The City Centre of Edinburgh is shown on the map below, on arrival by 100 airlink bus from the airport, by train to Edinburgh Waverley, or by coach to the Bus Station in St Andrews Square, with luggage you may wish to make use of the local buses (single fare £1.80 / day ticket £4.50 - no change given if paying by cash) or treat yourself to a taxi (about £8). Once free of your luggage you have the choice as the central area is all within comfortable walking distance of the Valentine. This map is derived from the City Centre map of Lothian Buses, we are the only guest house that is in within this map area, more detail of bus routes throughout Edinburgh can be found on the Lothian Bus site, including for example direct buses to the Royal Yacht Britannia (16) and Leith (10,11,16), which pass just metres from the Valentine, and via connections to reach Cramond, Rosslyn Chapel and Portobello.

Click to enlarge this view of Lothian Road facing South towards Tollcross and the Valentine. (Source: Lee Kindness, http://commons.wikimedia.org/)

Arriving by Car

Despite, our central location, we have access to parking nearby (90m) for guests at £10 per day. There is now a wide zone of restricted parking around Edinburgh, stretching well into the suburbs. Some other accommodation are still offering 'free on-street parking' - this no longer exists in Central Edinburgh other than in later in the evenings and at the weekend.

From the North (Stirling and Forth Road Bridge M90/M9/A90)

Take the A90 right into the city centre, then take Lothian Road (A702) for half a mile to Tollcross, at the very top of the hill take the right-hand fork into Leven Street, one block further turn right again into Gilmore Place at the King's Theatre, the Valentine City Centre Guesthouse is immediately on your left.

From the West & Airport (M8/A8) Two options - direct or easy! Direct: Take the A8 (East) all the way into the city centre to the junction passing Haymarket Station, moving to the far right lane and turning right at the first opportunity after the station. This brings you along Torphicen Street, which bends sharp right and uphill. Turn left at the junction at the end, passing the conference centre and then right at the next opportunity passing the Odeon cinema on the corner - this puts you near the end of Lothian Road almost at Tollcross and you can then follow the intstruction in the section above. Easy: If you are not confident at negotiating city centre junctions that you are unfamiliar with then you may alternatively wish to join the City Bypass (A720) at its beginning (junction with A8 around a mile East (left!) from the airport), which is a much easier route but a bit longer. Directions for this are below.   From East & South (A1/A7/A68/A702)

King's Theatre

The route via the bypass is very easy! Take the city by-pass (A720) to the Lothianburn exit (between Dreghorn and Straiton exits), then the A702 for 3 miles down to Morningside and back up to Bruntsfield, after the sharp right bend that the road takes in Bruntsfield, the road drops back down on a left curve, through several pedestrian crossing lights to a junction with the King's Theatre to your right. Turn left here into Gilmore Place (The sign for Lochrin Buildings is more obvious; it's the same street!), the Valentine City Centre Guesthouse is immediately on your left.

Arriving by Air

Detailed information on your transport options can be found on our Edinburgh Airport page, which explains your various taxi and bus options. Unless you are a fan of trams, the service is not a practical option as the stops do not connect well to local bus services to this area and the express bus is cheaper and just as quick!

 

King's at night.

The slow airport service 300 from the airport terminal will bring you to Lauriston Place just 200m from us in around 50 minutes or the much quicker 100 Airlink buses run directly into the city centre, bringing you to the West End Stop- the cost of both services is £4.50 single/£7.50 return and the journey time is 25 minutes or a little less. For the 100- from the stop at West End/Shandwick Place, walk around the corner to Lothian Road (the bus stop in the picture at the top of this page!) and catch one of the buses listed on the map up the hill to the King's Theatre stop- if it happens to be a 10 stay on until it turns right here and get off at the bus stop immediately afterwards outside our door. (or if you end up at the terminus in Waverley Bridge catch these services from the garden side of Princes Street near the Scott Monument, they are grouped at one of the stops.)

Arriving by Rail or Coach

An onward taxi is approximately £7-£8, buses as shown on the map from St Andrews Square or Princes' Street are £1.80 per person - exact change or a debit card (Note that a day pass valid on all normal services is £4.50). The following Lothian Buses (NOT "First Buses" who run services with some matching numbers on routes into Edinburgh) services as shown on the map at the top of the page pass by seconds from us along Home Street (first stop after passing Tollcross clock in the middle of the junction at the top of Lothian Road) at the bus stop opposite the Cameo Cinema. 10,11,15,16. From the mound (half-way along Princes Street or at the top [West] of Market Street) you can also take the Lothian Buses 23 and 27. Note that the 10 and 27 continue into Gilmore Place and stop directly outside our door - both every 10 minutes at peak times. Buses to/from Tollcross (12 services!!) run every two or three minutes - even in the evening - The Valentine is the only Guest House in this area so close to all these services.