fruitmachine

The Viking shuttle from Newhaven Harbour (where you tender to) runs to Charlotte Square in the New Town. "New" is a relative term, it's 200-250 years old! It takes 15-20 minutes and runs every half hour on the hour and half hour.

As long as it's booked together through a UK travel agent, all those costs and other similar ones will be covered by the UK's Packaged Travel Regulations and refunded by the TA. A perfect example of the advantages of having a TA responsible for all significant non-refundable costs. In this instance the cruise is more than a year away (though those US-format, number only dates are easily confusing to the rest of the world) but the same principle applies if it had been next month, next week, or tomorrow.

Edinburgh Gin have closed their current location, opening what looks like a spectacular new distillery & showroom, but not until autumn this year (https://www.edinburghgin.com/our-distillery). An aside for me is that I see that it's going to be in the arches that our family business occupied 50+ years ago! The two other gin distilleries that I'm aware of are Summerhall Distillery (https://summerhalldistillery.com/collections/pickerings-gin) and Lind & Lime (https://lindandlime.com/). I toured Summerhall a few years ago and it was interesting. Lind & Lime are the sister company of the Port of Leith Distillery I mentioned in my previous post and I'm going on a tour soon. Lind & Lime are probably easier to get to if you're visiting Britannia - a ~10 minute walk from Ocean Terminal. There are lots of public transport options to get back into town, all free with your X99 ticket. The number 10 or 16 bus, or the tram, all work to return to the x99 in George Street, the 35, the 7, or the 14 if you want to get nearer the Royal Mile. https://www.lothianbuses.com/ The public transport option on Google Maps works well. To add real-time bus information, download the Transport for Edinburgh App: https://tfeapp.com/ Enjoy your day!

You might have seen that I got mixed up with another thread and thought you were on the train wanting to get to the airport! From the X99 stop double back on George Street; cross St Andrew Square through the gardens and past the Melville Monument; and you're at the tram stop. Catch the tram to Newhaven (heading to your left as you exit the gardens) and get off at Ocean Terminal. The Royal Yacht Britannia is accessed via the shopping mall. While you're there, consider visiting the Port of Leith Distillery (https://www.leithdistillery.com/) the world's first vertical whisky distillery. The views from the top are fantastic on a clear day, and if you don't want a tour you can still visit and have a coffee or drink.

Oops! Got mixed up with another thread that was asking about getting to the airport to pick up a car after getting off the train. I'll go and lie down!

The trouble is that they can't guarantee that lots of 'early' diners won't linger for a longer meal. There's no guarantee that you'll get on an 8.00 booking at 7.15 and folk would start to get angry if their 7.15 table was still occupied at 7.30. The alternative is that they keep that table free from opening until 7.15, in effect reducing the total capacity of the restaurant as you'd only get one sitting on it in the whole evening. IMHO the system works well - if there's a table free early you can occupy it early.

And remember, the tram (and every city bus) is free if you've bought an X99 ticket!!

https://edinburghtrams.com/ You want to get on at St Andrew Square (about 2-3 minutes walk from Edinburgh Waverley). But if the stop before Waverley for your train is Haymarket, then get off there. The tram stops right outside this much smaller and more easily navigated station. https://maps.app.goo.gl/9x5B3sUKshbnu1vt7 The end of the tram line is Edinburgh Airport.

Ahhhhhgh!!! <<Tears hair out>> Please don't touch Bobby's nose! This crazy craze started just a few years ago. The bronze patina gets stripped off and all those sweaty hands corrode the metal. There's nothing 'lucky' about it and you'll be cursed by the good citizens of Edinburgh! https://natpacker.com/save-bobbys-nose/ If you want some (ironic) luck visit David Hume's toe, or spit on the Heart of Midlothian which is said to mark the site of the condemned man's cell in the Old Tolbooth.

It's less than an hour to the airport, and everyone has to be off by 09:00, so many transfers leave before then. You'll definitely be able to make the 12:15 flight on an Azamara transfer. They are very good value - you'd have to get at least four others to join you to make a private transfer in a minivan a similar price.

There are a couple of routes: Return up the Royal Mile (gentle but uphill all the way) as far as North Bridge, then downhill on North Bridge, level on Princes Street, and a small uphill on South St Andrews Street to the X99 in George Street. The only issue with this is that you've gone higher than you need to on that first leg. Follow Calton Road (just to the north of the Royal Mile) to Leith Street. This is level for most of the way, but finishes with a short steeper uphill section. Then uphill on Leith Street to join the north end of North Bridge as above. The biggest issue with this route is that it's a bit boring (!) as you're at the bottom of the valley between The Royal Mile and Calton Hill.

For ease, I'd maybe suggest that you take a taxi from the Hard Rock Café to the Castle Esplanade. They all take cards, and I'd guess that the fare will be around £5.00. The X99 and the city buses can all accommodate wheelchairs, as can taxis, but not normally Uber cars. But I was mistaken about the steps off Victoria Terrace (they only go down from there to Victoria Street below). It's actually a small cobbled road (Upper Bow), and you may feel OK with pushing the wheelchair on this. The pavement/sidewalk is quite narrow, but there should be no traffic as it's not a through-road:https://maps.app.goo.gl/woXfiRNoK5cN5A3z6 Upper Bow emerges onto the mini-roundabout to the left of this next photo, and the route to the castle is upwards to the right of the yellow signs: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SHH3ZgdJcC3kb5vt9 It's not very steep, but can get quite crowded at busy times. Most traffic is banned from Castlehill, and the pavements are smooth and quite wide on the left hand side. You could also have taken a route doubling back from the bus stop on George IV Bridge and via Lawnmarket (see my original map). But the view into Victoria Street (said to be JK Rowling's inspiration for Diagon Alley) from Victoria Terrace is very nice:

Catch the X99 from South Queensferry to George Street. This gives you a Network DAYticket that lets you on any city bus. From the Hard Rock Café, walk along George Street (flat) and round the corner (downhill) to the bus stop at the south end of Hannover Street. Take the first bus that comes (this could be the 9, the 23 or the 27) for two stops to the Victoria Street stop on George IV Bridge Cross George IV Bridge and take Victoria Terrace (flat). This is a covered walkway immediately to the right of Victoria Street. Victoria Street drops away on your left. At the moment, the start of Victoria Terrace is under scaffolding, so don't miss it. Take the short steps uphill to Castlehill and then uphill onto the Castle Esplanade. This will be the only uphill bit and, other than missing the castle end of the Royal Mile, there's no way to avoid it. If you're visiting the castle (remember to buy a ticket online in advance as they sell out) take advantage of the free accessibility ride from the castle gates to the top of the hill (See under "Visiting the site" here: https://www.edinburghcastle.scot/plan-your-visit/access-guide) As you're aware, it's downhill the one mile from the castle to Holyrood. In your circumstances, I'd catch a taxi from Holyrood to the Hard Rock Café to take the X99 back to South Queensferry. It should be well under £10 Enjoy your day in Edinburgh!! https://maps.app.goo.gl/QK6CU8Ee3tgAADpt6

There is only one stop for the X99 - it's been moved to George Street, just outside The Hard Rock Café because of building work at the previous stop: https://www.lothianbuses.com/cruiselink-x99/ Whether you get the bus or tram from Britannia none of then go near to the castle, you still need to get up to it - that's either up the steps or on the road next to them (The Mound). The advantage of getting an X99 ticket is that it's also a day ticket for all the city buses, so you can catch one for just a single stop from the bottom to the top of The Mound

It does: Wallet / Wallet Settings / Verification S ettings / Public Transport Payments ...