Edinburgh Castle Guided Walking Tour & Holyrood Palace Ticket
Description
Explore Edinburgh’s Royal History Join a guided tour starting at 10:00 a.m. and walk to Edinburgh Castle, perched on Castle Rock. Discover its dramatic history, from ancient battles to royal life, and visit highlights like the Great Hall and St. Margaret’s Chapel. Later, at 2:00 p.m., return to the meeting point. A staff member will escort you to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where you'll explore with an audio guide. Learn about Mary, Queen of Scots, and the palace’s role in modern royal visits. This experience offers the perfect blend of expert guidance and independent discovery — ideal for travelers who want to dive deep into Scotland’s royal and cultural heritage.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet your guide at 10:00 a.m. at the designated meeting point, and make your way to Edinburgh Castle, which towers over the city from its dramatic perch on the ancient volcanic rock known as Castle Rock. Wander along the esplanade and uncover the history behind the castle’s construction and the numerous battles it has witnessed. You’ll also pass by the famous esplanade where the Royal Military Tattoo takes place each year. Let yourself be impressed by the splendor of the Great Hall and the Royal Apartments. Once the guided portion concludes, enjoy some free time to delve deeper into the castle’s many fascinating spaces at your own rhythm.
Then, at 2:00 p.m., head back to the meeting point, where one of our team members will accompany you to the Palace of Holyroodhouse — the official Scottish residence of the British monarch. Explore the Palace’s rich connections to some of Scotland’s most renowned historical figures, including Mary, Queen of Scots, and Bonnie Prince Charlie. You'll also gain insight into how the Palace continues to serve the King today during royal visits and official ceremonies in Scotland.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Reviews(116)
Very informative.Raj really did a great job showing us around the castle and giving us a bit of a history lesson at the same time
Brilliant tour guide by Ignas. Only concern was the meetup. Confused by the location of the meetup but everything else was perfect. Recommend to go and spend a few hours after to see everything
The meeting point is approximately midpoint between the two (closer to Edinburgh Castle). It’s a bit of a hike to Holyroodhouse (.7 miles) I agree with a previous poster: the tour read as 3 hours, yet we were told to meet for Holyroodhouse entrance tickets at 2, approximately 4 hours just for the castle. We had reserved a taxi for a return to South Queensferry (cruise port). We had padded our return trip, but it trimmed our time at the palace. Our guide, Sonia (sorry about the spelling), was our guide for part one and was absolutely amazing! She gave a well-informed tour of the castle. She was also funny! Our tour with her was ended at the castle and we easily made our way back to the meeting point. It was there that we were given entrance tix to the palace. We were informed that the guides were not allowed IN the palace. We were given included audio guides. We had to scramble, sans guide, to the palace. Although we enjoyed both tours and we were able to reschedule our taxi pickup point, we felt that this part of the tour was not fully explained. The tours, themselves, were excellent. The communication about time needed and the transition needs clarification in the description.
Sonia was a great guide. Lots of interesting and entertaining information.
Gavin was great!! Will recommend to others.
We booked the Edinburgh Castle & Holyrood Palace tour with Somos Escocia (Scotland City Tours) and unfortunately had a very disappointing experience. Due to traffic, we arrived about 5 minutes after the scheduled start time. When we reached the meeting point, there was nobody there to direct us or help us reconnect with the group. It took us additional time to find someone associated with the tour, and only then were we told to look for a guide carrying a black umbrella. Unfortunately, there were numerous tour guides in the area with black umbrellas, making that instruction far from helpful. We spent valuable time trying to locate the group, asking multiple people for assistance, and by the time we finally reached the castle it was around 10:30 a.m. Somos later claimed they had called me, but I had no missed calls or voicemail. Interestingly, once I began texting them, a call came through immediately without any issues. The Holyrood Palace portion was also confusing. The tour is advertised as a 3-hour experience, yet Holyrood is self-guided and required a separate ticket pickup at 2:00 p.m. We were later told we could have collected the tickets earlier, but that was never clearly communicated. I understand group tours cannot wait indefinitely for late arrivals. However, when guests are only a few minutes late, there should be a better process for helping them locate the group rather than simply telling them the guide is already inside the castle. I've booked many tours through Viator and have several more scheduled during this trip. This experience with Somos Escocia was disappointing enough that it made me wish I could cancel every tour I have booked with this operator. I would not book with them again.
Excellent guide in Charlie. So knowledgeable. It's longer than stayed. We met at 10; to do the castle but then didn't meet until 2pm for palace tour
Gavin our guide tour was wonderful and very informative
The BEST guide ever!!!!!❤️🥹🫠
Gavin is a wonderful, and very knowledgeable guide. I highly recommend it.
