Day 10: Edinburgh (South Queensferry), Scotland

Edinburgh was another port we decided to visit on our own. There are several different options to get to Edinburgh and we chose to take the train which I believe is the fastest and cheapest way. This is a tender port and the Princess Patter warns to allow for 45 minutes to get to shore although it took us no more than 10 minutes to get ashore.

If you are planning on taking the train from South Queensferry to Edinburgh, check out this excellent thread on Cruise Critic on how to do so. The thread may need to be updated because the instructions do not mention about the path through the subdivision. Walking to the station involved an uphill hike via "The Stairs".

"The Stairs"

Dalmeny Station

Since we visited on a Saturday, the fare was off-peak all day and cost £4.60 return. During the week, there are different prices for off-peak and peak hours. We took the 9am train and arrived in Edinburgh at 9:18am. It was about a 20 minute uphill walk to the castle so be prepared. We pre-purchased our tickets to the castle which cost £42.90 for 2 adults and 1 child.

Exit from Waverly station to the castle

Walking down the Royal Mile

From Edinburgh Castle, we walked down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the opposite end, stopping for lunch along the way. I'm not sure if it was because of a weekend or there was a cruise ship in town, but the Royal Mile was packed full of people. We planned on eating lunch at The Edinburgh Larder but it was full so we ate at a nondescript place down the street. I don't even remember the name of the place but it was good. It just shows that things don't always go according to plan.

Entrance to the Palace of Holyroodhouse 

At Palace of Holyroodhouse, we bought tickets for the combined palace tour and the Queen's Gallery which came out to £42.10 for 2 adults and 1 child. Also note that is no photography allowed inside the palace. I was able to take a photo of the main dining room above before realizing this. It's a big castle so it took about a couple of hours to tour the inside of the castle and the outside gardens. From Holyroodhouse, we walked back to Waverly station for the train ride back to South Queensferry.

I am sure that Edinburgh is a really nice city to visit when it is less crowded. On this day however, the sheer number of people inside Edinburgh castle and outside on the Royal mile made it less enjoyable to do so.