Timing of tickets to Edinburgh Castle and Royal Yacht Brittania - how long in between?

[pompeii]

We will be in Edinburgh on Aug. 3 on the Regal Princess from 7am-7pm and have tickets to Edinburgh Castle for 9:30.  Regular entry, not guided tour which were sold out already.  We want to follow the castle with a visit to the royal yacht and are wondering what would be the earliest time we should get tickets for? Would noon be too early?  I was thinking of taking the tram but we would be fine with a taxi if it would save us a lot of time between the two sites.

 

After visiting the yacht, we want to take the tram back to Edinburgh to wander around some, perhaps Holyroodhouse area, before catching to cruiselink bus back to S. Queensferry to catch the tender.  The last bus leaves at 5:20pm, but I'd want to be back in S. Queensferry by about 5 to be on the safe side.  

[gumshoe958]

Noon feels too early to me. You’ll be there on the first weekend of the Fringe so the city will be extremely busy and you should allow lots of time to get anywhere.

[fruitmachine]

2 hours ago, pompeii said:

We will be in Edinburgh on Aug. 3 on the Regal Princess from 7am-7pm and have tickets to Edinburgh Castle for 9:30.  Regular entry, not guided tour which were sold out already.  We want to follow the castle with a visit to the royal yacht and are wondering what would be the earliest time we should get tickets for? Would noon be too early?  I was thinking of taking the tram but we would be fine with a taxi if it would save us a lot of time between the two sites.

 

After visiting the yacht, we want to take the tram back to Edinburgh to wander around some, perhaps Holyroodhouse area, before catching to cruiselink bus back to S. Queensferry to catch the tender.  The last bus leaves at 5:20pm, but I'd want to be back in S. Queensferry by about 5 to be on the safe side.  

Although Britannia would like everyone to book a timed ticket, they will never turn away a walk-up visitor. At the worst, you might have to wait a few minutes for a bulge in numbers to go through. This was confirmed to me by their marketing manager. 

 

Either book for a later time and perhaps turn up early, or buy on the day. 

 

It's a bit of a walk between tram and Holyrood and between Holyrood and X99, so you may want to work through whether to take a taxi for one or more of those. 

 

The last tender will wait for the last X99. 

[pompeii]

55 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

Noon feels too early to me. You’ll be there on the first weekend of the Fringe so the city will be extremely busy and you should allow lots of time to get anywhere.

Wow, thanks for this information.  We may decide to forgo the Britannia in lieu of just enjoying whatever the streets have to offer!

[pompeii]

13 minutes ago, fruitmachine said:

Although Britannia would like everyone to book a timed ticket, they will never turn away a walk-up visitor. At the worst, you might have to wait a few minutes for a bulge in numbers to go through. This was confirmed to me by their marketing manager. 

 

Either book for a later time and perhaps turn up early, or buy on the day. 

 

It's a bit of a walk between tram and Holyrood and between Holyrood and X99, so you may want to work through whether to take a taxi for one or more of those. 

 

The last tender will wait for the last X99. 

Thanks so much for your reply.  We'll just wait to buy tickets on the day so we can play it by ear.

[Thejuggler]

You probably won't have time for Castle, Britannia AND a return to Edinburgh.

 

Britannia is a 2-3 hour visit and in August it will be very busy.  Its not large inside and once in there you need to follow the crowd!

 

If you can I'd even be tempted to swap the visits around.  Get the earliest Britannia ticket you can as it will be quieter, then get into Edinburgh and see Holyrood and the Castle before returning to ship.

 

Whilst its busy at Festival time its amazing to experience, the street performers will keep you entertained.

[fruitmachine]

1 hour ago, pompeii said:

Thanks so much for your reply.  We'll just wait to buy tickets on the day so we can play it by ear.

 

1 hour ago, pompeii said:

Wow, thanks for this information.  We may decide to forgo the Britannia in lieu of just enjoying whatever the streets have to offer!

Having mulled this over, and to avoid time backtracking, I'd suggest:

1. Castle (as you have early tickets already)
2. Walk Royal Mile (lots of Fringe street performers to watch) to Holyrood.  Remember to visit St Giles, try Haggis at The Haggis Box, or drop in at The Museum of Edinburgh on the way.
3. Taxi or 35 bus to Britannia
4. Visit Britannia (allow 90-120 minutes to tour)
5. Tram from Ocean Terminal to St Andrew Square (allow 30 minutes, but it will probably take 20)
6. Walk ~3 minutes to X99 stop to return to Hawes Pier.

 

You can easily drop Britannia if you're engrossed in 1 & 2 ... and there are a multitude of other paid and free attractions to see on or very close to the Royal Mile that I've not listed.

 

As @gumshoe958 says, it will be busy.  The Fringe is the world's largest arts festival, and as a ticketed event is only surpassed in size by the (soccer) World Cup and the Olympic Games.

[pompeii]

11 minutes ago, fruitmachine said:

 

Having mulled this over, and to avoid time backtracking, I'd suggest:

1. Castle (as you have early tickets already)
2. Walk Royal Mile (lots of Fringe street performers to watch) to Holyrood.  Remember to visit St Giles, try Haggis at The Haggis Box, or drop in at The Museum of Edinburgh on the way.
3. Taxi or 35 bus to Britannia
4. Visit Britannia (allow 90-120 minutes to tour)
5. Tram from Ocean Terminal to St Andrew Square (allow 30 minutes, but it will probably take 20)
6. Walk ~3 minutes to X99 stop to return to Hawes Pier.

 

You can easily drop Britannia if you're engrossed in 1 & 2 ... and there are a multitude of other paid and free attractions to see on or very close to the Royal Mile that I've not listed.

 

As @gumshoe958 says, it will be busy.  The Fringe is the world's largest arts festival, and as a ticketed event is only surpassed in size by the (soccer) World Cup and the Olympic Games.

I think this sounds like the best plan. I’m more interested in Britannia than my husband is and although I’d like to see it, I won’t be heartbroken if I don’t get there. I think we’ll have a great day either way. 

[edinburgher]

12 hours ago, pompeii said:

I think we’ll have a great day either way. 

There are a multitude of past threads about Edinburgh and as most are full of info, tips and ideas, reading a few of them might be helpful.  Choose from these;

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=edinburgh&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=148

 

But do remember that the city will be really crowded and anything you want to visit which offers -pre-booking (such as Mary King's Close) should be booked as soon as bookings open for your date.  Wise to have already booked castle entry. 😀

 

Edited May 30 by edinburgher

[onyx007]

16 hours ago, fruitmachine said:

Although Britannia would like everyone to book a timed ticket, they will never turn away a walk-up visitor. At the worst, you might have to wait a few minutes for a bulge in numbers to go through. This was confirmed to me by their marketing manager. 

 

Either book for a later time and perhaps turn up early, or buy on the day. 

 

It's a bit of a walk between tram and Holyrood and between Holyrood and X99, so you may want to work through whether to take a taxi for one or more of those. 

 

The last tender will wait for the last X99. 

Will be there in the last week of July (not as a cruise passenger, but land based) and will try to see the Brittania as a walk-up, as I have already a tour at the castle booked and might try my luck (Fringe Festival has not startet when I am there), in my experience of other places, the later you visit, the fewer people are there...

Edited May 30 by onyx007

[PhotoFlo]

On 5/29/2024 at 1:31 PM, pompeii said:

We will be in Edinburgh on Aug. 3 on the Regal Princess from 7am-7pm and have tickets to Edinburgh Castle for 9:30.  Regular entry, not guided tour which were sold out already.  We want to follow the castle with a visit to the royal yacht and are wondering what would be the earliest time we should get tickets for? Would noon be too early?  I was thinking of taking the tram but we would be fine with a taxi if it would save us a lot of time between the two sites.

 

After visiting the yacht, we want to take the tram back to Edinburgh to wander around some, perhaps Holyroodhouse area, before catching to cruiselink bus back to S. Queensferry to catch the tender.  The last bus leaves at 5:20pm, but I'd want to be back in S. Queensferry by about 5 to be on the safe side.  

We will be on the Regal next April.  Can you tell me about the Cruiselink bus and what is X99. I’m looking for transportation into Edinburgh from the port.  

[fruitmachine]

5 hours ago, PhotoFlo said:

We will be on the Regal next April.  Can you tell me about the Cruiselink bus and what is X99. I’m looking for transportation into Edinburgh from the port.  

X99 is the bus number for the Cruiselink Bus.  It's one and the same thing. https://www.lothianbuses.com/cruiselink-x99/

 

The bus runs from Hawes Pier (where you tender to in South Queensferry) nonstop to the east end of George Street.  It runs every 15 minutes for larger ships and takes about 30 minutes.  Ticket sellers for the X99 and the HoHo buses (they are sister companies) work the queue at the pier.

[PhotoFlo]

Thank you very much!