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Scotland
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Edinburgh
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Skip-the-Line Edinburgh Castle Walking Tour
1h30
Skip The Line
By walk
Instant confirmation
About this activity
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Pass By: SANDEMANs NEW Europe - Edinburgh, 124 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1QS Scotland
Meet your guide in front of Frankie & Benny's on 130 High Street by Tron Kirk
Stop At: Royal Mile, Edinburgh EH1 2PB Scotland
Make your way to the castle and experience one immediate advantage to this 2-hour walking tour: you get to bypass the usually long line and go right into the castle. No waiting.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: National War Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle Castle Hill Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh EH1 2NG Scotland
Visit the National War Museum to get an up close view of the battles that have shaped Scotland and Edinburgh. Walk through Crown Square, the main courtyard of the castle. See the Crown Jewels of Scotland, including the Stone of Destiny, an oblong block of red sandstone that was used in the coronation of Scottish monarchs.
Duration: 15 hours
Stop At: St. Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh Scotland
Visit St Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest building in Edinburgh.
You’ll also see the dog cemetery, the final resting place for canine companions of regimental officers and one of the few cemeteries dedicated to dog in the world. At the end of the tour, you can stay on and explore more of the castle on your own.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Edinburgh Castle, Castlehill, Edinburgh EH1 2NG Scotland
Listen as your guide shares the insider’s view and secrets of this ancient spot. Learn, for example, about the bloody battles and invasions that have taken place here over the centuries.
Your ticket to enter the Castle allows you to stay right through to closing time. Feel free to continue exploring the Castle at your own pace, once the tour is finished.
Duration: 45 minutes
Read more
Show less
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Pass By: SANDEMANs NEW Europe - Edinburgh, 124 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1QS Scotland
Meet your guide in front of Frankie & Benny's on 130 High Street by Tron Kirk
Stop At: Royal Mile, Edinburgh EH1 2PB Scotland
Make your way to the castle and experience one immediate advantage to this 2-hour walking tour: you get to bypass the usually long line and go right into the castle. No waiting.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: National War Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle Castle Hill Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh EH1 2NG Scotland
Visit the National War Museum to get an up close view of the battles that have shaped Scotland and Edinburgh. Walk through Crown Square, the main courtyard of the castle. See the Crown Jewels of Scotland, including the Stone of Destiny, an oblong block of red sandstone that was used in the coronation of Scottish monarchs.
Duration: 15 hours
Stop At: St. Margaret's Chapel, Edinburgh Scotland
Visit St Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest building in Edinburgh.
You’ll also see the dog cemetery, the final resting place for canine companions of regimental officers and one of the few cemeteries dedicated to dog in the world. At the end of the tour, you can stay on and explore more of the castle on your own.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Edinburgh Castle, Castlehill, Edinburgh EH1 2NG Scotland
Listen as your guide shares the insider’s view and secrets of this ancient spot. Learn, for example, about the bloody battles and invasions that have taken place here over the centuries.
Your ticket to enter the Castle allows you to stay right through to closing time. Feel free to continue exploring the Castle at your own pace, once the tour is finished.
Duration: 45 minutes
Included
- Skip-the-line entrance to the Castle
- Local guide
- Entry/Admission - National War Museum of Scotland
Not included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Food and drinks
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Please be aware that Edinburgh Castle stays open until 5pm and your Castle Ticket is only valid on the day of purchase.
- Children (4 or under) accompanied by an adult can join the Edinburgh Castle Tour for free. We reserve the right to ask for a valid ID for children joining our tours
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Our tour starts at 130 High Street, in front of Frankie and Benny's restaurant. We don't allow guests to join after the start time, and we don't allow guests to join the tour if they don't show up in our current start point at 130 High Street, in front of Frankie and Benny's restaurant.
- The independent guides who employ us to market their tours have your best interests in mind; while the tour usually includes the sites & stories mentioned and lasts about 1.5 hours, your tour may vary depending on what your guide thinks is best for your group
- No bags or backpacks over 30L are permitted for security reasons
- Unfortunately, the steep hills and uneven ground mean that this tour is not suitable for pushchairs or those unable to walk unassisted
- Most travelers can participate
Features
Tourism
85%
Cultural
80%
Sport
25%
Reviews
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This I a great tour of Edinburgh Castle. Richard was passionate and informative and interesting. It is not a walking tour of Edinburgh.
Raj, our tour guide, was knowledgeable and did a great job providing history and context to the castle.
Even though the weather was a bit cold and windy, the tour was very enjoyable. Our guide, Dick - a welsh historian, was great! Thumbs up!
Raj was very knowledgeable, personable and organized. Get there as early as possible because even on a weekday it is very crowded.
tour operators very organized and pleasant. Group size was perfect and Richard very engaging, extremely knowledgeable, and amusing all at the same time. Have never had a bad experience booking through Viator!!!
Richard our guide was very knowledgeable however spoke to fast. Overall we enjoyed the tour and learnt a lot from Richard.
Our tour guide RAJ was knowledgeable, well-spoken, and respectful. He was able to answer our questions and injected just the right amount of humor into his tour. I highly recommend him and this particular tour.
I have a knee injury. Daniel was so helpful and accommodating. I was able to enjoy Edinborough Castle. Thank You Daniel from Australia.
Met with Fiona for this tour. She was awesome! Lots of great stories and historical information. Very enjoyable.
It was a very informative session. Jane B. as the tour guide was very knowledgeable and professional. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience!
We thoroughly enjoyed our walking tour with 'Australian David'. He kept us entertained with his humorous stories and anecdotes while also educating us on the history of the castle. His talent, professionalism and quirky sense of humour made this a highlight of our trip to Edinburgh. Choose 'Australian David' and you will have a wonderful experience.
A visit to the castle was a great way to start off my tour of Edinburgh. I booked the 10 am tour and was so glad I did as the grounds of the castle were not very packed with people at that time of day (when I left at noon it was PACKED with people and even the "skip the line" line was rather long). The meeting location was very easy to find, and while some question why the meeting point is down the hill from the castle, it was an easy walk up and offered the guide the chance to stop and point out some things along the way. My guide, Australian David, was great! He kept a good pace, not to slow and not too fast, and talked loud enough that our group of over 20 could hear. He had great humor and great knowledge of the castle and Edinburgh's history! I highly recommend this tour as a great way to see the castle grounds!
Knowledgable tour guide Sarah was fun and energetic. Good tips about visiting the castle. Plenty of time to explore at leisure. Great to skip the line.
Fab trip despite the weather. Our guide was amazing very passionate and informative. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and highly recommended.
We really enjoyed Fiona's personality and her wealth of information. We were blessed with a warmish sunny day too. A rarity in Scotland
Excellent, excellent tour! Richard our guide was so knowledgeable and enthusiastic. What a difference Richard made! We felt like we were with a professor of Scottish history and my teenage daughters loved it! I cannot say enough positive things about this experience. Well worth the money!!
Our tour guide was Australian but very knowledgeable none the less. Very interesting tour. I saw a great castle, got some photos from a great view and learned a lot. Thanks.
We are not sure why the walking tour starts where it does. It is very confusing and not well coordinated at the start. We were lucky to end up with Fiona for our tour guide, who, after the long walk from our meeting point to the castle, spoke wonderfully well about the various aspect and was well able to keep our attention and our interest high. Her volume was perfect and her speech was clear and she is the reason I give this tour 5 stars.
Took this walking tour as part of our 2 day visit to Edinburgh. The tour started in center of ‘The Golden Mile’. Our tour guide had us walk up to the castle. Once we got to gate of castle our tour guide stated to present the history. Once we entered the castle the guide would stop at each area of castle and give very informative information. She was very knowledgeable about the history of the castle and Scottish history as well. We (my wife, myself and grown son) really enjoyed this walking tour and would highly reccomend this tour to anyone who visits Edinburgh
Wonderful guide Dave! His animated telling of stories made history come alive. I would absolutely request him as our guide for any future tours.
The tour guide was very knowledgeable of Edinburgh castle and the history surrounding Edinburgh/Scotland in general. Overall, the tour was paced well and covered the right amount of history/information as well as keeping the interest of the group. The only improvement for this tour that I would recommend is to start this tour closer to the castle (in lieu of walking the Royal Mile to start the tour at the entry to the castle).
Tour guide never showed up at the meeting point at the scheduled time. Had to purchase tickets to the castle on our own, and to shorten our visit because of the 45 minutes we waisted waiting for the tour guide
Fun tour with a great guide. Our guide had the perfect mix of humor and history. So much to see that he pointed out additional things as we went through. I cant imagine doing the castle without a guide.
Dave was a great guide and very enthusiastic about the Castle and its history. Lots of tips for things to do and see around the castle after the tour and a lot of insider information.
Ali was an excellent docent and guide .... informative, engaging, and humorous. The walking is for young and middle adults and those with comfortable shoes. Those who wish to get the most from the tour need to read