Hop-on Hop-off Tours Edinburgh

Edinburgh: Royal Attractions Tickets + 48-Hour Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour

Name: Edinburgh: Royal Attractions Tickets + 48-Hour Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour
Start: 2026-03-20T09:00:00
End: 2026-03-20T18:00:00
Location: Edinburgh

Family enjoying The Royal Edinburgh Tour on an open-top bus.

Edinburgh Castle atop Castle Rock with Ross Fountain in foreground on The Royal Edinburgh Tour.

Visitors observing the Great Hall's medieval armor display inside Edinburgh Castle.

Tourists on a hop-on hop-off bus viewing Edinburgh Castle during the Royal Edinburgh Tour.

Explore at your pace

Choose your entry time, stay as long as you like

Free cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience

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Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.

Audio guide

Enhance your experience with multilingual audio guide

4.3/5

(224)

Misti

Feb 2026

Verified booking

I loved the versatiliy of having three different tours to choose from depending on where in the city I wanted to go and also the easy of getting your entry tickets and times for three of the biggest tourist stops in town. It was also great having a live tour guide on the green line that was very charming, engaging and add lots of insightful information on locations we were passing as well as great recommendations for pubs, grub and local places to visit. The starting point at Waterloo is convenient for starting the days and the various hop on/off locations make it easy to get around the city. The initial Waterloo stop is also steps away from Calton Hill and directly in front of the Old Cemetary which should both be visited.

Heather

Mar 2026

Verified booking

Comfortable way to see the city, I thought the narrative as we traveled was interesting and informative. Great way to travel to different locations. Using the electronic ticket to convert to the usable paper tickets was straightforward. The provided earphones actually had a reasonable sound quality, although I found them a bit difficult to keep in my ears. They use a standard audio jack so if you have your own, that might be more more comfortable. We visited the Edinburgh Castle and the Britannia and had no problem using the tickets when we arrived.

Herve

Mar 2026

Verified booking

Discovery of Edinburgh by bus was amazing, and the explanations via audio guide very helpful. 3 different lines allowed to visit different places. Only one drawback : bus are not available after 4pm ! It's a pity because our hotel was near a bus stop.. Included in the city pass, Britannia Hollyroodhouse and of course the castle. 3 essential attractions !!

Stephen

Jan 2026

Verified booking

Thoroughly enjoyed our week, in Edinburgh. Using the hop on, hop off buses, was so easy. Being able to see, all the sights of Edinburgh during the tour. Also being provided, with headphones, which gave us commentary, of the historical facts, of the city as we travelled round. My wife visited Edinburgh, in March and used the hop on, hop off service, and that is why we booked it again. Would definitely recommend, to anyone, who wanted to tour Edinburgh. All the bus drivers, and reps, were very friendly and answered any queries, or questions we had. Thank-you.

Jalaguier

Nov 2025

Verified booking

The bus was great! We were able to travel around the city very quickly, with all the history and monuments in our language (French), thanks to the audio guides. Except on the green bus, where the guide spoke only in English, but very clearly, so it was very easy to understand. Special mention to Tommy for his help, patience and kindness when we had a problem with our ticket to board the bus.

Dily

Oct 2025

Verified booking

Excellent tours and so easy to convert three key sites visits. I did all three bus routes and found them all enlightening especially the Blue route. Please can you let me know if there is a written transcript I can download as I really cannot remember all the very interesting observations and statistics given during the audio tours. Please send to fontwellbear@aol.com Thank you

Unlock Edinburgh’s royal heritage with entry to three iconic landmarks and 48-hour hop-on hop-off access to 50+ well-placed stops across the city.

Travel across 3 routes covering the Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle and the Scottish Parliament, with the freedom to hop on and off as you explore.

Buses run approximately every 30 minutes and include multilingual audio guides on Red and Blue routes, live English commentary on the Green route, Horrible Histories children’s narration, and a mobile app with live tracking.

Visit Edinburgh Castle to see the Crown Jewels, explore the royal apartments at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and tour the State Apartments aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia.

With dedicated stops near each attraction, this combo ensures seamless travel between castle, palace, and royal yacht, keeping your sightseeing efficient.

Royal Attractions

Entry to 3 royal Edinburgh attractions (see details here)

Entry to Edinburgh Castle

Entry to Royal Yacht Britannia

Entry to Palace of Holyroodhouse

Audio guide in 30 languages at the Royal Yacht Britannia

Audio guide in 9 languages at the Palace of Holyroodhouse

Edinburgh Hop-on Hop-off

48-hour unlimited hop-on hop-off tour

Access to City Sightseeing (Red), Edinburgh Tour (Green), and Regal Tour (Blue) routes (route details here)

Audio guide in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese, Russian, Chinese & Portuguese (Red & Blue routes)

Horrible Histories children’s commentary on City Sightseeing (Red)

English-speaking guide (Green route)

Headphones provided (Red and Blue routes)

Mobile app with a detailed map and live bus tracking

TOTAL DURATION65 minutes
FREQUENCYEvery 15 mins
FIRST DEPARTUREWaterloo Place at 8:50 AM
LAST DEPARTUREWaterloo Place at 5:50 PM
Timeline
Map
1. Waterloo Place
Get direction
2 attractions
Calton Hill
1 minute walk
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
6 minutes walk
2. St. Andrew Square
Get direction
2 attractions
St. Andrew Square Gardens
2 minutes walk
Scott Monument
5 minutes walk
3. Charlotte Square
Get direction
2 attractions
The Georgian House
Princes Street Gardens
9 minutes walk
4. Lothian Road
Get direction
2 attractions
Usher Hall
2 minutes walk
Traverse Theatre
1 minute walk
5. Grassmarket
Get direction
2 attractions
Grassmarket Square
1 minute walk
Victoria Street
6 minutes walk
6. Lawnmarket
Get direction
2 attractions
Camera Obscura & World of Illusions
1 minute walk
Writers’ Museum
1 minute walk
7. John Knox House
Get direction
2 attractions
National Museum of Scotland
2 minutes walk
Bedlam Theatre
2 minutes walk
8. Holyrood
Get direction
3 attractions
Palace of Holyroodhouse
1 minute walk
Scottish Parliament Building
Holyrood Park
8 minutes walk
9. Our Dynamic Earth
Get direction
2 attractions
Our Dynamic Earth
The Queen’s Gallery
6 minutes walk
TOTAL DURATION80 minutes
FREQUENCYEvery 15 mins
FIRST DEPARTUREWaterloo Place at 8:40 AM
LAST DEPARTUREWaterloo Place at 5:25 PM
Timeline
Map
1. Waterloo Place
Get direction
2 attractions
Calton Hill
1 minute walk
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
6 minutes walk
2. Holyrood
Get direction
3 attractions
Palace of Holyroodhouse
1 minute walk
Scottish Parliament Building
Holyrood Park
8 minutes walk
3. St. Andrew Square
Get direction
2 attractions
St. Andrew Square Gardens
2 minutes walk
Scott Monument
5 minutes walk
4. Royal Botanic Garden
Get direction
2 attractions
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
1 minute walk
Inverleith House
5. Newhaven
Get direction
2 attractions
Newhaven Harbour Lighthouse
2 minutes walk
Newhaven Fish Market
2 minutes walk
6. The Shore
Get direction
2 attractions
The Shore
1 minute walk
Nelson Monument
12 minutes walk
7. Ocean Terminal
Get direction
2 attractions
Royal Yacht Britannia
4 minutes walk
Ocean Terminal Mall
7 minutes walk
8. Bonnington Rd
Get direction
2 attractions
The Edinburgh Gin Distillery at The Arches
10 minutes walk
Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop
5 minutes walk
9. Leopold Place
Get direction
1 attraction
Gayfield Square
5 minutes walk

You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.

224 reviews
How do we collect reviews?
These ratings include verified reviews from both Headout guests and our trusted partners who operate this experience locally. All reviews come from real travelers who've taken this experience.
140
57
4
9
14
Guests from United States, France, Canada and over 27 countries have loved this experience
What our guests say
Heather
Mar 2026
Verified booking
Comfortable way to see the city, I thought the narrative as we traveled was interesting and informative. Great way to travel to different locations. Using the electronic ticket to convert to the usable paper tickets was straightforward. The provided earphones actually had a reasonable sound quality, although I found them a bit difficult to keep in my ears. They use a standard audio jack so if you have your own, that might be more more comfortable. We visited the Edinburgh Castle and the Britannia and had no problem using the tickets when we arrived.
Herve
Mar 2026
Verified booking
Discovery of Edinburgh by bus was amazing, and the explanations via audio guide very helpful. 3 different lines allowed to visit different places. Only one drawback : bus are not available after 4pm ! It's a pity because our hotel was near a bus stop.. Included in the city pass, Britannia Hollyroodhouse and of course the castle. 3 essential attractions !!
Nicholas
Mar 2026
Verified booking
We enjoyed it all, particularly Holyrood Palace and HMY Britannia. The Regal bus tour was very helpful in enabling us to put our knowledge of various parts of Edinburgh together.
Khelly
Feb 2026
Verified booking
İ had a great experience with this Hop-on Hop-off tour! The itinerary was well-planned and covered all the main sights. Both the driver and the guide were very friendly and professional. Highly recommended
Misti
Feb 2026
Verified booking
I loved the versatiliy of having three different tours to choose from depending on where in the city I wanted to go and also the easy of getting your entry tickets and times for three of the biggest tourist stops in town. It was also great having a live tour guide on the green line that was very charming, engaging and add lots of insightful information on locations we were passing as well as great recommendations for pubs, grub and local places to visit. The starting point at Waterloo is convenient for starting the days and the various hop on/off locations make it easy to get around the city. The initial Waterloo stop is also steps away from Calton Hill and directly in front of the Old Cemetary which should both be visited.

Edinburgh Castle

Monday	9:30am - 5:00pm	last entry 4:00pm
Tuesday	9:30am - 5:00pm	last entry 4:00pm
Wednesday	9:30am - 5:00pm	last entry 4:00pm
Thursday	9:30am - 5:00pm	last entry 4:00pm
Friday	9:30am - 5:00pm	last entry 4:00pm
Saturday	9:30am - 5:00pm	last entry 4:00pm
Sunday	9:30am - 5:00pm	last entry 4:00pm

Palace of Holyroodhouse

Monday	9:30am - 4:30pm	last entry 3:15pm
Tuesday	Closed
Wednesday	Closed
Thursday	9:30am - 4:30pm	last entry 3:15pm
Friday	9:30am - 4:30pm	last entry 3:15pm
Saturday	9:30am - 4:30pm	last entry 3:15pm
Sunday	9:30am - 4:30pm	last entry 3:15pm

What's not allowed

Royal Attractions

Large bags, rucksacks and suitcases (30L or over) are not allowed inside the Edinburgh castle.

Accessibility

Royal Attractions

Parts of Edinburgh Castle and Palace of Holyroodhouse are wheelchair accessible.

The Royal Yacht Britannia experience is wheelchair accessible.

Edinburgh Hop-on Hop-off

This experience is wheelchair accessible.

Mobility scooters are allowed if folded and stored as luggage.

Your guide dogs and pet dogs are welcome aboard.

Additional information

Royal Attractions

The Palace of Holyroodhouse is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, except from 25 May to 8 September 2025, when it remains open daily.

Holyrood Palace is closed between June 26 and July 4, 2025. Entry to The King's Gallery and a Palace Guidebook are offered as an alternative to Royal Edinburgh Ticket customers.

Entry to the Edinburgh Castle is guaranteed – when you validate your prepaid voucher you will be offered a choice of entry slots. This cannot be booked in advance. Even if the Castle’s own website is sold out, tickets are allocated for Royal Edinburgh Ticket customers.

Note that the ticket lets you visit Edinburgh Castle and Royal Yacht Britannia within 48 hours. If you need to visit the Palace of Holyroodhouse outside of that timeframe, your ticket will still be valid.

The 48 hours start when you validate your voucher – you will be issued a Royal Edinburgh Ticket with a tear off portion for Britannia and the Palace. You will also receive a tour ticket to get you on and of the tours. At that point we shall reserve your Castle entry.

Children aged 15 and under must be accompanied by an adult or senior citizen during their visit.

Please display your mobile voucher with a valid photo ID at the redemption point.

How Do I Use My Voucher

Your voucher gives you access to Edinburgh Castle, Palace of Holyroodhouse, The Royal Yacht Britannia and 48 hours unlimited Edinburgh Bus Tour travel - any or all 3 tours: Edinburgh Tour, The Majestic Tour and City Sightseeing.

The ticket could be used for entry to The Royal Yacht Britannia or the Palace of Holyroodhouse after the validity period.

After redeeming your voucher, you can board the bus at any designated bus stop. Please click here for a detailed route map of all the 3 tours and their boarding points.

Redemption Point

Redeem your voucher at Waterloo Place (Stop ZG).

Address: Edinburgh EH1 3EG, United Kingdom.

Get Directions to the Redemption Point

Getting There

By Bus

The redemption point is a bus stop.

Board bus X24 to get you there.

By Train

The closest train station is Edinburgh Waverley. It is a quick 4-min walk to the redemption point.

Board trains LNER, ScotRail, and more to get you there.