Getting Around Edinburgh: By car

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Central Edinburgh is a nightmare to drive in, particularly the Old Town with its tangle of medieval streets with their associated one way systems. The New Town fares slightly better, but the scourge of the city is the infamous parking attendants, locally known as "Blue Meanies" who mercilessly swoop on vehicles which may have only been illegally parked for a matter of minutes. Edinburgh operates a "controlled parking zone" - on-street parking is illegal within a large central area (see map [19]) without a residents parking permit. Parking fines are £40 and vehicles parked in an obstructive manner are liable to be towed away with a £150 release fee to be paid for its retrieval. Even the suburbs (especially Morningside, The Grange, The Meadows) have little parking available (and on-street parking is illegal within the controlled parking zone). Take a bus and/or walk. Leith seems to fare a bit better for parking, but there's no guarantee. Park and Ride facilities provide access to the city center www.parkandride.net/edinburgh/edinburgh_frameset.shtml. Additionally, drivers should take heed of tram construction currently affecting Haymarket and the west end of Princes Street, although most of Princes Street is now clear.

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• www.parkandride.net/edinburgh/edinburgh_frameset.shtml