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Edinburgh Shore Excursion: City Tour and Royal Yacht Britannia
3.9
18 Ratings
Edinburgh
Embark on a full-day shore excursion in Edinburgh and discover the highlights of Scotland’s capital. Visit the Royal Yacht Britannia, explore Edinburgh Castle, and stroll along the famous Royal Mile.
Duration:
7 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- Royal Yacht Britannia - Visit the former royal yacht of the British monarchy, now situated in Leith. She was in service from 1954 until 1997
- Palace of Holyroodhouse - Your Edinburgh Shore Excursion will then travel to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the British Royal Family in Scotland, for a photo stop. This baroque palace is full of history and is perhaps best known as the home of Mary, Queen of Scots, and was the setting for many dramatic episodes during her short and turbulent reign.
- Edinburgh Castle - We will travel to the Royal Mile to visit historic Edinburgh Castle, Scotland’s most iconic castle and named the UK’s best heritage attraction in 2014. Spend time touring the castle, learn all about its history and even see the famous Stone of Destiny; the traditional crowning seat of the ancient Scottish monarchs.
What's Included
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- Knowledgeable driver-guide
What's Not Included
- Lunch
- On-board restrooms
- On-board WiFi
- Attraction Tickets
Additional Information
Upon your cruise ship’s arrival in Edinburgh, acquaint yourself with the capital city of Scotland via this comprehensive day-long shoreline tour. Jump aboard a cozy coach bound for the Royal Yacht Britannia, the erstwhile seafaring abode of the British monarchy. Afterward, indulge in a broad-ranging tour of Edinburgh, followed by a visit to the historic Edinburgh Castle, the one-time dwelling of Scotland’s regal lineage. Utilize your spare time for a lunch break (at your own cost) and a stroll down the renowned Royal Mile, finishing your expedition at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official Scottish residence of Britain’s Royal Family.
- Please note we pick up from the following cruise ships (2024): 08/09/2024 Caribbean Princess, 09/09/2024 Regal Princess, 21/09/2024 Regal Princess, 01/10/2024 Norwegian Star, 03/10/2024 Regal Princess
- Please note we pick up from the following cruise ships (2025): 26/04/2025 Regal Princess, 06/05/2025 Regal Princess, 10/05/2025 Norwegian Star, 18/05/2025 Regal Princess, 18/05/2025 Costa Favolosa, 30/05/2025 Regal Princess, 10/06/2025 Star Legend, 11/06/2025 Regal Princess, 15/06/2025 Sky Princess, 23/06/2025 Regal Princess, 01/07/2025 Emerald Princess, 05/07/2025 Regal Princess, 15/07/2025 Emerald Princess, 17/07/2025 Regal Princess, 20/07/2025 Norwegian Dawn, 20/07/2025 Star Legend, 29/07/2025 Regal Princess, 03/08/2025 Regal Princess, 05/08/2025 Star Legend, 10/08/2025 Emerald Princess, 15/08/2025 Regal Princess, 21/08/2025 Niew Statendam, 22/08/2025 Regal Princess, 26/08/2025 Marina, 31/08/2025 Norwegian Dawn, 02/09/2025 Regal Princess, 06/09/2025 Regal Princess, 25/09/2025 Regal Princess, 06/10/2025 Regal Princess
- This tour will depart from the port at 9:30 AM. Make sure to arrive on shore at least 15 minutes prior to departure to allow sufficient time for check-in.
- Please note: The attractions for this tour must be pre-booked to avoid disappointment. We will send you a pre-booking template before your tour departs. Please contact [email protected] for more information or give us a call on +44131 226 6066
Location
Royal Yacht Britannia
Ocean Drive, Ocean Terminal
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
3.9
(18 Ratings)
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Patricia_d
Jul 6, 2024
Great tour, very well organized - David was our tour guide and Adam was the driver. Both were very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. It was very interesting to tour the Britannia lots of history there. I could not go inside Edinburgh castle, I waited too late to buy tickets and it was sold out. I had lunch in a cute pub on the Royal Mile. David was always there to meet us and guide us back to the bus. He counted several times to be sure no one was left behind. He even helped taking pictures for us, this was really appreciated since I was travelling solo.
Review provided by Viator
Sukiez70
Jun 24, 2024
We had a great time visiting Scotland - The Edinburgh Shore Excursion: City Tour and Royal Yacht Britannia was our second excursion with David and Adam. They are a terrific team. We were a little late so they had Brian shuttle us over to meet them. David is very knowledgeable and entertaining. He has a quick whit and is very personable. He is also very professional. The only problem that we had related to our purchase of tickets for excursions on the Timberbush website. They weren't recognized at the attractions and we experienced some difficult gaining admittance. I would suggest buying them directly from the attraction in the future.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Roger_s
Jun 5, 2024
A superb full day guided tour by a great driver/guide - A great day with our guide and driver Graeme who was brilliant. After visiting the Royal Yacht (a fascinating audio guided tour) we headed to the castle and Royal Mile. The castle was fully booked so we walked down the Royal Mile, grabbed lunch in Deacon Brodie's Tavern and looked in St Giles Cathedral which was superb. We were then picked up at the castle and treated to a further tour round the centre of Edinburgh by Graeme before being dropped back to catch the shuttle back to the ship. We can thoroughly recommend this tour to anyone.
Review provided by Viator
Gary_l
May 26, 2024
Great tour Edinburgh - Tour guide Dave is very knowledgeable and kindly. He went above and beyond taking us to extra viewpoints. Driver Adam is assured us a very smooth ride. I’d recommend this tour.
Review provided by Viator
Coreen_l
May 26, 2024
Great tour! - The tour was well done in terms of the guide being very descriptive about the historical information relevant to the areas we were in.
Review provided by Viator
Twin2934
May 26, 2024
Wonderful tour of Edinburgh and yacht - This tour was exceptional. David was a great tour guide and Adam did a wonderful job navigating all the narrow streets. Edinburgh Castle is so massive I wish we had more time to explore. The tour of the yacht Britannia was so very interesting. This was just great as a shore excursion. We saw what we wanted to see and at a price much less than the similar ship excursion. And David was cognizant of the fact we needed to return to the ship in plenty of time before the all aboard.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Doug_s
Jul 6, 2024
Great Tour - Difficult Start - This tour is a great way to see Edinburgh. We thoroughly enjoyed the royal yacht, Edinburgh Castle, and the city. Timberbush tours took good care of us, and actually saved us from missing the tour completely.
Unfortunately, we were informed of a meeting place for the tour that was 1 mile from the actual meeting place. We booked this tour many weeks in advance, and selected the only Queensferry meeting place available on the Viator pull-down menu, Port Edgar Marina. Our ship's tenders dropped passengers at Hawkes Pier in Queensferry. We got up very early, got a ticket for the first tender, made it to shore, walked 1 mile to Port Edgar Marina, and made it a full one hour before the 9:30AM meeting time. At about 9:20AM, I got a call from Timberbush tours asking us if we were going to make it. I said we've been here for 50 min. They informed me I was at the wrong meeting place, and we needed to be a Hawkes Pier in 15 minutes or they would leave without us. We walked/ran back to the original tender pier, and just made it onto the tour bus before it left.
We are big fans of Viator and have experienced many outstanding Viator tours throughout the world.
I guess the lesson is to not trust the meeting point published on the Viator site. We will always check with the tour operator in the future.
Review provided by Viator
Prashant_m
Jul 25, 2024
Bus tour very good but could not see the fort or the yacht Completely disappointed - Paid Viator
Bus tour very good
Could not see the queens yacht or the fort
They said sold out
Enjoyed the bus ride but was disappointed
Review provided by Viator
Lily_c
Jun 15, 2024
Not recommended unless you are a solo traveler. - The tour company had called me five minutes before the departure time to check if we planned to still join the tour and I informed them that we were on the ferry on our way to the port which should arrive within 15 minutes. We arrived to port seven minutes after the departure time, a few minutes earlier than what I had told the tour operator over the phone and saw the Timberbush bus drive past us.
I called the tour operator office and they said we can catch up with the tour group by getting to the Yacht Britannia. We took a black taxi there and it seemed to us that getting around Edinburgh in a black taxi/Uber was easily accessible and economical. We decided to spend more time at the Yacht Britannia than the tour itinerary called for and just went off on our own so we won’t be so rushed. We spent a couple of hours at Yacht Britannia and took an Uber to Edinburgh Castle. We spent around four hours at the castle and strolled around the area around the castle. It was lovely. In a way we were happy we missed the tour given the fact we were able to get around fairly inexpensively and on our own schedule though we felt the tour operator should have at least given us a partial refund since they knew we were on our way and were only seven minutes late!
If you are traveling with a party of two or more, you will spend less getting to the places mentioned on this itinerary using black taxi/Uber to get to the attractions than paying for this tour.
Review provided by Viator
Daniel_k
May 28, 2024
Disappointment i Edinburgh - There were no memorable parts to this tour as the tour bus left before we got on shore from our tender boat. The tour started at 9:30 am, the bus waited 10 minutes and then departed a 9:40 am, we got off the tender at 9:45 am. We phoned the office of Timberbush Tours and they advised that they have a schedule to keep
We had booked another tour through Trip Advisor in Dublin. The bus driver waited 1 1/2 hours for all guests to arrive at the bus. He advised that he would have to cut some of the visits a little bit to get back to the ship on time. There is no reason that Timberbush Tours could noy have done the same
Review provided by Viator
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