Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace location and tour

[pitmindi]

Hello.  I am in Edinburgh Sept 22 fron 7:00 to 5:00pm.  I have so many questions because I am planning it myself and have never been.  Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace.  What is the walking distance between the two and is it easy not to get lost.  Are they both on the royal mile?  How long does it take to go through each of these.  I would purchase the audio tour.  Should I get tix online first?  Should I take the NCL cruise excursion of Edinburgh on you own or is it easy to get there from the cruise ports?  Thank you for any help I receive.  

[fruitmachine]

Edinburgh Castle is at one end of the Royal Mile, and Holyrood Palace at the other.  Funnily enough, they are a mile apart! 🙂 The Castle is up high, and the Palace down low, so most people like to walk downhill from the castle, thought there is a good argument that going the other way means that, at the end of your day, everything else is downhill!

 

You cannot get lost between them.

 

Definitely buy castle tickets in advance.  It is currently selling out days in advance.

 

It's really easy to get into the city centre on local buses or the tram.  Both take contactless credit/bank cards, and a DAYticket that covers both all day is just £5.00.  There is a short walk to the tram and (uphill) from the tram or bus to the Castle, but if you have the DAYticket you can take a bus one stop.

[edinburgher]

5 hours ago, pitmindi said:

is it easy to get there from the cruise ports?

Your journey into the city will be determined by your docking or tendering location.

 

Find your ship on here, also information on how to reach the city from that location .

 

https://www.cruiseforth.com/

 

Depending on where your ship will be, this current thread might give you additional info.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2953727-edinburgh-cruise-link-x99/#comment-65815358

 

There are also many many previous threads about Edinburgh which you might find helpful to read, you only need use  the SEARCH tool to find them.

 

And definitely buy your Castle timed entry tickets ahead of time to save a long wait. Check the Edinburgh Castle website now to see if your date is already pre-bookable.

 

If planning to visit both the castle and Holyrood Palace, the remainder of your limited time will likely be spent on the Royal Mile and maybe Victoria St, Grassmarket,Princes St Gardens, and/or Calton Hill if the weather is fine,so for sightseeing info, you need only mostly focus on The Royal Mile/High St/Old Town.  You can also search online for "self guided free walking tours of the Royal Mile Edinburgh"

 

Do wear comfortable shoes with a good grip as there are many cobbles in your sightseeing area, not the best surface for walking and they can get slippery if it is wet.

Edited August 1, 2023 by edinburgher

[pitmindi]

Thank you both so much for this info.  You are so helpful!

[Turtles06]

I would also get tickets in advance for Holyrood Palace, so you know you’ll be able to get in (unless the local experts say this will not be a problem at the time you were visiting).
 

We were there last fall and really enjoyed going through Holyrood. A multi-media guide (audio, photos, video) is included with your admission, and you use it for a self-guided tour.  We normally don’t have the patience to listen to all of the “stops” on these sorts of guides, but this one was so extraordinarily well done, and so interesting that we listened to it more than once. We would stop outside a particular room and listen to the guide for that room as an overview, and then go into the room and stop at each of the marked stations. You may not feel you have time for that much, but you can adjust as you wish. I just wanted to say what a great self-guided tour this was.
 

The Castle of course is great. I know you don’t need anyone to tell you anything about that.  Since you are going to walk up or down the Royal Mile, I wanted to put in a plug for stopping into St. Giles. In particular, the Thistle Chapel is amazing. 
 

Enjoy your trip!

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Turtles06

[pitmindi]

Using the link provided by Edinburgher, I see my boat tenders at Newhaven on Friday Sept 22.  Will I be able to use the Cruiselink X99 to the Royal Mile?  When I googled it I only see Hawes Pier and Queensferry but not Newhaven Tender port.  Thanks from your help.  I'm just nervous because planning is new to me but the Shore Excursion providing only transportation to and from the Royal Mile is over $200 for two people.  So if I can do it for so much less then I want to.  

[gumshoe958]

15 minutes ago, pitmindi said:

Using the link provided by Edinburgher, I see my boat tenders at Newhaven on Friday Sept 22.  Will I be able to use the Cruiselink X99 to the Royal Mile?  When I googled it I only see Hawes Pier and Queensferry but not Newhaven Tender port.  Thanks from your help.  I'm just nervous because planning is new to me but the Shore Excursion providing only transportation to and from the Royal Mile is over $200 for two people.  So if I can do it for so much less then I want to.  

Newhaven is the terminus of the newly extended tram (streetcar) line. The stop is a short walk from the port. Trams run every 7-10 minutes and take about 20 minutes to St Andrew Square, from where it’s a 10 minute walk to the Royal Mile.

 

A day ticket, valid on all trams and Lothian buses in the city zone, costs £5 - far less than your cruise line’s outrageously overpriced excursion.

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by gumshoe958

[pitmindi]

Thank you so much for you info.  You saved me $200.  By the way I did not know that tram is a streetcar.  That helps too.  

[fruitmachine]

1 hour ago, pitmindi said:

Thank you so much for you info.  You saved me $200.  By the way I did not know that tram is a streetcar.  That helps too.  

https://edinburghtrams.com/

 

The city bus is a little quicker, and runs from the road at the end of the pier rather than a 5 minute walk away, but the tram has a certain certainty to it that visitors like!  Ticket pricing is the same.

[edinburgher]

 

 

3 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

I see my boat tenders at Newhaven on Friday

The link to the X99 was only posted IN CASE your ship would be at S. Queensferry.

I had posted

Depending on where your ship will be, this current thread might give you additional info.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2953727-edinburgh-cruise-link-x99/#comment-65815358

As you won't be at S. Queensferry you can simply ignore that X99 reference.

 

And info on reaching the city from Newhaven is definitely listed on .https://www.cruiseforth.com/  it is in the GETTING AROUND section which is directly under FIND MY SHIP.

 

Lucky you as the new tram extension to Newhaven has only very recently opened.  Find any tram  info you might want to know which isn't covered on the forthports website  on the EDINBURGH TRAMS website.

 

Big saving compared to the NCL "on your own" shorex