At the end of our trip to Scotland in early May we were hoping to stay in Stirling. It looks like getting from Stirling to Edinburgh airport by 9:00 for a noon flight back to US would be possible. Is it reasonable to count on using public transport?
A taxi seems like it would be prohibitively expensive.
We will be covering Edinburgh earlier in the trip, so do not want to spend a night there.
Posted by
🌲 Minnesota🌲
13569 posts
Well, you could always take the CityLink, which would get you from Stirling to the airport in about 45 to 50 minutes. That said, I'm not a risk taker, so I probably would not do it. Given the fact that you would need to be at the airport by 9 am, and taking into account weather conditions, possibilities for delay, and so on, I don't think it would be worth it. I would plan on staying in Stirling until late afternoon the day before, and then just taking the Scottish CityLink directly to an airport hotel.
One other benefit is that you won't have to get up at the crack of dawn to catch a bus or train that may or may not be late. Instead you can sleep in a bit, have a leisurely breakfast and then casually head to the airport around 9 or so. Odds are it will be on time, but again, I think the risk is too great. Especially considering you're really not going to be missing that much if you leave later in the day from Stirling, but if you miss that flight, it could cause much bigger problems.
Posted by
Lake District, England
12620 posts
There is both bus and train-
Assuming this is a weekday-
the Citylink bus 909 at 0620 and 0710 (the 0620 also runs on a Sunday, it starts at Stirling)
or train to Edinburgh Park where you change to the tram for 6 stops to the airport (you can buy a through ticket, including the tram fare for £16.70 on current fares)-
Trains at 0521, 0609, 0635, 0704 and 0721 all arrive in time.
On a Sunday no train arrives on time, so you are dependent on the 0620 bus.
Barring a very major road closure the buses will both arrive on time, if there was such a road closure then a taxi would also get caught up in it.
Say the 0620 bus didn't turn up you cross to the adjacent station for one of the trains.
Posted by
Bend, OR
2383 posts
If you really don’t want to stay in Edinburgh then you need to be able to handle the risks involved with traveling from Stirling and the early wake-up before an international flight. We’ve experienced too many hiccups in our travels over the last several years and now try to make travel home as easy and stress free as possible but then that’s just my opinion. Hopefully, everything goes smoothly and you will be sitting at the airport wishing there was less time before boarding.