London vs Edinburgh
The short answer
Edinburgh is the cheaper trip, by roughly 26% a day — $130–210 against $180–280 mid-range per person. Both are at their best in May–Sep, so one trip can take in both.
Side by side
Mid-range, per person, in US dollars. Both guides were costed the same way — see how we work these out.
| 🇬🇧 London | 🏴 Edinburgh | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily budgetmid-range, per person | $180–280 | $130–210cheaper |
| Cheap meallocal staple | $10–18 | $9–15 |
| Mid-range hotelper night | $190–320 | $140–240cheaper |
| Transit ridesingle trip | $3.70 | $2.80cheaper |
| Avg. monthly salarylocal, for context | ≈ $3,700 | ≈ $3,100 |
When to go
Filled months are the ones each guide recommends; hollow ones it warns off.
What you'd actually do
A few of each guide's picks, one per category before seconds — the full lists are on the guides themselves.
🇬🇧 London
Two thousand years of city stacked on itself — Roman walls under glass towers, world-class museums that cost nothing, and a pub on every corner that's older than your country.
- British Museum$Museums & galleries
- Shakespeare's Globe$Theater & shows
- Borough Market$$Markets & food
- Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese$Nightlife
- Tate Modern$Museums & galleries
🏴 Edinburgh
A castle on a dead volcano, a medieval Old Town stacked ten storeys deep, and a hill in the middle of the city you can climb before breakfast. Compact, dramatic, and best in the rain-then-sun light Scotland does daily.
- Edinburgh Castle$$Sights & walks
- The Bow Bar$Pubs & whisky
- Oink$Restaurants
- Arthur's Seat$Sights & walks
- Sandy Bell's$Pubs & whisky
Practicalities
| London | Edinburgh | |
|---|---|---|
| Language | English — though a quarter of a million Londoners speak something else at home first. | English, with a Scots lilt you'll tune into by day two. Gaelic appears on signs but you won't need it. |
| Currency | Pound sterling (£). US$1 ≈ £0.79 | Pound sterling (£). US$1 ≈ £0.79 — Scottish banks print their own notes; they're normal pounds |
| Power | Type G plugs, 230V — the big three-pin ones; nothing else fits | Type G plugs, 230V |
| Tap water | Safe everywhere — restaurants must give you free tap water if you ask | Safe and excellent — Scotland is proud of it |
The same in both:
- Time zone
- GMT (UTC+0, UTC+1 in summer)
- Emergency
- 999 or 112 · 111 for non-emergency medical advice