit-down dinner” instead of “Restaurants most of the time”: £1.10 – £11.00 less per person per day.
  • Eating “Local and cheap” instead of “Mixed: set meals and one sit-down dinner”: £1.80 – £12.00 less per person per day.
  • Eating “Bare minimum: convenience stores and counters” instead of “Local and cheap”: £7.00 – £9.00 less per person per day.
  • “Hot drink to take away (coffee or tea)” (£2.59) instead of “Coffee at a café” (£3.25): £0.66 less each time.
  • “Pint of lager (3.4–4.2%)” (£4.68) instead of “Pint of premium lager (4.3–7.5%)” (£5.90): £1.22 less each time.

What does not

  • Sharing a taxi: “Taxi, 4 km by day, not counting waiting time” costs £10.50, which split 4 ways is £2.63 a head. A ride on public transport is £2.40.
Questions

Questions about money in Edinburgh

How much money do you need for a week in Edinburgh?

For seven days, £430 – £530 per person on the “Mid-range” style with two travelling. Accommodation and flights are not included. The airport transfer, there and back, is included.

How much money do you need for 3 days in Edinburgh?

For 3 days, £190 – £240 per person on the “Mid-range” style with two travelling. Accommodation and flights are not included. The airport transfer, there and back, is included.

What is a realistic daily budget in Edinburgh?

Per person per day, without accommodation or flights: £41.00 – £45.00 on the “Budget” style, £60.00 – £74.00 on the “Mid-range” style, and £96 – £110 on the “Comfort” style.

Can you travel to Edinburgh on a budget?

The cheapest style we work out is “Budget”: £41.00 – £45.00 per person per day, without accommodation or flights. Local food, public transport, the odd paid sight.

How much does food cost in Edinburgh?

From £13.00 per person per day (“Bare minimum: convenience stores and counters”) to £38.00 (“Restaurants most of the time”). The price table has what each dish costs.

How much does transport cost in Edinburgh?

A ride on public transport costs £2.40. “Taxi, 4 km by day, not counting waiting time”: £10.50. Pay by contactless and a day of public transport never costs more than £5.70: the cap applies by itself, with nothing to buy.

Is there a lodging tax in Edinburgh?

Yes: 5% of the room price. Only the first 5 nights are charged.

How much cash should you carry in Edinburgh?

For a week on the “Mid-range” style, about £5.20 – £57.00 per person, two travelling. It is our reading of how each kind of place takes payment, not a measurement.

Is it better to use cash or card in Edinburgh?

By card: trains and subway, short rides. Card or cash, depending on the place: small shops; markets and stalls.

Do you tip in Edinburgh?

Restaurants: optional. Hotels: optional. Taxis: optional.

Sources

Where every figure comes from

Each price on this page carries its source. These are all of them. Prices reviewed: October 2026.

The rest of Edinburgh

In the app

This page tells you how much to take. The app keeps count of what you spend.

Joru works out the budget of your itinerary day by day and sets it against what you actually spend, by category and with the exchange rate. On your phone, with no account.

Google PlayApp Store

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