Edinburgh’s public transport network — Lothian Buses, Edinburgh Trams, Airlink and Skylink airport services, Edinburgh Bus Tours, Lothian Country, East Coast Buses, and the ScotRail commuter network — is brilliantly integrated, but the sheer number of ticket types can confuse first-time visitors. Should you buy a £2 single, a £5 Dayticket, an £8.50 Day Ridacard, the £10.50 airport-inclusive version, the £20 weekly pass, or just tap on with contactless and let the daily cap take care of things? This is the definitive 2026 guide to Edinburgh transport tickets — every ticket type, every fare, every loophole, and the exact moment each option starts saving you money.
Quick Recommendation by Visit Length
Before we go deep on every ticket type, here is the short answer.
- Day trip with 2–3 journeys: Tap on with contactless. The daily cap will charge you no more than the equivalent day ticket.
- One full day, lots of bus travel: Dayticket (£5).
- One full day, bus + tram: Day Ridacard (£8.50).
- One full day, bus + tram + airport return: Day Ridacard with airport zone (£10.50).
- Two- or three-day visit, no airport: Tap & Go each day. Cap protects you.
- Five-day-plus visit: Weekly Ridacard (£20).
- Family of four: Family Dayticket (£10) — by far the cheapest option.
- Hop-on hop-off sightseeing: 24-hour Edinburgh Tour ticket (£20) or 48-hour all-tours (£30).
The Heart of the System: Tap & Go Contactless
The single best change to Edinburgh’s transport network in recent years is full contactless integration. Every Lothian bus and every Edinburgh tram has a tap-on reader at the front door. Tap your contactless debit card, credit card or Apple/Google Pay device on the reader and you pay the single fare automatically. Two important features make this the default option for most visitors.
First, the daily cap: keep tapping with the same card all day and you will never be charged more than the equivalent day ticket — £5 on Lothian Buses alone, £8.50 if you have used a tram, £10.50 if you have used the airport zone. The system reconciles in the background. You do not have to do anything.
Second, multi-modal integration: the tap is valid across bus and tram with the same card. Using one card across both is how you trigger the inclusive cap.
The reader is on the right as you board the bus (next to the driver). On the tram it is on each set of doors. A green tick and a single beep confirms a valid tap. A red cross means the card was declined and you need to try a different card or buy a ticket from the machine.
Standard Single Fares
Every standard Lothian Buses route — that is, all routes apart from Airlink 100 and the Edinburgh Tour sightseeing service — uses a flat single fare regardless of distance.
| Service | Adult | Child (5–15) |
|---|---|---|
| Lothian Buses single | £2.00 | £1.30 |
| Lothian night bus single | £4.30 | £3.00 |
| Edinburgh Trams city zone single | £2.00 | £1.30 |
| Edinburgh Trams to/from airport | £8.50 | £2.40 |
| Airlink 100 single | £5.50 | £3.00 |
| Skylink 200/300/400 single | £2.00 | £1.30 |
| East Coast Buses (longer journeys) | £3.50–£7.50 | £2.00–£4.00 |
Children under 5 travel free on every Lothian service. Scottish residents under 22 and over 60 travel free with their national entitlement card; international visitors do not qualify.
Day Tickets Compared
Lothian Dayticket — £5.00 Adult / £2.60 Child
The classic Edinburgh day ticket. Unlimited travel on all Lothian Buses (including night buses) for one calendar day. Does not include Edinburgh Trams. Does not include Airlink 100 or Skylink. Bought on the bus, in the Transport for Edinburgh app, or from the Lothian Travelshops.
Break-even: three single journeys (£6) is more than a Dayticket (£5), so if you plan three bus trips in a day, the Dayticket is the answer.
Day Ridacard — £8.50 Adult / £4.00 Child
The bus-plus-tram day pass. Unlimited Lothian Buses plus unlimited Edinburgh Trams within the city zone. Does not include airport zone. Bought via the app or Travelshops.
Break-even: one tram ride plus three bus rides is the rough break-even point. If you are using the tram at all on a busy day, the Day Ridacard is usually the right call.
Day Ridacard Airport Zone — £10.50 Adult / £4.50 Child
As Day Ridacard, but extending to the airport tram zone. Lets you arrive on the tram from Edinburgh Airport and use the same ticket all day around the city. Massively cheaper than a single tram airport fare (£8.50) plus any further journeys.
Break-even: airport tram return alone is £17, so anyone using the tram airport return loses out on day-singles. Buy this on arrival.
Family Dayticket — £10 / Day
Two adults plus up to three children for £10. Probably Edinburgh’s best transport bargain. Includes all Lothian Buses (but not tram). For tram-inclusive, you would buy four individual Day Ridacards (children at £4 each = £25), so for families wanting tram access the maths is more complicated — the Family Dayticket only really wins if you are sticking to buses.
Airlink 100 Return — £7.50
An Airlink return is valid for one calendar month and is £7.50 — saving £3.50 over two singles. Useful if you are flying in and out within a month. Sold on board, in the app or from the Airlink booth at the airport.
Multi-Day and Weekly Passes
Weekly Ridacard — £20.00
Unlimited bus and tram travel within the city zone for seven consecutive days. Excellent value for any visitor staying five days or more. Bought from a Lothian Travelshop or by post in advance — note that it requires a passport-style photo, so it is not a tap-on contactless purchase; you need to physically obtain the card. Daily caps via contactless will usually exceed £20 by the fourth or fifth day of heavy use, so this is the smarter long-stay option.
Four-Week Ridacard — £63.00
The Edinburgh local season ticket. Useful only for stays of three weeks or more.
Annual Ridacard — £660.00
A residents’ option. Not usually relevant to visitors.
Edinburgh Bus Tours Tickets (Hop-On Hop-Off)
Edinburgh Bus Tours, the sightseeing arm of Lothian, operates three open-top tour routes from Waverley Bridge. Tickets here are separate from the regular Lothian Buses network.
| Tour Ticket | Adult | Child |
|---|---|---|
| 24-hour single tour | £20 | £8 |
| 48-hour all-tours pass | £30 | £15 |
| Royal Edinburgh Ticket (incl. Castle, Britannia) | £90 | £45 |
The Royal Edinburgh Ticket bundles two days of tour buses with entry to Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Yacht Britannia and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. If you would visit all three anyway, the bundle saves £15–£20. Buy on board, at the Waverley Bridge ticket booth, or online via edinburghtour.com.
The Edinburgh Pass: A Different Beast
The Edinburgh Pass (run by Visit Scotland) is not a transport ticket — it is a tourist attraction pass that bundles entry to 25+ attractions and includes an Airlink/Skylink airport return. Adult prices are £49 for one day, £69 for two days, £79 for three days. Useful if you plan to visit several paid attractions in quick succession. The pass does not include city-centre Lothian Buses or trams.
Where to Buy Each Ticket
On the Bus or Tram
All single fares and Daytickets are available on board. Use exact-change cash on a bus, contactless on either, or buy via the Transport for Edinburgh app and show the QR code. Trams have ticket machines on every platform.
Transport for Edinburgh App
Free download, iOS and Android. Buy any single fare, day ticket, Airlink or Skylink ticket, hop-on hop-off ticket, or Ridacard top-up. Tickets activate on demand — buy in advance, activate just before you board.
Lothian Travelshops
Two locations: Waverley Bridge (in the Lothian HQ building, open Monday–Saturday 08:30–18:00) and Hanover Street (similar hours). They are the only places to obtain a Ridacard, replace a lost card, or get a tour-bus ticket without buying on board.
Edinburgh Bus Station
For Citylink, Megabus, FlixBus and East Coast Buses tickets — these are intercity coach operators with their own ticketing systems. Located at St Andrew Square, behind the bus station shopping centre.
Online in Advance
Lothian, Edinburgh Trams, Edinburgh Bus Tours, Citylink and ScotRail all sell tickets online. Most app-based tickets are cheaper or the same price as on-board purchase.
Trains and ScotRail Tickets
ScotRail runs Edinburgh’s commuter and intercity train services from Edinburgh Waverley and Edinburgh Haymarket. Standard tickets are bought from the station ticket machines, the ScotRail app or trainline.com. Useful one-day train tickets include:
- Anytime Day Single Edinburgh–Glasgow: £15.30, valid all day.
- Off-Peak Day Return Edinburgh–Glasgow: £18.00 (must travel after 09:15).
- Edinburgh–North Berwick Day Return: £10.50, perfect for a beach-and-castle day trip.
- Edinburgh–Stirling Day Return: £13.00, good for a Stirling Castle day.
- Spirit of Scotland Travelpass: 4-in-8 day pass (4 days of travel within 8 calendar days) £149 adult, covering all of ScotRail plus Caledonian MacBrayne ferries — useful for visitors planning a Scotland-wide loop from Edinburgh.
Citylink Intercity Coach Tickets
Scottish Citylink runs the main intercity coach network from Edinburgh Bus Station. Their useful tickets include:
- Edinburgh–Glasgow single: £8.50 (cheaper than the train, slightly slower at 1h 20m).
- Edinburgh–Inverness single: £24, 3h 30m journey.
- Edinburgh–Skye: £45, an 8-hour journey but a glorious one.
- Explorer Pass: 3-in-5, 5-in-10 or 8-in-16 day passes for unlimited Citylink travel.
How to Decide What to Buy
Here is the decision tree that we use to help visitors.
- Will you take the tram from the airport on arrival? If yes, buy the Day Ridacard with airport zone (£10.50). If you just want a single, £8.50.
- Are you in town for one busy day? Day Ridacard (£8.50) for bus+tram. Or, if no tram, Dayticket (£5).
- Are you in town two or three days, casual use? Tap on with contactless — daily cap will keep you covered.
- Are you in town five days or more? Buy a Weekly Ridacard (£20) from a Travelshop on day one.
- Are you visiting paid attractions like the Castle and Britannia? Consider the Edinburgh Pass.
- Are you sightseeing for two days? The 48-hour Edinburgh Tour pass (£30) covers three open-top tours.
- Are you a family of four? Family Dayticket (£10/day) is the cheapest by far for buses.
Daily Caps in Detail
The Tap & Go cap is one of the most important things to understand because it removes the need to guess. Tap on with the same contactless card or device every time you board, and the system charges you the lesser of the cumulative singles or the matching day ticket. Here is what each cap looks like.
- Lothian Buses only: £5.00 cap (equivalent to a Dayticket).
- Lothian Buses plus Edinburgh Trams city zone: £8.50 cap (equivalent to a Day Ridacard).
- Buses plus tram including airport zone: £10.50 cap.
- Children: £2.60 / £4.00 / £4.50 depending on combinations.
- Airlink 100: Separate £5.50 single; counts towards cap if you continue using Lothian afterwards.
One crucial wrinkle: night buses count as a separate £4.30 fare, not a £2 fare, and the cap is calculated on a daily basis (midnight to midnight). If your evening crosses midnight, the second half of the journey opens a fresh day’s cap.
Children, Students and Concessions
Under-5s travel free. Children aged 5–15 pay £1.30 single or have their own day-ticket prices (above). Two children under 15 travel free with a Ridacard-holding adult — a useful family bonus. Scottish residents under 22 and over 60 carry a Young Scot or National Entitlement Card that provides free travel; international visitors do not qualify for this scheme. Students at Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and Napier universities are eligible for discounted Ridacards.
Refunds, Lost Tickets and Customer Service
Tap & Go contactless errors (double-taps, declines, refunds) are handled via the Lothian customer service team — email mail@lothianbuses.com or call 0131 555 6363. App-purchased tickets can be refunded through the app if unused. Lost Ridacards are replaced (for £10) at a Travelshop on presentation of ID. Edinburgh Bus Tours tickets are non-refundable but transferable between days.
Tickets to Avoid (or Use Wisely)
- Cash payment on the bus: Exact change only, slower boarding. Use contactless.
- Single Airlink returns paid in cash: Slower boarding, no daily cap interaction. Use the app or contactless.
- Multiple separate day tickets across modes: A Day Ridacard handles both for less than buying two separate day tickets.
- Edinburgh Pass for low-attraction itineraries: If you are only visiting two attractions, separate ticket purchases are cheaper.
Mobile Tickets and Apple/Google Wallet
The Transport for Edinburgh app is the canonical mobile ticket source. You can save tickets to Apple Wallet but the simpler approach is to keep them in the app, where they show as a live animation that drivers and inspectors can verify. The app also stores your travel history and reconciles your daily cap, so it doubles as a record of spending.
Group Travel and Larger Parties
For groups of 10 or more, Lothian’s Group Travel team (groups@lothianbuses.com) offers discounted block bookings. Edinburgh Bus Tours offers group rates for school parties, corporate groups and hen/stag-do bookings. ScotRail offers GroupSave: three to nine adults travelling together get 34% off Off-Peak fares — a useful saving for day-trip groups heading to Glasgow or Stirling.
Comparing Edinburgh’s Tickets to Other UK Cities
Edinburgh’s flat £2 single is one of the cheapest in the UK. London’s bus single (Oyster) is £1.75 but the day cap is £5.25 against Edinburgh’s £5.00, so they are functionally equivalent. Glasgow’s First Glasgow single is £2.85, day ticket £5.70. Manchester’s single is £2 with a £5 cap. So Edinburgh is competitive on bus fares and slightly cheaper than most peer cities on day caps. Where it differs is the seamless integration with the tram and the airport — there is no Edinburgh equivalent of London’s tube zones or peak/off-peak fare bands.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest way to get around Edinburgh?
For most visitors, tapping on with contactless and trusting the daily cap (£5 buses, £8.50 bus+tram) is the cheapest and simplest. For longer stays, a Weekly Ridacard at £20 is excellent value.
Can I buy Edinburgh transport tickets in advance?
Yes — the Transport for Edinburgh app sells every ticket type and tickets activate only when you tap “Use” or board. Airlink/Skylink/airport tram tickets can also be bought before you fly.
Does Edinburgh have a travel zone system?
Edinburgh has a single city zone for fares (most of the city) plus an Airport Zone for the tram. There are no peak/off-peak fare bands; fares are the same all day.
Are Edinburgh bus and tram tickets transferable?
A Day Ridacard or Dayticket can be used for unlimited journeys on the day of purchase but is tied to the contactless card or app account that bought it. Paper tickets are not transferable.
Is there a tourist transport pass for Edinburgh?
The Day Ridacard with airport zone (£10.50) effectively functions as the tourist transport pass. The Royal Edinburgh Ticket bundles tour-bus travel with three major attractions for £90.
Can I use my Glasgow bus card in Edinburgh?
No. Lothian Buses uses its own ticketing system, separate from First Glasgow’s. Contactless cards work in both cities independently.
What’s the difference between a Dayticket and a Ridacard?
Dayticket = one day’s unlimited Lothian Buses for £5. Day Ridacard = one day’s bus + tram for £8.50. Weekly Ridacard = seven days bus + tram for £20.
Do Edinburgh bus tickets include the airport?
The Airlink 100 (£5.50) is not in the standard Dayticket. The Day Ridacard with airport zone (£10.50) includes the airport tram. The Skylink 200/300/400 routes are part of the standard Lothian network at £2 single.
How do I get a Ridacard?
In person at a Lothian Travelshop (Waverley Bridge or Hanover Street) with a passport-style photo and ID. Online ordering is available with a 7–10 day postal turnaround.
Can I get refunded for unused tickets?
Yes for unused app tickets within 30 days of purchase. Tap & Go contactless refunds for failed taps are processed automatically by Lothian within 5 working days.
Final Word: Tap, Cap, and Stop Worrying
The genius of Edinburgh’s ticketing system is that for the vast majority of visitors, the right answer is the simplest: tap your contactless card on every bus and tram, use the Transport for Edinburgh app to plan your journeys, and let the daily cap protect you from overspending. The exceptions — Family Dayticket for families of four, Weekly Ridacard for stays of five-plus days, Edinburgh Pass for attraction-heavy itineraries, Spirit of Scotland Travelpass for visitors exploring beyond Edinburgh — all kick in at predictable thresholds and are easy to identify with the decision tree in this guide.
Once you understand the structure, the network is one of the most cost-effective in the UK — a flat £2 single, an £8.50 bus-plus-tram day cap, and seamless multi-modal integration are remarkable for a city of Edinburgh’s size. Combine this with the dedicated guides to Lothian Buses, the airport-to-city-centre options, and our walking in Edinburgh guide for the complete picture.
