Edinburgh Shore Excursion: Royal Yacht and Castle Tour

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: 24 hours
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…
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…

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
(19 Ratings)
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Mkaff2002
Sep 10, 2024
Well worth it - Connor was an excellent driver and tour guide. His local knowledge was informative and entertaining. The sites we saw and the places we went were very cool indeed. Edinburgh Castle is huge!
Review provided by Viator
George_k
Aug 4, 2024
Well worth the money. - Excellent tour. Really good driver and guide (David & Adam). I would recommend them with no hesitation.
Review provided by Viator
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.
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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.
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Anita_l
Sep 13, 2024
Busy - Atmosphere and good knowledge from our funny driver he made it a great day out. Recommend this company
Review provided by Viator
David_s
Aug 16, 2024
Friendly staff, clean coach and very reliable. - This was a good tour with very reliable service if you are interested in round trip transportation to the Royal yacht and the Edinburgh Castle. It would have been improved if there was a guided tour through the highlights of the castle, although that would have incurred a higher tour fee. Our guide did a superb job and was very engaged with all of us during the time we spent together. We were disappointed that the audio system in the bus over modulated (and could not be resolved during the tour) which made it somewhat challenging to understand his valuable comments.
Review provided by Viator
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.
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Peter_h
Jul 30, 2024
Horrible Experience - We have been using Tour Services for over 30 years, this was the worst experience we’ve ever experienced.
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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.
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