Edinburgh Hop-On Hop-Off Buses

Thousands and thousands of tourists visit Edinburgh every year. The combination of landscapes, architectural works of past centuries and its attractive culture make it included in the to-do list of every traveler. Although it is not a very big city, the points of interest are many, and taking a tourist bus will make you better organized to see everything Edinburgh has to offer during your visit.

You can use it as a one-hour ride along the route of your chosen itinerary, or you can simply hop on and off as many times as you like, saving you time in finding out about transport. Join me to find out more.

The tourist bus in the city of Edinburgh is the Edinburgh Bus Tours company, which offers between 3 different routes, or even the possibility of combining the 3, depending on the type of pass.

It is a double-decker bus that will allow you to cover the entire city with its different routes, from the comfort of your seat and with audio commentary on board. My recommendation is also to take a guided walking tour of Edinburgh so that the explanations are more extensive and you have access to more content and interesting facts.

If you prefer to make your visit in a more comfortable and practical way to see the city of Edinburgh in one day, do not hesitate to purchase your pass.

The pass is booked on the date of your choice and is based on a free-stop basis. For the duration of your pass, you will have the option to get on and off the bus as many times as you want. They are available for 24 or 48 hours.

Let's say you have a 24-hour pass and you use it for the first time at 9 a.m. on a Friday, then you have until 9 a.m. on Saturday to tour the city.

All bus tours depart from St. Andrew Square in the heart of the city of Edinburgh. Your pass includes wifi and audio commentary from a specialist guide on board, available in English, Chinese, German, Russian, Italian, French, Dutch, German, Italian, French and Spanish.

Depending on your time in the city and what you want to visit, there are different types of passes. First of all, you can opt for only one line of one color and get your pass for 24 hours. The prices are as detailed in the table below:

But if you are an ambitious traveler and a single itinerary seems too little for you, you can opt for tickets that combine the 3 lines. In this case, the combined passes can be chosen according to what you prefer: 24 or 48 hours of duration. Here are the price details:

The bus operating schedule changes according to the time of the year and I leave you the details below so you can make the most of your pass.

• July and August: 09:15hs to 19:00hs
• April, May and October: 9:15hs to 18:00hs
• From December to March: 9:15hs to 16:00hs

Each of the routes covers a different area of the city of Edinburgh and range from the historic center to the option of exploring the city by boat. At each of the stops on all the routes you will find a map with the exact location of the stops within each area. They are easy to identify.

There are 3 different route options and they have different names and colors to make everything much more practical. Here I offer you a detail of the most important stops that each one includes, but the complete tour will take you 60 minutes per route. Will you join me?

Red Line: the best way to get to know the Old Town

You will make a walk where you can visit the Historic Market of Edinburgh (Grassmarket), the Royal Mile, the National Museum of Scotland and Holyrood Palace, among others.

Blue Line: the Majestic tour, the New Town beyond the Old Town

You will visit the famous Princes Street, the Dean Village, a famous medieval village, the Botanical Gardens, the popular Royal Yacht Britannia, the Palace of Holyrood and ends at the gates of the Old Town.

Green Line: the Edinburgh tour and its most representative buildings

You can see Waverley Bridge, Holyrood Palace, the Royal Mile, the National Museum of Scotland and the iconic Edinburgh Castle. It joins other lines at the New Town Gate.

For those who want to get a more complete experience of the city, sailing along Edinburgh's River Forth is a very attractive idea. The Three Bridges Tour is designed to allow you to split your day between water and land. Board your bus in the heart of Edinburgh, followed by a relaxing cruise along the Firth of Forth.

The bus route goes from Edinburgh Castle, crosses the popular Deen Bridge, we will see Dalmeny House, an important gothic style mansion and finally arrive at Queensferry, where we can change to the boat part of the route.

Once on board the cruise, the views of the Three Bridges are truly incredible. On the tour you will visit Blackness Castle(one of the best castles in Edinburgh), famous for Outlander and Outlaw King and you will pass through the village of Limekilns.

You will also have the opportunity to see a variety of marine wildlife, including the distinctive seals.

The price of this pass is €25 for adults, €23 for over 60s and €12 for children up to 15 years old.

To get the most out of the tourist bus in this Scottish city, here is a brief summary of the most interesting points along its itinerary.

Edinburgh Castle

The main star of the city that no visitor is left without seeing is the Edinburgh Castle. Besides being on top of the main hill of the city and offering an imposing image, it is also a fortress of great architectural and historical importance.

I recommend this article on how to visit Edinburgh Castle, where you have all the information you need to make your visit a success.

Holyrood Palace

Holyrood Palace. falls in love with the details and luxury that it contains inside. And no wonder, since it was the official residence of the Queen of England in the eleventh century.

Its abbey is one of the most photographed in Scotland and is the perfect place to be transported back in time. It is an essential stop that you must explore thoroughly.

Royal Mile

The Royal Mile is the most famous street in the whole city of Edinburgh. It owes its name to its length of 1800 meters, almost two miles.

All this street is the main artery of the Old Town where you will find all kinds of stores, but also many hidden and special corners to discover. The magic is in all the alleys that emerge, each with its own style and magic.

Royal Yacht Britannia

The Royal Yacht Britannia. is one of the most popular ships in the world and you may wonder why. Well, it has been the ship of the British Royal Household for four decades.

It has visited around 150 countries hand in hand with the royal family, but that has been in its glory years. Now, you can visit it and get an idea of how this family lived on board and the comforts they enjoyed. You will see family photos on the walls and objects of people that have been left exactly there, in disuse.

Princess Street

Princess Street and its gardens are a must and one of the most beautiful stops in the city. Its gardens are well known for being the boundary that separates the Old Town and New Town, two very marked areas of Edinburgh.

But the interesting thing about these gardens is that they are not simply large expanses of lawns and flowers. In ancient times, there was a lake here, and this lake hid stories of witchcraft and corpses, which contaminated the city's drinking water sources. When the lake was finally drained, this space was reinvented, creating the most beautiful gardens in all of Edinburgh. Amazing, isn't it?

National Museum of Scotland

With its collections of Scottish history and interactive exhibits, this space is a must-see in the city of Edinburgh. It is the most visited museum in all of Scotland and was founded from the union of two institutions: The Museum of Scotland and the Royal Museum.

In fact, if you look at its facade, you can clearly identify the difference between the old structure and the more modern structure. In addition, it is totally free, so you have no excuse not to take a tour and learn a little more about the history of this country.

• These tours are designed for you to visit the monuments, sites and museums that are considered the essence of the city. You will even be able to visit places a little farther away that you might not discover if you do your tour only on foot. In addition, you will save time, a very precious resource on vacation.
• The city is very beautiful but if you can also learn about it, everything will make much more sense. The audio commentary of the guides will give you important facts about the significance of what you are seeing, so you won't be satisfied with just contemplating its charm.
• The panoramic views from the bus are a completely privileged place to contemplate a city you are seeing for the first time.
• If you are one of those brave travelers who decide to visit the city in winter, the bus service is a very good idea for those cold and gray days that characterize Edinburgh. You can take shelter inside the bus while you contemplate the city from the comfort and warmth of your seat.
• Also, if you are traveling with children to Edinburgh is a better way to organize your trip. You can devote more attention to them and increase your enjoyment as a family.

In addition to the tour buses, you can add tickets to the main activities with your ticket, saving time, worry and money.

The Royal Edinburgh Ticket is the best combined pass for your Edinburgh trip. It includes 48 hours of the 3 sightseeing bus routes, plus the Three Bridges Tour and tickets to the most visited monuments in the whole city: Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Royal Yacht Britannia.

If the idea of the tourist bus seemed interesting to you, let yourself go and read my article about the best tours and excursions from Edinburgh to get to know the surroundings of the city.

On the other hand, don't forget to include some Outlanders location tours or excursions to Highlands and Loch Ness in your Edinburgh vacation.

You will transform your vacation into a much more complete experience. The city is fascinating, but don't miss out on falling in love with the green hills and enchanted castles.