Edinburgh Three Bridges Cruise
Recommended by 91% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Edinburgh, Scotland
- 1 hour 30 minutes (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Escape the city and see some of Edinburgh’s lesser-known sights on a boat cruise that takes you to Inchcolm Island, home to both a medieval abbey and a colony of sea lions and seals. As well as escaping the crowds on land, you’ll bag the best views of the famous Three Bridges.
- Escape the crowds on land during a cruise to Inchcolm Island from Edinburgh
- Choose a departure time to suit your schedule
- Enjoy the best views of the UNESCO-listed Forth Bridge
- Increase your chances of spotting wildlife such as puffins and seals
What's Included
- Views of the Three Bridges as you have never seen them before.
- Panoramic views of the Edinburgh skyline
- Get your great photos of the seals, puffins, and dolphins
- Stories, tales, and myths of the History of the Forth
- Inchcolm Island landing pass
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- 2 Hawes Brae, Queensferry, South Queensferry EH30 9TB, UK
Forth Boat tours Ticket Kiosk Opposite Hawes Inn, South Queensferry
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
1
South Queensferry
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 1 hours of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 200 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
Featured review
Kari_D
The boat tour was fun, with lots of facts about the area and wildlife, and of course the bridges. The staff were friendly and had lots of extra stories and fun facts to offer as we sailed. Getting off at Incholm Island was the highlight, the Abbey had so much to see, plus walking to the war area was great too. Going through that tunnel and then the views from the top, amazing. Would absolutely recommend the boat tour with the island stop!
Reviews
4.6
based on 456 reviews
Catharine_O, Jul 2026
We had great weather and were still a bit cold so dress accordingly. Cruise was perfect, interesting, and timing was spot on. Wish we had time to book another in the opposite direction. Highly recommend!
Tony_G, Jun 2026
Lovely 90 minute boat ride. Nice mix of wildlife (puffins and seals) and bridges/engineering. And a little bit of history along the way. Very friendly and informative crew.
Response from Host, Jun 2026
Thanks for your valued comments. We are delighted that you enjoyed your cruise with Forth Boat Tours.
Cynthia_R, Jun 2026
Excellent skippers and commentary, lovely boat ride, enhances the Edinburgh experience. A bit far, but worth it without a doubt!
Response from Host, Jun 2026
Many thanks for your valued comments. We are delighted that you enjoyed your cruise with Forth Boat Tours.
Rajeev_C, Jun 2026
Great weather, Amazing trip filled with experience of a lifetime.. Great Commentary and of course lots of pictures 😁
Response from Host, Jun 2026
It is a mind blowing cruise! Many thanks for your valued comments. We are delighted that you enjoyed your cruise with Forth Boat Tours.
Haim_M, May 2026
walking by google maps is inaccurate. many steps on narrow road. took a lot of time from the train station. should take the bus instead
Response from Host, Jun 2026
Your comment has absolutely nothing to do with Forth Boat Tours cruise. It is all about your public transport journey. Nothing that Forth Boat Tours has control of. So, why have you scored our Crusie as 2* Nonsense.
RM_E, May 2026
The weather makes the experience. A lovely, sunny day made the walks, sail and exploration of the island a perfect , relaxing day out.
We saw sealions, gulls, the wonderful Abbey and beautiful scenery all day. The Firth was calm and the bridges were spectacular.
The commentary on the boat was difficult to hear where we were sitting. This needs to be improved as the information was so interesting. The crew were a lovely, friendly, informative bunch. Thoroughly good time. Would have been 5 stars if I could have heard the commentary.
Response from Host, Jun 2026
Thanks for your comments. You didn't see sea lions you saw grey seals or harbour seals. The abbey is stunning and delighted that you took time to explore the island.
ajtplumbing, Apr 2026
Easy booking and boarding.
Friendly and very informative staff on board.
The boat was clean, comfortable with both open and covered seating and on board refreshments.
This was the 2nd time we have gone this tour but this time we it's our 13 year old grandson who said it was one of the highlights of his trip.
Emma_C, Mar 2026
Brilliant tour, we saw seals which was incredible and learned a lot about the area. Very much recommended!
Kari_D, Oct 2025
The boat tour was fun, with lots of facts about the area and wildlife, and of course the bridges. The staff were friendly and had lots of extra stories and fun facts to offer as we sailed. Getting off at Incholm Island was the highlight, the Abbey had so much to see, plus walking to the war area was great too. Going through that tunnel and then the views from the top, amazing. Would absolutely recommend the boat tour with the island stop!
MrsJanM_M, Oct 2025
We thoroughly enjoyed this 90 minute cruise, viewing the 3 bridges up close and also spending time cruising other areas of the harbour. We were able to see several groups of seals. The crew were friendly and informative. I would recommend this excursion.
Andrew_B, Sep 2025
Relaxing and informative. We enjoyed hearing the history of the area and the view was beautiful. Fog at the start quickly changed to a sunny day
Christina_H, Sep 2025
Excellent trip, informative, funny, great staff...could have gone for another 90 minutes.
Plenty of seals...well worth the money!
Staff were great with wheelchair access...
Barbara_B, Sep 2025
Once off the train from Edinburgh, we had difficulty finding Hawes Pier. Got lost and turned around a few times. The locals were very helpful but it is difficult to give directions to total strangers.We walked down some very treacherous, rotting, slippery wooden steps.Better signage would help.
The staff on board the vessel were very informative. Loved seeing Incholm Island- wish we had gotten off to explore but it was a little rainy. A tour well worth doing if visiting Edinburgh.
Kathleen_W, Sep 2025
Interesting information and a lovely couple of hours on the water. We went as my husband was very interested in the bridges, recommend
Drazenka_R, Sep 2025
Excelllent boat trip, sight seeing, guided tour and seals. We loved the bridges, castle and history around it. But for the lods seals were top of the trip!
Lisa_R, Aug 2025
It was a nice boat that had a friendly helpful staff. The sights that we saw were lovely. Overall, it was a pleasant experience.
Lewis_G, Jul 2025
Fairly priced and great scenes, there is an additional charge to go to the island but it is optional, still see a decent amount without getting off the boat
Diana_D, Jul 2025
The crew was outstanding. It wasn’t crowded and the views and history shared on the tour were wonderful. We loved it. The town is great and you can even walk to the Dalmeny estate or Shell beach.
Judy_T, Feb 2025
To reach Hawe's Brae from the Dalmeny rail station, you've got a lovely climb down a long, steep, slippery set of broken, muddy stairs to the harbor. And that means a hike back up later. But it is WELL worth this to experience Graham's narration along the Three Bridges tour, which is absolutely fascinating. Antone provided brilliant live commentary and the wind and sea did their part to make this a genuinely thrilling ride.
Aaron_M, Jan 2025
Amazing experience! The crew on the board also tell you different things about the area. Highly recommend
Mark_B, Oct 2024
The bridges and bay are a spectacular sight - we saw some seals too. Would highly recommend this trip ;)
Kristine_O, Oct 2024
Seeing the sea lions was great. As was the abbey. It was a drizzly day but the boat had plenty of enclosed area and we could still see Edinburgh. The narration was nice.
Albert_T, Oct 2024
Fair. We took a 90minutes cruise around the harbor. A recording talked on almost the whole time. It was hard to know what buildings were being talked about on the shore. There were seals sleeping on rocks and a couple of bouys…so they made sure we saw them. We did get a good view of the three bridges at the end of the cruise. We didn’t get off to explore the island because it was raining. So I wouldn’t highly recommend this trip.
Anna_P, Aug 2024
Beautiful views, helpful crew!
The atmosphere of the island - unforgettable!
A very vivid story about the area and its history.
pPossibility of observing wild nature (fantastic seals!)
Lorna_D, Aug 2024
Saw some seals sunbathing on a buoy. Lots of information given. Beautiful views of all the bridges. Nice trip
Stephen_P, Aug 2024
This was not what was expected. It was a pre recorded audio that was played on a poor speaker system. I could only make out about 3/4 of what was said. Because it was prerecorded audio they would say look to your left, but you could sit forward poor backward. We did not get off on the island, because it was self guided.
Yanilda_P, Aug 2024
Very educational and flexible, I learned a lot and the crew member is very friendly. Thank you for the fun.
Kelly_G, Aug 2024
We met wonderful people on the boat. It was a nice tour (1 hr). Dress warm in layers it gets cold. Of course you can go inside. We loved hearing the bridges histories and seeing them from the water vantage point. We saw two seals. Each tour we had after referred to the bridges and it like our secret that we knew so much them because of this tour 😊
Silvana_U, Aug 2024
Lovely morning on board. Would highly recommend this trip for value for money and a great way to spend a couple of hours.
Titilayo_O, Aug 2024
It was a beautiful experience and we saw life dolphin
We were told the history of trasure island
Overall, it was a nice cruise
From $27.15
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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