From Coast to Campus: Learning the 45 Route

From seaside roundabouts to leafy campuses, the 45 is a route with serious character. It cuts through city bustle, village calm, and enough student territory to fill a freshers’ fair. Here’s my homework run, so I don’t turn the first shift into a scenic mystery tour.

The 45 is one of those routes that feels like three or four services stitched together. You start at the coast, with the smell of salt air and seagulls already plotting your chips, before plunging into the heart of town, dodging tourists and traffic lights. From there it snakes out through villas, sports fields, and village charm, finishing among the lecture halls and modern sprawl of Heriot-Watt. I’ve not driven it yet, this is me laying the map out in my head, due diligence before go-live, with a side order of humour to keep the roads from blurring together.

Seaside Start to Abbeyhill

We kick off at Marine Roundabout near Portobello, pointing the nose of the bus west. The first stretch runs along King’s Road, then sweeps you onto Portobello Road. It’s a straight shot, though the trick is dodging the temptation of chippies and bakeries, you’re not here for a pie run, you’re here to remember junctions.

Pass Piershill Cemetery (wave to the dearly departed), skirt round the Piershill junction, and continue past Meadowbank. This bit is a steady urban trundle, with traffic lights every two lamp-posts just to keep you honest. Abbeyhill marks the end of this leg, and you can already feel the gravitational pull of the city centre.

Abbeyhill to Princes Street

From Abbeyhill, you rumble onto London Road, then slip into the one-way system funfair around Leopold Place and Leith Street. Keep your eyes peeled here, half the city seems to be changing buses, nipping into St James Quarter, or just wandering into traffic for sport.

Then it’s onto North Bridge, where you sail past the posh hotels and into the historic heart of Edinburgh. By the time you reach South Bridge, you’re in student country, watch for the backpack brigade and the odd tourist frozen in mid-air photo-pose.

Old Town to Bruntsfield

Crossing South Bridge, you head past the National Museum and onto Lauriston Place. The Lauriston Buildings and Chalmers Street keep you company before the road tips you onto Tollcross, which is basically a controlled chaos experiment with traffic lights.

From there, it’s Home Street and Leven Street, before gliding onto Bruntsfield Place. It’s leafy, it’s lovely, and it’s always full of joggers you secretly hope don’t want to cross the road right now. At Holy Corner, you get the religious grand tour in about 50 metres, four churches competing for the same congregation.

Merchiston to Polwarth and Craiglockhart

Turn down by Napier University Merchiston Campus, then follow through past George Watson’s and onto Gillsland Road. This stretch is all respectable stone villas and hedges cut to military precision.

From there, drop down into Polwarth via Gray’s Loan, Polwarth Terrace and Meggetland. You’re into the land of sports fields and dog walkers now. Craiglockhart looms next: you wind through Craiglockhart Avenue, Craiglockhart Valley, and brush past Edinburgh Napier Craiglockhart Campus. Every second house looks like it belongs to a retired rugby player, and you half expect them to charge the bus.

Colinton and Juniper Green

Head along Craiglockhart Road toward Redford Barracks (salute if you fancy), then into Colinton Village. It’s all narrow streets and postcard charm, watch your mirrors through here.

From there, climb into Juniper Green, passing Woodhall Drive, Baberton Avenue, and Juniper Avenue. By this stage you’ve traded students and tourists for Labradors and pensioners with shopping trolleys, but the pace is calmer and the scenery greener.

Currie to Heriot-Watt Finale

The final stretch carries you into Currie, weaving past the library, the primary school, and those residential streets where kids always seem to have a football in hand. Weavers Knowe, Corslet Road, and the Garden Centre act as your final civilian landmarks.

Then, it’s the big finish: up The Avenue and into Heriot-Watt Campus. Wide roads, big buildings, and the faint whiff of student debt in the air. Job done, Marine to Uni in one go, with enough scenery changes to feel like you’ve driven through four different towns.

Outro

By the time you’ve rolled into the Heriot-Watt campus, you’ve seen half the city’s greatest hits: coast, centre, suburbs, villages, and the green belt sliding into academic concrete. The 45 isn’t just a run; it’s a guided tour where the passengers are locals, students, and the occasional Labrador with impeccable timing. And if I’ve done my homework right, I’ll be less “new driver fumbling the sat-nav” and more “seasoned hand with the corners in my back pocket.” Here’s hoping.

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Meta Description: Homework drive of the 45: from Portobello’s seaside to Heriot-Watt Uni, with city bustle, suburbs, and village charm en route.

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