taxis in Edinburgh during tattoo

[kac911]

We will be in Edinburgh the last day (Sat) of the tattoo.  Can I still expect taxis to be readily available to/from port?  Ship is in port 7-6, so I believe that is before the actual event starts, but do expect it to be quite busy.  Not interested in a tour, just want to go myself, but will have my elderly parents with me.  Is there a better/different alternative for transportation, not knowing ahead of time when we will want to return to ship?

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, kac911 said:

We will be in Edinburgh the last day (Sat) of the tattoo.  Can I still expect taxis to be readily available to/from port?  Ship is in port 7-6, so I believe that is before the actual event starts, but do expect it to be quite busy.  Not interested in a tour, just want to go myself, but will have my elderly parents with me.  Is there a better/different alternative for transportation, not knowing ahead of time when we will want to return to ship?

We in 2014 had roundtrip train tickets back to the port (in our case Rosyth), but the last train had departed by the time we got to the station. We had no trouble finding a taxi back to the port.

[edinburgher]

Is there a better/different alternative for transportation, not knowing ahead of time when we will want to return to ship?

 

Sorry kac911 but i am confused by your question as it isn't acually totally clear(to me)what you are asking.

 

Are you only asking about transportation options from A to B and return, or is your question concerning availablity of transport to get to or from the tattoo? There are always two shows on a Saturday evening, one early, one later, but if you are sailing before the first show, I don't understand why the reference to the Tattoo as it is only one of several  very large festivals which run throughout the month of August, and the city is rammed with folks.  it is far and away the busiest month of the year in the city.

 

You also didn't actually say where your ship will be docked or anchored and as there are several locations where it could be,  each option will offer different transport choices, especially if you are in one of the out of town locations and tendering, so that too will determine what time you want to leave the city.

 

More info?

 

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by edinburgher

[fruitmachine]

On 4/20/2023 at 7:49 AM, kac911 said:

We will be in Edinburgh the last day (Sat) of the tattoo.  Can I still expect taxis to be readily available to/from port?  Ship is in port 7-6, so I believe that is before the actual event starts, but do expect it to be quite busy.  Not interested in a tour, just want to go myself, but will have my elderly parents with me.  Is there a better/different alternative for transportation, not knowing ahead of time when we will want to return to ship?

If I'm reading this correctly, you're not going to the Tattoo, and your ship leaves at 6pm.  Generally, there will be a good number of taxis around in the city in the late afternoon to get you back to your ship, but if it starts raining then they can disappear "like snow off a dyke" as we might say locally.

 

In the morning, there was a general shortage of taxis last year until about 10.00, especially on the north side of the city where you will dock or tender to if using Leith or Newhaven.  This was driven by a shortage of drivers post-COVID, so may ease this year.  If you're docking in Rosyth or tendering to South Queensferry, I don't have sufficient personal experience to advise you.

The two main city taxi companies are City Cabs and Central Taxis and they can be booked in advance by phone or on their smartphone apps.  Uber also have a good presence in Edinburgh.
 

[edinburgher]

kac911  Would advise you to go to the forthports website and use the dropdown menu to "find your ship" as that will give you your docking (or tendering) location.

 

Once you know that, go to the "getting around" link which gives information on transport options for each location. Note that a taxi isn't always the only option.