£5–6 gets you from EDI to Waverley in about 30–45 minutes
Airlink 100 is Lothian’s airport bus linking Edinburgh Airport to Waverley Bridge and the Old Town in an advertised 30 minutes, though real trips at rush hour or during festival season often run 35–45. Buses stop right outside the terminal, next to the main bus stance line, and run roughly every 10 minutes during the day, with reduced frequency very late at night and early morning.
Single adult tickets airport–city sit around £5–6, compared to roughly double that for many taxis into the centre. You can pay contactless on board using tap-on, which then falls under Lothian’s daily fare capping if you’ll be riding other city routes the same day. Drivers still sell paper tickets, but regulars on r/Edinburgh complain that chip-and-PIN failures at the door can hold up departures by 3–4 minutes.
Route 100 runs along Corstorphine Road, which is exactly where delays bite: locals say one bad snarl there can turn a 30-minute ride into close to 50. Mid‑morning in August, expect full buses after several European arrivals and be ready for luggage stacked in the dedicated racks and sometimes spilling into aisles. If you’ve got a tight rail connection at Edinburgh Waverley, build in at least a 15-minute buffer beyond the timetable.
Overnight, the service can switch to the N22 pattern on certain days, and Reddit threads are full of people confused when the classic “Airlink 100” branding disappears after 00:30. Check the Lothian app or the electronic stand displays at the airport bus stance and board whatever shows “Airport” and “City Centre / Waverley Bridge,” even if the blind reads N22 instead of 100. Late-night riders (think 03:00–05:00) report quieter buses and a truer 30‑minute run.
What regulars do: locals often tap contactless for the bus into town, then jump on at least two more Lothian services the same day to hit the daily cap and keep the total under £10. Commuters catching morning flights out of EDI sometimes grab a bus one departure earlier than they “need” because a single incident on Corstorphine Road has been known to double their usual 30‑minute ride.
Watch out for lingering references to “Airlink” vs “Skylink” and old route numbers in blogs from before 2020; more than one traveler has waited at the wrong city stop on Princes Street because a guide mentioned an outdated stand. Before you fly, screenshot the current 100/N22 stop list and first/last bus times so you’re not trying to decode timetables on patchy airport Wi‑Fi.
One tip: landing in the 07:30–09:30 or 16:30–18:30 peaks, assume 45 minutes to Waverley Bridge, not 30, and book any onward rail from Edinburgh Waverley for at least an hour after your scheduled landing.