Taking car to Edinburgh

Rian1988

Is there any advise out there for taking a car to Edinburgh, such as do any of the accommodations offer parking?

Reply 1

sjames06

There is parking at pollock but from looking at the website you need a permit which costs ~£100/year no matter how long your lease is. Edinburgh is very compact and pollock (if thats where you are staying) is a short walk to george square campus.

University of Edinburgh

Reply 2

oxymoronic

my advice is don't take one.

You really do not need a car, for some places it actually takes you longer to get there by car than it would do to walk. the meadows (huge park in the middle of the city between marchmont [big student residential area for post y1, and some s/c accomm] and George Square, meaning you have to drive around it rather than just walk through to the otherside in a few minutes. There are also loads of one way streets. Edinburgh has got plenty of busses meaning public transport is fine, and there are loads of cycle lanes. I've lived here for nearly 3 years now as a student and I've never felt the need for a car - everywhere is within a 30 minute or so walking distance, which becomes nothing when you're a student!

Obviously if you need your car for mobility/disability reasons etc, then take it but be aware that parking in the city centre is few and far between. The university has some parking spaces, as the person above said, but if you're wanting to drive it around the city there is very limited on street parking and you have to pay per hour. If you do have a car your friends would probably be asking for lifts to ikea etc as so few people have a car, going in one in Edinburgh is actually quite a novelty. But I imagine it would get annoying for the owner!

Reply 3

ABF

You don't need a car in Edinburgh.

Everywhere is within walking distance, and if you're lazy there's a plethora of buses.

Paying to park your car will cost much much more than getting the bus.

Reply 4

artorscience?

The accommodation website has a pretty good outline of parking and driving a car in Edinburgh.

Pollock doesn't have parking for students this year, and only some of the self catered blocks do. The locations that Accommodation Services list in their PDF on parking applications for 08-09 are:
Blacket Avenue, Darroch Court, Kincaid’s Court, Blackwood Crescent/
Causewayside, Sciennes 1, Sciennes 2, East Newington Place, Hermit’s Croft,
Robertson’s Close, Roxburgh Place, Warrender Park Crescent, Warrender Park
Road.

Important : for the academic year 2008-09, and as a result of major developments
across the site, there will be no parking permits available to student residents for
Pollock Halls unless they have a special need or disability; such requests should be
made to and sanctioned by the Assistant Director - Residence Life.

I don't know how long the building will continue (supposedly it'll be ready for intake 2009), but I assume that there could well be no parking at Pollock next year for students either.

The website has the PDF to download (it also contains guidelines, prices and regulations of the car parks).

Reply 5

Rian1988

Thanks for the advise, I wouldn't use my car that much as I know everything is easily walkable and the buses in Edinburgh are really good. But for coming home I do need the car as public transport back to my home is next to useless and expensive and lots of changes.

For £100-200 is quite a good price for a space in Edinburgh!

Reply 6

artorscience?

Rian1988

For £100-200 is quite a good price for a space in Edinburgh!

The £97 that Accommodation services charge is probably the best priced parking at the University - you just have to make sure you're in the right accommodation. And if you feel that it is necessary for you to have the car to leave Edinburgh in, then you are the one to make the decision based on the costs that it would mean you are incurring to travel home in keeping a car.

Reply 7

Rian1988

artorscience?

The price doesn't seem bad at all, I would never use the car to get to uni itself or into town, but would it be useful for doing big shops at Tesco or if I had to get anything from a retail park?

Reply 8

elisabethbridge

Rian1988

The price doesn't seem bad at all, I would never use the car to get to uni itself or into town, but would it be useful for doing big shops at Tesco or if I had to get anything from a retail park?

I'd say it'd definitely be useful for doing big shops as the big supermarkets aren't really a walking distance from uni accommodation.

Also, if you were interested in joining the uni canoe club and going kayaking with us, it'd be awesome, as we're always more than welcoming to people who have cars. :biggrin:

Reply 9

Rian1988

elisabethbridge

That's a good point, it can be useful for things. Don't worry I'll keep your soc in mind when I think about what to join! :smile:

Reply 10

artorscience?

Rian1988

The price doesn't seem bad at all, I would never use the car to get to uni itself or into town, but would it be useful for doing big shops at Tesco or if I had to get anything from a retail park?

I was meaning the overall price of keeping a car just for the occasional visit as you obviously have to pay tax and insurance etc. (which might not be an issue for you, but combined prices are still something to keep in mind as it doesn't sound like much when it's just the one part of it that you're looking at).

There are ways to get around doing big shops - if you sign up to Tesco, etc. mailing lists there will be offers throughout the year for free delivery for online shops being one way, and whilst it's comforting to know you can get home quickly and easily from retail parks, if you start going without a car for a while it starts not to bother you... although there are always cold dark evenings :p: