How to find us in Edinburgh

The City Centre of Edinburgh is shown on the map below, on arrival by 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 £1.20 / day ticket £3 - no change given) or treat yourself to a taxi (£5 or less). Once free of your luggage you have the choice as the central area is all within comfortable walking distance of the Valentine.

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

This map is derived from the City Centre map of Lothian Buses, we are the only guesthouse that is in the City Centre by their definition, 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 (11), and to Rosslyn Chapel (15) which both pass-by just metres from the Valentine.

IMPORTANT: Edinburgh Tramways Construction - Bus Diversions. February 21st 2009 until November 2009 (NOW CHANGED TO INCLUDE AUGUST). After this period most diversions will discontinue - full details from November 29th on http://lothianbuses.com/PrincesStReopens091129.php

Edinburgh Tramways preparation and construction affects all services above except the 35 which is unaffected. See Details below appropriate to your method of transport to Edinburgh.

If arriving by TRAIN then as Princes St and the lower part of the Mound will be CLOSED, the 23, 27 and 45 will divert via Waverley Bridge and re-join their route up the Mound at the West end of Market Street. There is no stop for these services on Waverley Bridge, but the nearest stop is towards the top of Market Street and we recommend this for onward journey to the Guest House during this period. During the day, one of these services should arrive every few minutes (though unlikely to be to timetable!), in the evening or on Sundays we would recommend a taxi to avoid waits of up to 25 minutes.

Routes available normally from Princes St (10, 11, 14, 15, 15A, 16 and 17) are diverted via George St and therefore an uncomfortable distance from the Railway Station with luggage. With luggage these services are in our opinion now too far away from Waverley Railway Station to be of practical use, but are still entirely suitable for journeys to the North/East side of the City Centre during your stay. A map of the changes can be found on the Lothian Buses website

Arriving by Car

Edinburgh Tramways Construction - Congestion

February 21st 2009 until November 2009 (NOW CHANGED TO INCLUDE AUGUST) The ongoing preparation and construction work for the Edinburgh Tramways should not directly affect guests arriving by car. The area around Haymarket, however, has diversions and are subject to some delays at times, particular surrounding the morning and evening rush hours. During this period we strongly recommend that all guests arriving by car follow the directions below for 'East & South' which will avoid the possible congestion completely. Guests arriving from the North (including Forth Bridge) or West (including Airport) should follow signs for the A720 'City Bypass (South and East)' then follow the instructions for 'East & South' below.

Further details and a diversion map from Lothian Buses

Despite, our central location, we can offer free parking in our own car park when reserved at the time of booking (normal charge £6 per day), this is limited, however, with only a small number of spaces available. There is now a wide zone of restricted parking around Edinburgh, stretching well into the suburbs. Some accommodation websites are still offering 'free on-street parking' - this no longer exists in Central Edinburgh.

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) Take the A8 (East) all the way into the city centre then take the A702 as above. You may alternatively wish to join the City Bypass (A720) at its beginning (junction with A8 around a mile from the airport), which is a much easy route but longer. Directions for this are below.
	King's Theatre

From East & South (A1/A7/A68/A702)

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.

King's at night.

The local service 35 from the airport terminal will bring you to Lauriston Place just 200m from us for £1.20 (exact fare only, day ticket £3) which is ideal unless you have heavy and wheel-less luggage! Airlink buses run directly into the city centre, the cost is £3.50 single/£6 return and the journey time is 25 minutes. From the stop at 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 South St Andrews Square bus stop as shown on the map above (cross Prince's Street at the North end of Waveley Bridge and on the street just to your right the bus stop is on the right-hand side). *City Centre bus stop changes from end of current phase of tramworks (29th November until further notice) - walk up onto Princes Street and continue left (West) on the gardens side until coming to a bus stop marked with 10, 11, 15, 16. Edinburgh Tramways Construction - Bus Diversions. February 21st 2009 until November 2009 (NOW CHANGED TO INCLUDE AUGUST) The 100 air service will be diverted within the City Centre, but this will not affect following the instruction above at all, with diversions on this route and those you would transfer to only taking place AFTER the Princes Street/Lothian Road junction referred to above. It does, therefore, become more important to change at Shandwick Place to avoid both delays and problems connecting to a local service that are being suffered at the terminus on Waverley Bridge. A map of the changes can be found on the Lothian Buses website

Arriving by Rail or Coach

An onward taxi is approximately £4-£5, buses as shown on the map from St Andrews Square or Princes' Street are £1.20 per person - exact change (Note that a day pass valid on all normal services is £3.00).

Edinburgh Tramways Construction - Bus Diversions. February 21st 2009 until November 2009 (NOW CHANGED TO INCLUDE AUGUST)

Rail arrivals during this time are addressed above (the first red section) For coach arrivals at the main Bus Station we recommend during this period using the services 10, 11, 15, 15A, 16 or 17 West bound on York Place, this is the arrival mode of transport least affected by the diversions! (leave the bus station THE WAY YOUR BUS CAME IN (go downhill to the entrance), walk right to the bus stop for those services, stay on the Bus Station side of the main street (York Place). Further details from Lothian Buses