Buses form the backbone of Edinburgh's public transport network with one company Lothian Buses, by far the most important.

Their city-wide service is excellent, is supplemented by a tram in the city centre, and runs until late at night.

Tickets

Adult singles cost £2 and are only valid on one bus. A day ticket (£5) allows unlimited journeys on any of their city buses (and on the tram to any stop except the airport).

Adults can do all the ticketing by tapping a contactless bank card (listen for the beep). This automatically caps all fares at £4.80/day and £22/week.

This works for all Lothian city bus services: if you are travelling on an Airlink, Skylink, EastCoastbuses or Lothiancountry services or want to buy paper tickets (eg for a child), you’ll need to tell the driver your destination.