making Edinburgh Festival accomm cheaper - Leith? Glasgow? wwyd?

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I used to love going to Edinburgh Fringe. Haven't been since Covid, and hotel prices for my usual non-descript Premier Inn in centre for 4 nights are now £1200, which seems extortionate. On the other hand I go alone, love being able to walk everywhere, feel safe walking back to somewhere central lateish after a show, or come back mid-afternoon for a nap... Am now looking further afield, at options say in Leigh (cheaper but looks like 40 min bus - are these packed during the Fringe?), or Glasgow (far cheaper and 1h10 train away.) What would you suggest? Thanks

Airbnb you can get it for much cheaper than the figure above

Or hostel

Leith isn't that far on the bus, you probably walk to the East end of princes street in 40 minutes from some parts of it! There's also the tram link down Leith Walk to Newhaven which is probably quicker than the buses.
Edinburgh has an excellent bus service and trains to Glasgow aren't cheap, particulary at peak times Mon-Fri (even off-peak it's quite expensive, and it will add at least 90minutes of travel onto any day out in Edinburgh).
Some of the uni and student accommodation is rented out over the festival and might be more affordable if you don't mind basic.

Which train are looking at that's an 1hr 10 to Glasgow? That sounds like the slower train to Glasgow Central. You want Glasgow Queen Street which is about 50minutes and runs every 15min at peak times, 30 at others.

AirBnB anywhere on a bus route. Portobello is about 20 mins bus ride (19, 26, 21, 49) and is by the sea so nicer than staying city centre and cheaper.

Maybe stick this is Scotsnet for some more local replies.

What you need to remember is that Oasis are playing in August and the change in planning process means an awful lot of AirBnBs are no longer there.

You could look at Falkirk or Linlithgow or anywhere on the Scotrail network coming into Waverley because as PP said, travel back and forth to Glasgow is expensive. Maybe South Queensferry? But hoteliers will be clued up on the max they can charge even if they are a bus or train ride away.

If i was in your position I'd shorten my stay to 3 days and choose the most central location you can get rather than stay longer, further out.

Thanks so much for the comments. Really helpful to understand Oasis are coming too! I think I might think shorter and more central this year, and then explore other options for the future.

We stayed in an Air BnB in Bo'ness and drove to the tram/park and ride and got the tram in every day. trams run later than trains.

Look at Uni halls of residence, we stayed in some in central Edinburgh in August and it was really cheap, having SC facilities was also useful and a Sainsbury's below the Halls we weren't there for the Festival or Tattoo and I'd forgotten they were on but the prices all made sense when we arrived.

Oasis
Massive crack down on AirBnB
Fringe society buying up swathes of student accommodation to house performers and crew meaning super-cheap spots are hard to get

Plus August - it's a perfect storm, they're predicting they'll be short of hundreds of beds this year, tbf I was taking it with a pinch of salt as I assumed a lot of that chat was PR from Air BnB hosts, but yeah. It's going to be difficult.

Leith is easy peasy if you can find anywhere, likewise Portobello.

Glw 45 mins away but trains are dear even if you do go off-peak.

Personally I'm hoping that some enterprising person will invent little sleep pods so I can go for my afternoon nap!

We have done a house swap, got a great house 4 beds so DD (performing) and her Director and Producer can stay too

The tram runs out to Leith, about 25 minutes.

We’re coming in August and staying in Stirling

Stay in Dunblane / Stirling / Falkirk / Linlithgow for one rail line or Queensferry / Inverkeithing / Dunfermline / Aberdour / Kirkcaldy for rail another direction.

All under 1 hr.

The Heriot Watt campus accommodation is usually reasonably priced and right beside the park and ride to hop into town. It's also nice surroundings rather than somewhere a bit rundown that might also be cheaper.

It depends where in Leith as people advertising will probably describe it as leith a bit creatively 😅 however it shouldn’t take that long on the bus apart from in the worst of festival traffic to the furthest parts. The tram is super quick too and included in your bus day ticket for all destinations except the airport. Lots of Leith is perfectly walkable too in less time that you’ve said for the bus. Trains will be busy and I imagine a journey from where you’re actually staying to your final destination will take a lot longer than expected!

Hi, we booked four nights in student accommodation in the centre called destiny student or something. Try that

We stayed in a tenement apartment in Galashiels last year and caught the train into Edinburgh - anything along the line to Tweedbank would be cheaper and the trains run back late in the evening.