Easiest and cost effective way to get into Edinburgh from the airport

I took the Tram which goes to the historic center by the castle and a walk to the Royal Mile;
http://edinburghtrams.com/plan-a-journey/route-map

Depending where your hotel is, and how many are in your party, you might be best off with a taxi so you don't have to wrangle luggage on public transport (e.g., onto the tram, then from the tram onto a bus). Our taxi gave us a 5-pound discount coupon for our return trip to the airport, which was really nice -- not sure whether all the taxi companies do that, though.

We are staying in New town just off of Princes street and just my adult daughter and myself. So I thought a taxi would be pricier. And we travel light. Thanks for the input.

If you hotel is within walking distance of Princess St, the tram is the easiest and cheapest. We did it last year and had no problems at all. If we know the name of the hotel we can probably "walk" you right to it.

The bus is actually the cheapest. It takes you to Waverley and is £4.50 vs the tram wish is £5.50. It may be a block further from your hotel. :)

Pam

For Princes Street, the tram would be easiest. But Princes street is long.

By the way, the first poster has probably never taken the tram because it goes nowhere near the historic part of Edinburgh near the Castle which is at the end of the Royal Mile.

Wrong Frank II I took it and walked to the castle; what seems like a long walk to you may not be

So, I played around with Google Maps to resolve the "tram close to the Royal Mile or not" question. While the tram website does an abominable job of placing the tram stops on a map, google maps will do it for you quite nicely. I started with the west end stop. And that's not the one you want to get to the Castle or the Royal Mile. The Princes Street stop is about the same as the bus. In both cases you will have an up hill hike to get to the Royal Mile. York, the last stop is the longest.

In summary, yes you an walk up to the Royal Mile and the Castle from either the Tram or the Bus stops. The best Tram stop is the Princes Street stop. The bus will be marginally closer. It will be an up hill climb to The Royal Mile. The hotels and B&B's off Prince's street may be similar in distance, but flatter. If your hotel is further north toward Leith, you will be going down hill.

Pam

It's over half a mile uphill (steep uphill) from the closest tram stop to the Castle. But that is not "going to the historic" center of Edinburgh. Sure, it's walkable, but then anything is walkable.

The historic center is in old town and the tram goes through new town.

For the OP......The nice thing about the tram say over the bus is that there are no steps up, plenty of luggage racks, and traffic shouldn't slow it down.

depending where your accommodation is in the new town the bus may be your best option as it does stop on George street ,does a sort of loop to get into the right traffic flow to head up the mound and then down to Waverley Bridge.
Tram may be best as there is a stop at St Andrews Square and last stop at York Place , but New Town is a big area.
Also worth considering is that it is a longer walk from the Airport terminal to the tram stop,about 200 yards but the bus stop is right outside the terminal.
I usually use the bus to the Airport and the tram from it, just works out better for me regarding stops and distance for connections, but I travel for Free with my old persons Bus Pass.

We took an Uber from the airport to our hotel, cost us 21, took a taxi back to the airport, cost us 20.
Here's the deal. Go cheap and walk, or save time, take a taxi, get to your hotel and don't worry about spending a bit more. If there are 2 of you, you'll end up saving maybe 10. That's a couple of cups of coffee.

I prefer to get to the hotel from the airport and get settled instead of having to walk around slightly lost trying to find our hotel dragging our luggage.

And yes, the tram and bus will drop you in New Town, and you'll have to walk up steps if you hotel is in the Old Town. If it's in New Town, then you'll just be walking in lots of foot traffic... the New Town sidewalks are pretty crowded!

Just my opinion...having just been in Edinburgh last month, and getting from the airport to our hotel which was located in Old Town, just off the Royal Mile.