Edinburgh Castle Guided Walking Tour & Holyrood Palace Ticket
Recommended by 98% of travelers
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Edinburgh, Scotland
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Explore Scotland's royal history with this experience that offers a mix of guided tour and independent exploration. Meet up with your guide and head together to Edinburgh Castle, where you can explore highlights including the Great Hall and St. Margaret’s Chapel at your own pace. Afterward, rejoin your guide for the walk to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where an audio guide reveals stories about Mary, Queen of Scots and the palace’s role in modern royal visits.
- Check off two Edinburgh landmarks in just one booking
- Enjoy the freedom to explore the castle and palace independently
- Go beyond the guidebooks with facts and insight from your guide
- Prebooking your tour guarantees your entry to these popular attractions
What's Included
- Edinburgh Castle entrance ticket
- Holyrood Palace ticket
- Guided walking tour of Edinburgh Castle
- Gratitudes
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Advocate's CloseEdinburgh EH1 1ND, UK
For both activities, we will meet at the same meeting point. You will first join the guided tour of Edinburgh, and afterwards, visit the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
End point
- Edinburgh CastleCastlehill, Edinburgh EH1 2NG, UK
Start time.10:00 am
Itinerary
1
Edinburgh Castle
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
2
Palace of Holyroodhouse
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.9
based on 133 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Kenneth_E, Aug 2026
We had a greatctime, Raj was very informative and pleasant!
Unfortunately we didn't have enough time for the holyrood palace.
Elizabeth_B, Aug 2026
Really great tour of the castle, Catherine was our guide and she was fantastic, very knowledgeable, friendly and made it great fun for all age groups. Holyrood palace is well worth a visit, you get a free audio tour that is very well produced.
Sylvia_W, Jul 2026
The guide gave a great explanation of Edinburgh Castle and structures within the castle walls. Some of the exhibits were not open to look at.. Joe the guide did an excellent job.
Rebecca_F, Jul 2026
This was a great tour and Raj was a wonderful guide! He made the intricate, and sometimes confusing, history of the castle and it's inhabitants clear - and very enjoyable. If we were able to stay in Edinburgh longer, we would have sought out more tours by Raj. He was also very kind and considerate to a member of our family with mobility issues as well. I am very glad we booked versus just touring the castle ourselves! He also had some great recommendations for after our tour!
Cheryl_B, Jun 2026
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
Teresa_H, Jun 2026
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.
Tara_L, Jun 2026
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.
Jayne_W, Jun 2026
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
Kelly_M, May 2026
Raj was GREAT! Very informative. The pace of the tour was excellent. Wear sensible shoes. Take time to see the little chapel.
Nance_G, May 2026
Had a wonderful experience at Edinburgh Castle with a great tour guide - Joe. He gave thorough details as to what we were seeing, with plenty of historical background. It was both fun & educational. Loved it!
Shannon_I, May 2026
We had a wonderful tour with our amazingly wonderful guide Gavin! He was very knowledgeable and friendly. I would definitely recommend this tour if visiting Edinburgh.
John_A, Mar 2026
Jen was our guide for Edinburgh castle and she was awesome! Very personable and knowledgeable. She gave great detail to the history of the castle and even threw in the occasional dad joke, which we appreciated.
Kim_W, Jan 2026
Very informative and interesting facts and folklore. Very organized and promot with time and moving the crowd
Ebony_A, Oct 2025
Our guide Ignes was amazing! A bit of walking and rain (bring an umbrella to prepare FYI) but definitely worth it!
Martina_V, Sep 2025
Buy tickets to the castle and use audio recordings.
Our guide was very passionate about his job and talk a lot. I forgot his name Yean ? Unfortunately we could hardly hear or understand. We had a big group of people plus so many tours walking around. He was always facing to just one direction and his voice would not carry to the other side. Very cold and windy ( definitely bring jacket, because all the talking is outside)
When we were finally inside of the castle we were left alone.
When we were done here we had to walk back to the original meeting place to wait for another guide to Holyrood palace. Well,
we were just given our tickets and had to walk alone ( pretty far, I was expecting somebody will talk about the history of the street, nope)
Holyrood was a different story, we got head phones with audio and really learn a lot at our time and pace. Gorgeous palace with long history. I really enjoyed this part of our “tour”.
You can also purchase tickets here on your own.
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Thank you for joining our Edinburgh Castle Guided Walking Tour and for taking the time to share your feedback. We truly appreciate every review, as it helps us continue improving our services.
We were very concerned to learn about your experience and, first and foremost, I would like to apologize for the issues you encountered during the tour. We understand that it was difficult to hear the guide, especially with the large number of people in your group. While we aim to ensure clear communication, at times external factors, like group size and environmental noise, can make this challenging.
Regarding the group size, we agree that 50 people would be large for a tour, but on this particular occasion, the group size was 30, which is in line with our usual limits for the Castle tour. We always strive to keep groups at a size that ensures the best experience for all guests.
Regarding the walk to Holyrood Palace, we typically ensure that our guests are accompanied for the walk between locations. If there was any confusion or miscommunication on the day, we sincerely apologize. Our goal is always to provide a smooth and informative journey from one site to the next.
We are, however, pleased to hear that you enjoyed the audio-guided visit at Holyrood Palace. It’s a stunning location with so much history, and we’re glad that you had the opportunity to explore it at your own pace.
Thank you again for taking the time to review us. We hope to have the chance to welcome you back on another tour in the future, where we can show you the high standards of service we aim to deliver.
From $116.67
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Edinburgh Castle Guided Walking Tour & Holyrood Palace Ticket
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