S. Queensferry to Edinburgh

[hobein]

we will be in Edinburgh with the Golden Princess on Sunday the 19th. We planned on touring the castle, the royal mile and Holyrood, maybe with the hopon hopoff tour bus. I checked out the train schedules and it seems to work. Does anyone know how far a walk it is to the train station in Queenferry?

Does Princess offer a transfer to town other than Edinburgh on your own?

Are taxis available and if so at what cost?

Any info and touring tips would be greatly appreciated!

thanks!

[calmac]

The train station for South Queensferry is called Dalmeny station. The station is at the top of the hill so, although within a reasonable walking distance, it would probably be preferable to take a taxi to the station from the pier. There are some additional SQF to Edinburgh by train details on this thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=161224 (hope the link works). My husband works in SQF so I'll ask him to find out which taxi companies they use.

 

The castle is well worth a visit but I must confess I've never been to Holyrood Palace. The Royal Mile has lots of interesting shops, many of which are geared towards tourists. There are also lots of eating and drinking places on the Mile.

 

I've not been on any of the hop-on hop-off buses but they always seem to be popular with visitors.

 

Although you will be in Edinburgh on a Sunday only a very few (small) shops will NOT be open. All the large shops on Princes Street and nearly all of those on the Royal Mile will be open.

 

If you have any specific questions, I'll try to answer them.

 

Enjoy your visit.

[hobein]

The train seems to be a good option. The train ride is only 15 minutes so I am hoping that taxi fare won't be that high, especially if we find another couple to share the costs. If you could find out anything more, I would appreciate it.

I see now that I should have posted to the other thread, my mistake. Sorry to all for cluttering up the board!

thanks for responding!

[calmac]

My husband thinks that taxis from South Queensferry to the centre of Edinburgh cost around 25GBP+ each way so the train is certainly cheaper even for several people travelling together. The train will also be quicker than a taxi journey.:)

[mcca2]

Calmac's suggestion of taking a taxi to the station then the train into Edinburgh is a good idea. Just returned from Edinburgh, and I would suggest you do not miss Holyrood Palace, which has a lot of history. It takes about an hour to go around. The castle is wonderful to see, but is mainly the barracks for Scottish regiments. Also on the Royal Mile there are many interesting shops. A great chocolate shop called Plaisir Du Chocolat, a tearoom called Clarinda's. Also at the top of the mile the Scottish Museum is worth a visit if you have time. The Scottish parliament Building is also at the bottom of the mile opposite the Palace, but don't waste your money it's not worth looking at architecturally that is. Another place of interest is Dynamic Earth. A journey back in time to discover our planet might be interesting for children. It is near the bottom of the Royal mile.

If you are docking the during the week be careful as the traffic back towards the bridge will be bad in the late afternoon. You would not want to miss sail away.

 

Texan transplanted Scot waiting to sail away on

MARINER OF THE SEAS OCTOBER 30TH 2005

[calmac]

Apologies, my husband has not given me any taxi company names but using BT's Directory Enquiries bt.com and Find a Business (bottom left of screen) then selecting Business by Type and typing Taxi then South Queensferry will give you a few companies to try (couldn't get the link to work).

 

There are several places in South Queensferry where you can have a drink / something to eat. One of my favourites is the Rail Bridge which is on the front at the end closest to the Forth Rail Bridge. If the weather is good you can sit outside and watch the world go by.

[iflyjets]

We, too, are sailing on the Golden Princess on 11 June 2005. Originally, I was considering the train (and may still select that option), but there is also a bus service that runs between S. Queensferry and downtown Edinburgh at a cost of 2.5 pounds for both directions. The trip will take a little longer than the taxi/train option, but is another option. Too bad we all can't get together and share a taxi!?

[hobein]

we will be in Edinburgh with the Golden Princess on Sunday the 19th. We planned on touring the castle, the royal mile and Holyrood, maybe with the hopon hopoff tour bus. I checked out the train schedules and it seems to work. Does anyone know how far a walk it is to the train station in Queenferry?

Does Princess offer a transfer to town other than Edinburgh on your own?

Are taxis available and if so at what cost?

Any info and touring tips would be greatly appreciated!

thanks!

Since we were in Edinburgh on a sunday, the trains did not run as frequently. The Purser desk was giving out wrong info telling passengers that the trains went every 15 minutes. Be sure to check the schedule before you leave. When we on land there were a few taxis there, a fellow cruise critic that we met onboard called over to us that she had 2 more spaces in her taxi available. We split the 20GBP fare that was agreed upon. Coming back from Edinburgh we got a taxi on the Royal Mile that brought us back for 18 GBP running on the meter. The train station as mentioned on the board is a hike uphill. A few people told me that is was steep. I was glad we took the taxi.

Happy Cruising!

[Jules1]

We were on the June 11 sailing & in South Queensferry on the Sunday. We took the bus into the city - it was easy. We took a right just at the street off the tender pier and walked to the bus stop. This stop is before the one at the train station (and on flat ground). The bus filled at this stop (with cruise passengers) and just drove straight into the city. The passengers at the train station bus stop had to wait for the next bus.

[chefajax]

Hi to All....

Taking the train to Edinburgh is easy. It costed us 3.10 GBP per person round trip (but say "return" when buying). The only trouble is that gettin to the Dameny(Southqueensferry) Station is that it is ALL uphill to get to it. Take the taxi to the station. Offer 5 GBP or they might refuse you as they want the higher fare of 25 GBP to the city. Many people told us that the taxis refused to take them to the train station, which resulted in one passenger getting hit by a vehicle while crossing the street. We did walk back to the ship along the small path, which had some wonderful sweet Scottish wild raspberries to make the walk more enjoyable :)....Dennis