Before You Go to Edinburgh: Rules, Costs and Safety Guide (Printable + iPad)

Edinburgh is easy to love and easy to get slightly wrong: a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation is now compulsory for most visitors, the city has a new 5 percent visitor levy, the Old Town is steep, Scottish banknotes confuse people, winter daylight is short and the weather changes by the hour. Entry rules depend on your passport, so the guide points you to the official pages.

This printable guide puts everything you should know before a trip to Edinburgh in one place, in short plain-English points, checked in November 2026 with links to the official sites so you can double-check anything. It covers Edinburgh and the UK-wide entry, money and safety rules.

WHAT'S INSIDE

• Conditions right now: the UK ETA (GBP 20, two years, official app or gov.uk only, British and Irish citizens exempt), the visitor levy (5 percent, first five nights, from 24 July 2026 for bookings made on or after 1 October 2025), the Low Emission Zone, Scottish banknotes, tram and bus fares and daily caps, Edinburgh Castle ticketing, Hogmanay and Christmas, Holyroodhouse, Arthur's Seat and the Radical Road, drones, e-scooters and 999, 112, 101 and 111
• Entry, customs and rules: Border Force, eGates, customs allowances (18 litres of wine, 42 litres of beer, 4 litres of spirits, 200 cigarettes), the GBP 10,000 cash declaration, driving on the left, drinking rules and the Scottish right to roam
• Getting there: Edinburgh Airport, the airport tram and Airlink bus, Waverley Station, the Caledonian Sleeper and coaches
• Getting around: walking the hills, Lothian Buses, Edinburgh Trams, ScotRail, railcards, taxis, Voi e-bikes and why private e-scooters are illegal
• Money and phone: the pound, ATMs, VAT, SIM and eSIM, plugs and the apps that matter
• Safety and nature: Arthur's Seat, Cramond Island tides, cliffs, weather, ticks and tap water
• Culture and etiquette: queueing, pub rules, whisky, Hogmanay first-footing and manners
• Eating Scottish, five areas at a glance, festivals and seasons, and 14 mistakes first-timers make
• What things cost: 32 everyday prices in US dollars with pounds in brackets
• A month-by-month calendar, a pre-trip countdown, a tick-box packing list and a first-day checklist
• Scots words for visitors, plus emergency contacts (confirm on the official sites)
• Two editions: a printable PDF and an iPad edition with a tappable contents page

PERFECT FOR

• First-time visitors to Edinburgh
• Anyone planning the Castle, the Royal Mile, Arthur's Seat and a day trip to Stirling
• Travellers who like to arrive prepared
• A thoughtful gift for someone with an Edinburgh trip booked

PAIRS WELL WITH

The 5-Day Edinburgh Itinerary.

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

You'll receive 2 PDFs. No physical item will be shipped.

• Print edition (22 pages): US Letter, prints fine on A4
• iPad edition (33 pages): tappable contents, room to write

This guide is general travel information, not legal, medical or immigration advice. Rules (including entry, drone, customs and cash rules) depend on your situation: always confirm with the official sites before you travel.

PLEASE NOTE

Rules and prices were checked in November 2026 and are subject to change: fees, fares, menus, hotel rates and charges can change without notice, and weather, strikes, engineering works and closures change daily. Where a detail could not be confirmed from an official page, the guide says "check". Prices are approximate, shown in US dollars with pounds in brackets at about US$1.30 per pound (the Bank of England table showed about 1.33, so dollar figures run about 2 percent low; rates move). Please confirm important details with the official sites before you travel. Photos are illustrative. Cover photo: Gary Campbell-Hall, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Researched and written with the help of AI tools.

Made by Global Trip Insight. For personal use only.