Edinburgh walkable

[Huckster1]

Hi all, our cruise is stopping in Edinburgh.  We normally do HO-HO busses in most cities we go to, but I have been reading some issues

with the one in Edinburgh. We will be there on Aug 9th, the HO-HO page indicates that a few of the stop are closed until the 26th of Aug due to some event (not specifies) going on. That include the stops that would give the best views of Edinburgh castle. My question is, is Edinburgh walkable to see most of the major sites? I read one thread that said yes, but that was from 2004 LOL.  Thanks for any info you can give

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Huckster1 said:

Hi all, our cruise is stopping in Edinburgh.  We normally do HO-HO busses in most cities we go to, but I have been reading some issues

with the one in Edinburgh. We will be there on Aug 9th, the HO-HO page indicates that a few of the stop are closed until the 26th of Aug due to some event (not specifies) going on. That include the stops that would give the best views of Edinburgh castle. My question is, is Edinburgh walkable to see most of the major sites? I read one thread that said yes, but that was from 2004 LOL.  Thanks for any info you can give

The event not mentioned is probably the Fringe Festival. At least it used to be at that time of the year pre-Covid.

 

And yes, we have found Edinburgh to be walkable.

[gumshoe958]

August in Edinburgh is EXTREMELY busy. You have the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - the biggest arts festival in the world which takes over virtually every venue in the city centre with about 3,000 different shows - not to mention the actual Edinburgh Festival, numerous other festivals and the military tattoo at the castle. All of which attract hundreds of thousands of people and make getting around the city by bus, car or on foot slow.

 

So yes, it’s walkable but be prepared for huge crowds. And it’s a hilly city, in case that’s an issue.

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by gumshoe958

[fruitmachine]

2 hours ago, Huckster1 said:

Hi all, our cruise is stopping in Edinburgh.  We normally do HO-HO busses in most cities we go to, but I have been reading some issues

with the one in Edinburgh. We will be there on Aug 9th, the HO-HO page indicates that a few of the stop are closed until the 26th of Aug due to some event (not specifies) going on. That include the stops that would give the best views of Edinburgh castle. My question is, is Edinburgh walkable to see most of the major sites? I read one thread that said yes, but that was from 2004 LOL.  Thanks for any info you can give

I'm surprised that this is the case.  Which HoHo route and web page is that?

 

I can't see anything on their website, other than some closures at the end of last week and the end of this week in the early evening - and those are because of concerts that are happening on the Castle esplanade.

 

[Huckster1]

8 minutes ago, fruitmachine said:

I'm surprised that this is the case.  Which HoHo route and web page is that?

 

I can't see anything on their website, other than some closures at the end of last week and the end of this week in the early evening - and those are because of concerts that are happening on the Castle esplanade.

 

https://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com/tour/on-off-bus-edinburgh/euedcsonoff

 

....Please Note: Due to an event throughout August, the Johnston Terrace and Chambers Street stops will not be in operation until August 26th. The nearest bus stop to the cruise ship terminal is approximately 3.5 kilometers from the Leith Cruise Terminal, and can be reached by taxi (approximately 10 GBP).....

[Meander Ingwa]

the city tram line runs from the cruise ship port all the way in to the heart of the city and beyond, to the airport.  You can get up to date info and can plan your journey here.  The cruise terminal is about 26 minutes from Prince street which is the heart of the 

 

https://edinburghtrams.com/

[fruitmachine]

1 minute ago, Huckster1 said:

https://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com/tour/on-off-bus-edinburgh/euedcsonoff

 

....Please Note: Due to an event throughout August, the Johnston Terrace and Chambers Street stops will not be in operation until August 26th. The nearest bus stop to the cruise ship terminal is approximately 3.5 kilometers from the Leith Cruise Terminal, and can be reached by taxi (approximately 10 GBP).....

• I've no idea why they are saying that.  The buses are running their normal route and there is no hint of it changing during the Festival.
• The map that you can download from that link is very out of date.  Waverley Bridge has been closed since the start of the pandemic and the route is a bit different.
• You're about a third cheaper booking direct. and you have an option on which tour(s) you take.  I'd recommend the live guide on the Edinburgh Tour route unless you have children with you or English is not your first language.
• One of the HoHo routes goes to Britannia, and you can add it as a low-cost extra to the main city centre routes.  For faster access, use the tram (£2.00 each way, £3.80 return, or £5.00 for a DAYticket that includes all the city buses).
  https://edinburghtour.com/ - the brochure download gives the best overview map, timetable, and combi-pricing guide.

[gumshoe958]

3 hours ago, fruitmachine said:

• I've no idea why they are saying that.  The buses are running their normal route and there is no hint of it changing during the Festival.
• The map that you can download from that link is very out of date.  Waverley Bridge has been closed since the start of the pandemic and the route is a bit different.
• You're about a third cheaper booking direct. and you have an option on which tour(s) you take.  I'd recommend the live guide on the Edinburgh Tour route unless you have children with you or English is not your first language.
• One of the HoHo routes goes to Britannia, and you can add it as a low-cost extra to the main city centre routes.  For faster access, use the tram (£2.00 each way, £3.80 return, or £5.00 for a DAYticket that includes all the city buses).
  https://edinburghtour.com/ - the brochure download gives the best overview map, timetable, and combi-pricing guide.

I’d have thought the tattoo is the reason for the Johnston Terrace and Chambers Street stops closing, rather than the festival? 
 

Certainly whenever I’ve been in Edinburgh in August Chambers Street closes to traffic at some point each afternoon to be used as a coach park.

[fruitmachine]

3 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

I’d have thought the tattoo is the reason for the Johnston Terrace and Chambers Street stops closing, rather than the festival? 
 

Certainly whenever I’ve been in Edinburgh in August Chambers Street closes to traffic at some point each afternoon to be used as a coach park.

The Tattoo is on at night.  They may close these stops in the early evening - as they are doing for last week's and this week's concerts - but that would be the limit of it.

[edinburgher]

11 hours ago, Huckster1 said:

the HO-HO page indicates that a few of the stop are closed until the 26th of Aug due to some event (not specifies) going on.

As mentioned in an earlier post, several festivals take place every August, and as  in most cities when major events take place, there can be route diversions and road closures.Chambers St and Johnston Terrace are closed at some point every afternoon to be used as coach parks for the Tattoo visitors who arrive from far and wide.

 

Edinburgh is crammed full every August and you can expect crowds wherever you go.  If standing waching any of the street theatre prerformances, sorry to say,  do keep a close watch on your personal belongings as visitors who are distracted could be targeted by pickpockets.

 

And do pre-book entry for anywhere you plan to visit to avoid waiting lines. This applies especially to Edinburgh Castle entrance. You should book as soon as your date appears on their website otherwise time slots will be fully booked.

 

For some it is the best time to visit Edinburgh, but for others it is the worst time.

 

And be aware that since the old information you quoted was issued, there have been many many changes to traffic routes throughout the centre of the city, and the Royal Mile/High St/ Castle area has been mostly pedestrianised for a number of years now and the HOHOS cannot run in sections of it.

 

As for castle views, no worries at all as the castle dominates and there are many opportunities to view it.  And to be absolutely honest, castle views from Johnston Terrace are awful, as JT is underneath the castle with the only views from there being directly upward, of walls. And I don't think the castle can be seen from Chambers St at all. Lovely castle views from Princes St Gardens and more from the Grassmarket.

 

I think you will find that being time challenged, most of your time will be spent in the area around the castle, Royal Mile/High St or very close to there if eg you visit the excellent National Museum of Scotland not a 5 minute walk away in Chambers St, also the Grassmarket.also in and around Princes St Gardens. If it is a clear day, would also highly recommend you walk up the very centrally located Calton Hill for the 360 degree spectacular views. If it is cloudy, don't bother. And no vehicles are allowed up there either.

 

I honestly don't think that a HOHO will be of much  use to you unless it follows one of the more outlying routes such as The Three Bridges. And should you plan to visit the Royal Yacht Brittania, there is lots of easy to use public transport(buses and trams)  to take you there.

 

 

Edited July 11, 2023 by edinburgher

[edinburgher]

An afterthought.  Due to the many cobbled surfaces it is recommended that footwear should be both comfortable and practical, especially so should it be raining as cobbles get very slippery when wet. This is not a city for sightseeing in heeled shoes.

[edinburgher]

On 7/10/2023 at 9:16 PM, Huckster1 said:

Hi all, our cruise is stopping in Edinburgh.

huckster1,  I don't know what your plans might be, but  IF you are intending to visit the castle, (and not everybody does) I just now had a quick look at the advance ticket situation for you.

 

Your date is there, and there is a number beside each time slot showing how many advance timed  tickets are still vailable for each time slot. The entry slot  between  0930-and 1000  has the fewest number remaining,. so should that interest you, given how busy August is, you should probably book sooner rather than later.

 

You can get very good photos of the castle from its Esplande, also great views over the city, but the grandstands for  tattoo seating are already up which makes the city and hills views a little trickier than usual  unless you walk behind them to the walls.  You will see others do that.The full frontage views of the castle are still doable with ease..

Edited July 12, 2023 by edinburgher

[Huckster1]

5 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

huckster1, As you have not yet responded to my posts above, I don't know what your plans might be, but  IF you are intending to visit the castle, and not everybody does, I just now looked at the advance ticket situation for you.

 

Your date is up there and there is a number beside each time slot showing how many advance timed  tickets are still vailable for each time slot. The 0930-1000 slot has the fewest number remaining. should that interest you.

sorry for being lax, have a lot going on. We also have a cruise before this one that ends 2 days before this starts.  Leaving July 22nd on the Sky Princess for a Scandinavian cruise. Been rebooking flights, etc.  Thank you very much for the info!!

 

[Huckster1]

On 7/11/2023 at 3:16 AM, edinburgher said:

An afterthought.  Due to the many cobbled surfaces it is recommended that footwear should be both comfortable and practical, especially so should it be raining as cobbles get very slippery when wet. This is not a city for sightseeing in heeled shoes.

Well, shoot! I may have to leave my heels at home! LOL  My wife already has her Sketchers

[lynncarol]

My husband and I were in Edinburg this past September for three days.  Unfortunately, the first day was the Queen's funeral and all public buildings were closed.  The next day, no available tickets to the castle with all the re-schedulings. However, that forced us to explore more off-the-beaten track places in the city.  I highly recommend the National Museum of Scotland, just a short walk off the main drag in the historic center. It's free as are all museums in the city. Next, back up to the main street and head down the Mound several blocks to the Princes Street Public Gardens (free) if you want to get great photo opts of the castle.  Just across the street from the gardens is another nice museum, the Scottish National Gallery which was having a special exhibit on the Impressionists artists at the time.  Another place we really enjoyed was the Royal Botanical Gardens, easily accessed by public bus. A gorgeous place, and even has a small waterfall feature.  Having visited the Castle years ago, I can truly say that I enjoyed these experiences more.  

[edinburgher]

2 hours ago, lynncarol said:

My husband and I were in Edinburg this past September for three days

Lovely that you had more than one day and could visit more locations, as this city offers a lot despite being quite small in size for a city. And yes, the Royal Boatanical Gardens are beautiful.

 

Unfortunately most cruise pax have only one day, and if tendering or docking outside the city some of that short  time is los timmediately. With the new tramline extension recently opened, best location is Newhaven.

[lynncarol]

16 hours ago, edinburgher said:

Lovely that you had more than one day and could visit more locations, as this city offers a lot despite being quite small in size for a city. And yes, the Royal Boatanical Gardens are beautiful.

 

Unfortunately most cruise pax have only one day, and if tendering or docking outside the city some of that short  time is los timmediately. With the new tramline extension recently opened, best location is Newhaven.

You raise a good point  about the cruisers having more limited time, and in that case, they may be tempted to take a walking tour. However, the first day I signed the two of us up for one of the "free walking tours" being touted by vendors on the Royal Mile.   I don't think we were more than 10 minutes into the tour when our guide stopped the group and announced that he was only working for tips and expected that to be  20 euros per person. I don't know how he ever enforced this request, as we left at that point giving him ten euros total. But, beware...those walking tours are anything but free.. 

[edinburgher]

49 minutes ago, lynncarol said:

our guide stopped the group and announced that he was only working for tips and expected that to be  20 euros per person.

Quite shocked to read that lynncarol as euros20 pp is IMHO quite expensive., (and was it euros or £s sterling? as £s sterling  would be even more expensive.) Also sorry it happened to you as it doesn't give the best impression of the city.

 

Edinburgh isn't the most economical city to visit (nor to live in!) so anyone reading this who would like a genuinely " free" walking tour, and doesn't mind having the  info but no talking guide,  best advice would be to Google something along the lines of "self guided walking tour  Edinburgh" or gypsmycity. Same with the Harry Potter locations, and Outlander locations. There are quite a number easily found.

Edited July 13, 2023 by edinburgher

[fruitmachine]

20 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

Quite shocked to read that lynncarol as euros20 pp is IMHO quite expensive., (and was it euros or £s sterling? as £s sterling  would be even more expensive.) Also sorry it happened to you as it doesn't give the best impression of the city.

 

Edinburgh isn't the most economical city to visit (nor to live in!) so anyone reading this who would like a genuinely " free" walking tour, and doesn't mind having the  info but no talking guide,  best advice would be to Google something along the lines of "self guided walking tour  Edinburgh" or gypsmycity. Same with the Harry Potter locations, and Outlander locations. There are quite a number easily found.

A fully qualified and insured, self-employed, Blue Badge guide would typically be charging up to £200 for a half day. (https://www.stga.co.uk/stga-guide-rates-fees)  If you look around the walking group and think that a tips-only guide would be getting significantly more than this - and @lynncarol's guide would certainly seem to be multiple times that - then I'd be doing exactly what she did!

[lynncarol]

I stand corrected.  Thank you.  It was 20 pounds that he wanted. We had been in the UK  but were heading next to Poland and Hungary so utilized several  currencies during the month-long trip. Anyway, at my age I should have realized that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.  

[edinburgher]

3 hours ago, lynncarol said:

It was 20 pounds that he wanted.

Yikes. I thought as much and that is even more costly. Well done for walking away.

 

Next time wherever you might be, include the words "self guided" in your search for walking tours of (?) We have done that for many years  in many cities and towns with great success including for Venice where we walked all 6 of the sestieri, one on each of our 7 visits.  The other we hit the crowded Rialto Bridge, St Marks Square etc, but once was enough for us  for that area, and on subsequent visits we sought out the quieter non-touristy walks where  very few visitors were  to be seen.  We saw a very different Venice doing that.

Edited July 14, 2023 by edinburgher

[Turtles06]

On 7/13/2023 at 10:21 AM, lynncarol said:

But, beware...those walking tours are anything but free.. 

 

The guide should not have said what he did. Putting that aside, you didn’t really think it was a totally free tour, did you? Meaning that you tip the guide at the end.  (Yes, it would be a free tour if you stiffed the guide.) 

[lynncarol]

8 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

The guide should not have said what he did. Putting that aside, you didn’t really think it was a totally free tour, did you? Meaning that you tip the guide at the end.  (Yes, it would be a free tour if you stiffed the guide.) 

Your 'stiff the guide' implication is unkind. We are always generous tippers but nobody likes to be ripped off.  And with a group of over twenty people, an expectation of such a big tip from each person for a two hour walking tour, was definitely a rip off. 

[Turtles06]

52 minutes ago, lynncarol said:

Your 'stiff the guide' implication is unkind.

Sorry, it wasn’t meant to be. 
 

(Your “beware” language made it seem like you did not know that the guides should be tipped. I’m happy to know that was not the case.)  And I’m glad that you enjoyed Edinburgh despite that poor experience with the guide. My wife and I were there not long after you — totally agree with you about the National Museum of Scotland. What a great place!