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London or Edinburgh?

Two places visitors weigh up, side by side. Every figure comes from our guides, the Met Office, National Rail or an event organizer, and we do not rank either one.

London guide · Edinburgh guide

Millennium Bridge, Bankside, London
London: Millennium BridgePhoto: King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 4.0
The walls and towers of Edinburgh Castle under a blue sky
Edinburgh: The walls and towers of Edinburgh Castle under a blue skyPhoto: Peulle, CC BY 4.0
Selfridges, Oxford Street, London
London: SelfridgesPhoto: Arild Vågen, CC BY-SA 3.0
Melville Monument, New Town
Edinburgh: Melville MonumentPhoto: Gareth Davies, CC BY-SA 4.0

Who each place suits

mixed

London

The capital, in 22 neighborhood guides.

Our guide covers 22 areas, with 286 sights, 584 places to eat and drink and 216 places to stay, and 166 theater venues in the directory.

Most common sight types we list: Museum (55), Attraction (45), Park (35).

37% of the 178 sights we tag are outdoor places and 63% are indoors, so it reads as mixed.

Our London guide is split into 22 neighborhood guides and does not state a suggested stay.

London guide Theater in London Events in London Weather by month Rainy-day ideas
mixed

Edinburgh

A castle on a volcanic rock, a medieval Old Town and a Georgian New Town.

Our guide covers 9 areas, with 119 sights, 214 places to eat and drink and 78 places to stay, and 12 theater venues in the directory.

Most common sight types we list: Gallery (11), Park (9), Church (8).

47% of the 91 sights we tag are outdoor places and 53% are indoors, so it reads as mixed.

Our Edinburgh guide suggests 2 to 4 days; its sample plans run from 1 day to 3 days.

Edinburgh guide Theater in Edinburgh Events in Edinburgh Weather by month Rainy-day ideas

Side by side

Facts only. Counts show how much our guides list, not how much exists. “Reported” means tagged on OpenStreetMap or a venue’s own page: check with the venue.

London and Edinburgh: counts from our guides, climate averages and events.
ItemLondonEdinburgh
Country England Scotland
Areas in our guide 22 9
Sights listed 286 119
Places to eat and drink listed 584 214
Places to stay listed 216 78
Theater venues in our directory 166 12
Eat, stay and theater entries reported step-free 247 35
Eat, stay and theater entries marked family-friendly 3 0
Character from sight types Mixed (37% of 178 tagged sights are outdoors) Mixed (47% of 91 tagged sights are outdoors)
Suggested stay in our guide Not stated 2 to 4 days
Average high in July Not in our climate data yet 19.3°C1
Average high in January Not in our climate data yet 7.3°C1
Rain in a year (sum of monthly averages) Not in our climate data yet 728 mm on about 128 days1
Sunshine in a year (sum of monthly averages) Not in our climate data yet 1448 hours1
Daylight mid-June / mid-December (calculated) 16 h 37 / 7 h 51 17 h 35 / 6 h 59
Dated events in our calendar 39 dated, from organiser pages 5 dated, from organizer pages
Weather station used None yet Edinburgh, Royal Botanic Garden No 2
Between the twoAbout 329 miles (530 km) in a straight line. Fastest published train: 4 h 20 min2. Journey details

Climate: Met Office 1991-2020 averages, stored Oct 25, 2026. Each station sits in or near the region, not necessarily in the town, so differences of a degree or two or small rainfall gaps can come from the station rather than the place. Daylight is calculated from latitude, not a Met Office figure.

Choose London if… choose Edinburgh if…

Choose London if you…

  • want more to see around one base: our London guide lists 286 sights across 22 areas, against 119 across 9 for Edinburgh.
  • prefer museums, galleries, churches and other indoor sights: 63% of the sights we tag in London are indoors, against 53% in Edinburgh.
  • an evening at the theater is part of the plan: our directory lists 166 venues in London, against 12 for Edinburgh.

Choose Edinburgh if you…

  • would rather cover a smaller place: our Edinburgh guide lists 119 sights across 9 areas, against 286 across 22 for London.
  • want walking, coast, parks or hills: 47% of the sights we tag in Edinburgh are outdoor places, against 37% in London.

Each line appears only where our data shows a clear gap. The thresholds are listed under “How we write this”.

How many days each needs

  • Our London guide is split into 22 neighborhood guides and does not state a suggested stay. London guide
  • Our Edinburgh guide suggests 2 to 4 days; its sample plans run from 1 day to 3 days. Edinburgh guide

These are our guides’ suggestions, not a rule. Add travel time between places: fastest published train 4 h 20 min.

Bank holidays (public holidays) are not the same in England and Wales and in Scotland, so a long weekend in one may be an ordinary one in the other3.

Plan both

These itineraries include both places:

London guideEdinburgh guide All itinerariesGetting between the twoWhere to go each month

Questions people ask

How far apart are London and Edinburgh?

About 329 miles (530 km) in a straight line between the region centers. National Rail publishes a fastest journey of 4 h 20 min.

How many days do I need in London and in Edinburgh?

Our London guide is split into 22 neighborhood guides and does not state a suggested stay. Our Edinburgh guide suggests 2 to 4 days; its sample plans run from 1 day to 3 days.

Is London better than Edinburgh?

We do not rank destinations. This page shows where our data differs so you can match it to your own interests, season and time.

Can I visit London and Edinburgh on one trip?

Yes: A first week in Britain (7 days), Bookish Britain by rail (4 days), Castles and countryside (6 days) combine both.

Editorial note. We do not claim one destination ranks above another. There are no scores, no “best”, and no cost levels, because we hold no sourced price data. For prices, check each operator or venue.

Facts last checked Nov 1, 2026.

How we write this

  • Counts come from our own region guides (sights, eat and drink, stays) and theater directories. A “Choose … if” line appears only when the gap is at least: 1.25x and 8 sights; 10 percentage points of outdoor share; 1.5x and 5 theater venues; 1.5°C in July or January highs; 15% in yearly rain; 10% in yearly sunshine.
  • Character: outdoor-leaning at 50% or more of tagged sights outdoors, city-leaning at 30% or less, otherwise mixed. Tags come from the sight type (park, museum, church and so on) with a short list of overrides in src/data/weather-fit.json.
  • Step-free and family-friendly counts include only entries tagged on OpenStreetMap or a venue page; many entries carry no tag, so a low count does not mean low access.

Sources

  1. Met Office: Edinburgh, Royal Botanic Garden No 2, 1991-2020 averages (for Edinburgh)
  2. National Rail: Visit Edinburgh by train. table "Journey time from"
  3. GOV.UK: UK bank holidays

Sights, places to eat and stay, suggested stays and events come from our London and Edinburgh guides, each of which cites its sources. Journey times are as National Rail publishes them, retrieved Oct 25, 2026, and are not schedules.

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