Cheap place to stay an hour from Edinburgh

[ThatRoseBear]

Hi, I would love any suggestions on a cheap area to stay that is about an hour from Edinburgh please when travelling from England. We have midday flights booked from Edinburgh but are travelling from the West Midlands so would like to travel up the evening before and just have somewhere to get our heads down overnight.

I'm hoping by doing this the kids won't be shattered on the first day of our holiday and we don't have to set off at 3am for a long drive to Scotland. We are 3 adults and 2 kids ( eldest is 18 so tech an adult).

Can anyone recommend any areas that are not touristy? Its literally to sleep as we would be arriving at 9pm and checking out at 7am. The places I have been looking at are over £200 so DH would rather drive. I don't mind Premier Inn, Travel Lodge, Air bnb etc but I think I am choosing the wrong towns as I don't know the area.

Any tips would be so appreciated! I need to get a wriggle on as it is for this Thursday night! I only booked the holiday this morning

Thank you

Sorry should have said St Andrews to the airport is over an hour.

Be aware of commuter traffic build up on the Forth Road Bridge when you are driving to the airport in the morning.
Someone else might be able to advise on typical delays and is the Queensferry Crossing a better option from the St Andrews “area”.
Enjoys your hols!

you don't want to go to St Andrews from the West Midlands, that's taking you 60-90minutes past EDI!! It is definitely not a 50min drive from there to the airport!
What dates are you looking for?
There's a "small" festival on in Edinburgh until the end of Aug which is causing hotel prices in and around the city to go through the roof. The airport premier inn and travelodge are usually quite reasonably priced though, as is the PI, Novotel and IBIS at the Gyle / Edinburgh Park.
I would also look at Livingston, Linlithgow, South Queensferry. The Holiday Inn Strathclyde Park is just off the M74 and within about 45min of the airport.

St Andrews is way past Edinburgh, an hour and over the bridge which can be really busy. If you're coming from the South you'll either drive through the Borders or Dumfries and Galloway. Makes much more sense to stay there and it's lovely. Some of the suggestions on here, Stirling and Fife for example, are also past Edinburgh. I live in Midlothian, there are loads of affordable hotels here and we're 30 mins to Edinburgh airport.

"Some of the suggestions on here, Stirling and Fife for example, are also past Edinburgh. I live in Midlothian, there are loads of affordable hotels here and we're 30 mins to Edinburgh airport."

Do remember that when coming up from England you come up via M74/M8. There's a minute or two in it to stay somewhere like Stirling compared to Midlothian area - and in the morning no difference at all. I've had family do this a few times, and we've looked at timings for it all.

@outdooryone i’d never use the M8 going to England, always go A702 or A70 to the M74!

St Andrews area is a bonkers choice! Good luck...

Anywhere near Edinburgh this Thursday is going to be expensive. I went on Sunday on a train that left Newcastle at 11.40. There was also a train at 11.30 and another at 11.45. That’s how busy it is!

Going further doesn’t make sense to me at all. I’d rather leave at 3am and just get on with it. At least the roads will be quiet.

I agree with the others, St Andrews is a really bad choice for an easy journey to the airport. Can you cancel it and switch to Dunfermline or Glenrothes as a pp suggested for quick access to the A92?

Sorry but just to echo others St Andrews is a bad choice. It means at least an hour’s extra driving the night before and either getting up super early or having to navigate the busy bridge at rush hour. It’s also a minimum 70 min drive from the airport according to my route calculation.

I don’t know what night you are going, but I found a two bed cottage in Moffat on booking.com for £160. It’s totally en route and is a nice place to stop as well.

This Thursday she says.

Thanks @BetweenTwoFerns I don’t know how I missed that.
In that case it’s available https://www.booking.com/Share-k5Mryu

St Andrews is fairly significantly further on than Edinburgh op I would not be doing that. If can change without charge I would go with Hamilton/East Kilbride/Uddingston on the way and just off the M74

oh I missed the bit about it being this Thursday!
Glasgow Bellshill Premier Inn £252 (family room & double)
Holiday Inn Express Strathclyde Park £198 (2 double rooms with breakfast)
The Sweeney Motherwell £145
The last 2 are on booking.com I don't know how cheap you got the place in St Andrews but it would have to be very cheap compared to those to make it worth the extra drive!

We always just stay at Travelodge type places off the motorway/route etc on these kind of trips. They do cheap family rooms. You can put your route into Google Maps and then search along it for Travelodges etc. Doesn’t seem to make much sense adding extra driving for somewhere you just need to get your head down for a night.