Edinburgh Bus Tours are brought to you by Lothian Buses plc – a company who are working as hard as possible to both minimise their environmental impact and to engage with our local community. You can find Edinburgh Bus Tours responsible environmental policy by following this link:
http://www.lothianbuses.com/gettheregreener/policy.html
Specifically at Edinburgh Bus Tours we're also making a difference through our membership of the Green Tourism Business Scheme and also through our pioneering work with a 1960 open-top double decker bus which has been brought right up to the emissions standards of a bus new in 2011!
But why bother at all? Well, Edinburgh is a small and compact city. Hiring a car, or using your own car, might seem the best way to see all the sights conveniently but in doing so you are adding to congestion and pollution. Our buses can hold up to 80 people - that's 80 people in one piece of road no more than 12 metres long, and each passenger only being responsible for 1/80 of the emissions of that vehicle.
Based on average car occupancy figures a full tour bus will take 31 cars off the roads.
We don't, of course, have a monopoly on sustainable travel! Cycling and walking are other alternatives and both have good support in Edinburgh. You can plan your walking or cycling routes using these two links:
http://walkit.com/ (walking)
http://www.thebikestation.org.uk/innertube-map/ (cycling)
So, why not be a responsible visitor by following these three easy steps:
- Use buses, trains, cycling or walking instead of a private car whenever you can.
- Make sure the attractions you visit are committed to sustainability. Businesses which are members of the Green Tourism Business Scheme have made this commitment. Visit http://www.green-business.co.uk/index.asp to find out which local businesses are on the list.
- We recycle all the waste left on our buses – try to make sure all of your holiday waste is recycled too.
Our Tour Buses will take you to many of Edinburgh's most sustainable visitor attractions including:
- Our Dynamic Earth (http://www.dynamicearth.co.uk/)
- The Royal Yacht Britannia (http://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk)
- The Georgian House (http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/56/)
- National War Museum at Edinburgh Castle (http://www.nms.ac.uk)
- Gladstone's Land (http://www.nts.org.uk)
- Scotch Whisky Experience (http://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk)
You can also use regular Lothian Buses bus services to access further sustainable attractions and open spaces:
- Rosslyn Chapel (service 15) (http://www.rosslynchapel.org.uk)
- Craigmillar Castle (services 2, 14, 21 and 30) (http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/properties_sites_detail.htm?propertyID=PL_123)
- Edinburgh Zoo (services 12, 26, 31, 48 and Airlink) (http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/)
- Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh (services 8, 23, 27 and Majestic Tour) (http://www.rbge.org.uk/)
- Gorgie City Farm (services 2, 3, 4, 25, 33 and 44) (http://www.gorgiecityfarm.org.uk/home/)
- Redhall Walled Garden (service 44) (http://www.gardensofscotland.org/garden.aspx?id=b0a5b701-5820-4ec0-9189-9e3200f14024)
For details of timetables see http://lothianbuses.com/
If you are planning to travel further afield in Scotland you still don't need to use a private car – lots of tour operators have daily trips to the Highlands and other stunning destinations. Both Rabbie's Trail Burners (http://www.rabbies.com/) and Haggis Adventures (http://www.haggisadventures.com/) are members of the Green Tourism Business Scheme. Don't forget also that Edinburgh Waverley station has rail departures to most parts of the UK.
We hope this guide to having a sustainable holiday in Edinburgh has been useful. If you have any questions about this, or any of our environmental commitments please drop an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we'll do our best to help!