Military Tattoo in Edinburgh On Our Own

I am considering purchasing tickets to the Military Tattoo when my husband and I visit Edinburgh. Although our cruise line has offered an excursion of this type on a previous cruise, there is no way to know with certainty whether this will be offered as an excursion on my cruise. Therefore, I'm considering getting our own tickets independently. Here are my questions:

1) Have any of you gone to the Military Tattoo independently on your own instead of with the cruise ship?

2) If you did, how did you get back to the ship after the show? Specifically, if you attended the later show, which I think is at 10:30 pm, were you able to find a taxi when the show ended to take you back to the dock?

3) If you attended the earlier show (7:30 pm), what did you do for dinner? Eat off the ship in Edinburgh? Before or after the show?

4) For those of you who attended the show with your ship, which show did you attend - the earlier or the later show?

Any information you can share about your experiences is very helpful.

Thanks,

Shelley

We bit the bullet and paid for the ship excursion. In the end we were REALLY glad we did. As you might imagine crowds were horrendous, public transport was mobbed. I could not even imagine trying to find a cab after it was over. Our ship was docked a good way from town and the ship was leaving at midnight. They only had 1 show that evening and it was over about 10 or 10:30 By the time everyone hiked back to the bus and the bus was able to clear the traffic and get us back to the ship it was midnight. We both looked at each other and laughed. We were both thinking the same thing... We would have never made it back on our own!!

I am considering purchasing tickets to the Military Tattoo when my husband and I visit Edinburgh. Although our cruise line has offered an excursion of this type on a previous cruise, there is no way to know with certainty whether this will be offered as an excursion on my cruise. Therefore, I'm considering getting our own tickets independently. Here are my questions:

 

1) Have any of you gone to the Military Tattoo independently on your own instead of with the cruise ship?

 

2) If you did, how did you get back to the ship after the show? Specifically, if you attended the later show, which I think is at 10:30 pm, were you able to find a taxi when the show ended to take you back to the dock?

 

3) If you attended the earlier show (7:30 pm), what did you do for dinner? Eat off the ship in Edinburgh? Before or after the show?

 

4) For those of you who attended the show with your ship, which show did you attend - the earlier or the later show?

 

Any information you can share about your experiences is very helpful.

 

Thanks,

Shelley

First, there is only one show each night, not two. It begins after dark at approximately 8:30 and did not finish until just about 11:30. On our August Celebrity Silhouette cruise we went and on our own (kind of) and it was the most awesome show I have ever seen. Not to be missed.

When I say we did it "on our own" I mean that I organized a group from our Cruise Critic roll call and arranged transport for them. The easiest way to describe this is to tell you to read my entire review of the Tattoo which you can find by CLICKING HERE. It will describe the entire thing. Then go and find the Cruise Critic roll call for your cruise and see if anyone is arranging transport.

You will need to eat dinner off the ship because to eat before the show and make it into Edinburgh by the time the show started, you would have to eat dinner about lunch time. From the moment we left the ship until we were on the Royal Mile was more than 2 hours. Read my account and you will understand. Most people do not realize that when the Tattoo is being performed, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is also going on and the number of people between you and the Castle (where the Tattoo is held) is daunting but worth every bit of hassle.

We ate at the Witchery (it's linked in my review) and we got reservations almost six months ahead of time. They were packed. You could not eat after the show, everything was closed. Some on our cruise did take taxis back to the tenders but wound up getting back after 2:30 am. I do not advise this.

Please come back and ask any other questions after you have read the review and seen the pics or feel free to e-mail me. An e-mail link is at the bottom of every page of the review.

Jim

I am considering purchasing tickets to the Military Tattoo when my husband and I visit Edinburgh. Although our cruise line has offered an excursion of this type on a previous cruise, there is no way to know with certainty whether this will be offered as an excursion on my cruise. Therefore, I'm considering getting our own tickets independently. Here are my questions:

 

1) Have any of you gone to the Military Tattoo independently on your own instead of with the cruise ship?

 

2) If you did, how did you get back to the ship after the show? Specifically, if you attended the later show, which I think is at 10:30 pm, were you able to find a taxi when the show ended to take you back to the dock?

 

3) If you attended the earlier show (7:30 pm), what did you do for dinner? Eat off the ship in Edinburgh? Before or after the show?

 

4) For those of you who attended the show with your ship, which show did you attend - the earlier or the later show?

 

Any information you can share about your experiences is very helpful.

 

Thanks,

Shelley

Hello Shelley, Although I have not visited the Tattoo from a ship I live locally so understand the vagaries of the event.

1. Which ship will you be on? There are 4 ports which serve Edinburgh and how easy or otherwise it would be to get back to the ship would be dependent on that. Also some ships have an overnight stay to allow people to get to the tattoo so does your itinerary include that?

2. The performances start at 9:00 p.m. and last approx 100 minutes. Only on Saturdays are there 2 shows, with the late one ending with a fireworks display over the ramparts. What date will you be in Edinburgh? If you become a Friend of the Tattoo (cost £25) you have access to tickets before they go on sale to the general public.

3. I would strongly advise booking a taxi if you decide to DIY. I can give you a couple of numbers / emails of private hire companies who accept pre-bookings. They usually pick up about 400 yards from the Castle, in a spot that's easy to find.

4. There are many eating places in the Old Town around the Royal Mile and Castle, some cheap and cheerful others upmarket. Again if you tell me what sort of thing you'd be looking for I can share some info with you.

BTW I am a volunteer at the cruise ports so am used to helping people make arrangements for their visit to the Tattoo :)

We just returned from British isle cruise onboard princess. We booked the military tattoo on our own. I joined friends of the Tattoo for 25 pounds and was able to get early reservations, as a matter of fact we got front row seats near the exit! Awesome location!

We joined a group from our roll call and had a bus for 18 people. The driver knew where to park behind the castle, very easy to find. He drove us by the location before dropping us off. Got back to the ship at 1:30 am ,1/2 hour early! You'll have no problem doing this DIY.

Btw, if you become a friend of the tattoo, we got a discount on merchandise we purchased! Win win! Enjoy your cruise! Hope this helped!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

MalibuCA

You do not say where your ship is berthing this will affect any answer that would be helpful, if you are berthing in Greenock there is no way you can do the Tattoo by public transport, but it can be done by booking private transport.

If you are berthing in Rosyth, Leith or tendering from the River Forth " TartenExile" is an expert in that side of the country.

Thank you for all of your helpful suggestions! Anyone else?

Shelley

Thank you for all of your helpful suggestions! Anyone else?

 

Shelley

Various people have posted with helpful suggestions and some of us have asked questions so we can help you further and hopefully help with your plans. I'm not sure what it is you want. Can you add more info please.

I wish I could provide more information. All I can say regarding berthing is that we are cruising on the Crystal Symphony, which will be at Queensferry Landing. At this time, I have no more concrete information as to the exact location.

We have been emailing back and forth with two private tour companies, and as of this very moment (aka changeable on a dime!), is that we will likely walk during the day on our own to the various sights within the city center, and we will likely hire one of these companies to transport us from the ship to Edinburgh in the morning and back to the ship at the end of the day. In the case of our "Tattoo" day, they can definitely pick us up as close as possible and take us back to the ship.

While we realize that the city, and in particular, the Old Town and the Royal Mile will be filled with huge crowds in August due to the Fringe Festival, I think it would be fun to mingle in the crowds and experience some of the Fringe Festival that will be going on at the same time that we are there. Can you lend any advice on the best way to deal with the crowds and still be able to experience some of the charm that Edinburgh can offer? Any more advice on our Tattoo plans?

Thank you so much! Your input is so valuable!

Shelley

I wish I could provide more information. All I can say regarding berthing is that we are cruising on the Crystal Symphony, which will be at Queensferry Landing. At this time, I have no more concrete information as to the exact location.

 

We have been emailing back and forth with two private tour companies, and as of this very moment (aka changeable on a dime!), is that we will likely walk during the day on our own to the various sights within the city center, and we will likely hire one of these companies to transport us from the ship to Edinburgh in the morning and back to the ship at the end of the day. In the case of our "Tattoo" day, they can definitely pick us up as close as possible and take us back to the ship.

 

While we realize that the city, and in particular, the Old Town and the Royal Mile will be filled with huge crowds in August due to the Fringe Festival, I think it would be fun to mingle in the crowds and experience some of the Fringe Festival that will be going on at the same time that we are there. Can you lend any advice on the best way to deal with the crowds and still be able to experience some of the charm that Edinburgh can offer? Any more advice on our Tattoo plans?

 

Thank you so much! Your input is so valuable!

 

Shelley

Sure. Book early. Best seats are NOT (I am sorry to dispute a previous poster) in the front row. Even the Tattoo knows that as they will charge you more for being up high. We were in Section 8 about half way up. You can see where everyone on our cruise sat by CLICKING HERE. Those in the upper parts of section 8 & 9 have the best view as all the action is coming right at them. To be honest, though, you can't really get a bad seat--just a good one and a better one. We joined the Friends of the Tattoo and were able to purchase our seats about two weeks before they went on sale to the general public. Really worth it. Got exactly what we wanted plus some nice freebies.

As to dealing with the crowds at Fringe, it is a mad house. best thing I can tell you is, just be prepared for it. Know that it took us almost two hours to walk from halfway down the Royal Mile to the Esplanade (the Tattoo venue) but when we had been there prior (not during the Fringe) it took about 40 minutes. And make dinner reservations as soon as you have your Tattoo tickets. If possible, eat at someplace very close to the Tattoo. (We ate at the Witchery and loved it. Had the lamb for 2) If you are within the last block leading to the Esplanade then when you come out of your restaurant, you are already inside the ticketing area. Everyone else has to wait about two blocks down to get in. You are already inside when you finish dinner. We made our reservations in December of 2015 for summer 2016. The restaurant was booked solid by January for pre-Tattoo meals.

BTW: Mingling in the Fringe was FUN! If you saw my Edinburgh pics you will see what you are up against. If you missed the link above, it's in my signature as well.

Jim

I wish I could provide more information. All I can say regarding berthing is that we are cruising on the Crystal Symphony, which will be at Queensferry Landing. At this time, I have no more concrete information as to the exact location.

 

We have been emailing back and forth with two private tour companies, and as of this very moment (aka changeable on a dime!), is that we will likely walk during the day on our own to the various sights within the city center, and we will likely hire one of these companies to transport us from the ship to Edinburgh in the morning and back to the ship at the end of the day. In the case of our "Tattoo" day, they can definitely pick us up as close as possible and take us back to the ship.

 

While we realize that the city, and in particular, the Old Town and the Royal Mile will be filled with huge crowds in August due to the Fringe Festival, I think it would be fun to mingle in the crowds and experience some of the Fringe Festival that will be going on at the same time that we are there. Can you lend any advice on the best way to deal with the crowds and still be able to experience some of the charm that Edinburgh can offer? Any more advice on our Tattoo plans?

 

Thank you so much! Your input is so valuable!

 

Shelley

If you say you're are docking at Queensferry you will actually be at anchor under the Forth Rail Bridge and will be tendered ashore. It is about 10 miles from Edinburgh. I wouldn't pay inflated prices if you just need transport to and from Edinburgh. It should cost no more than £25 per car, not per person. The private hire companies I mentioned are:

Edinburgh City Private Hire 0131-555-5555 http://www.ecph.cab

Capital cars - 0131-777-7777 http://www.capitalcarsscotland.co.uk

The best pick-up point would be G&V hotel which is on George IV Bridge at the corner of the Royal Mile.

Thank you for all of your helpful responses. We are still hoping to see the Tattoo on our own and considering spending the night off the ship in a hotel to make everything less complicated. It will make for a pricey evening, and I hope it's worth it. I watched a Youtube video of the entire performance from a prior year, and it looks like it is! I really appreciate the suggestions. If you have more, please let me know.

Thanks,

Shelley

MalibuCa

If you are moored at Queensferry I think Tartan Exile would agree that there is no need to book a hotel night for your visit to the Tattoo as TartanExile has stated transport from South Queensferry into Edinburgh City Centre and return is not expensive I can recommend the "Doric" pub/Restaurant for a pre Tattoo evening meal, the food is very tasty and fairly priced the restaurant is situated on Market Street at the rear of Waverly Station directly opposite "Edinburgh Dungeon" it is about a 15 minute uphill walk to the Castle.

Please feel free to ask any other questions you may have I am sure you will get worthwhile advice to enhance your visit to Edinburgh.

Thank you for all of your helpful responses. We are still hoping to see the Tattoo on our own and considering spending the night off the ship in a hotel to make everything less complicated. It will make for a pricey evening, and I hope it's worth it. I watched a Youtube video of the entire performance from a prior year, and it looks like it is! I really appreciate the suggestions. If you have more, please let me know.

 

Thanks,

Shelley

Shelley,

Go! You will not be sorry you did. Whatever it costs. It was the absolute highlight of our three-week trip to Europe this summer. My bride and I have seen so many Vegas show, Broadway shows and more and this was the best. By far. It is moving beyond belief. I have pre-ordered the DVD of this year's show and can't wait until it gets here.

Jim

Thank you again - Dr. Koob and everyone else! WE ARE GOING! I won't miss this. I, too, watched a Youtube video of the entire performance from (I think) 2014 or 2015. We, too, love Broadway, Vegas, and all other shows mentioned. In fact, you could even call us Broadway junkies! With all of that, this show looks fantastic! Since my last posting, we have booked a suite at The Witchery for the night and dinner at the The Witchery as well. We will purchase the tickets when they become available, and we will schedule a driver to transport us from the ship to Edinburgh. We will drop our overnight bags at the hotel, wander the city taking in the Fringe Festival atmosphere, go to the Tattoo and dinner, and then, go to sleep. We will wake up the next day, continue sightseeing in Edinburgh, and at the end of the day, schedule the driver to transport us back to the ship. I think these two days will likely be the highlight of our trip, which is great because I've wanted to visit Edinburgh for a long time. I'm not particularly worried about the crowds. I think that will add to the experience. If we don't get to as many "must see" sightseeing venues as I would like due to the crowds, then I will concentrate on the "festival" experience, and I have good reason to book another visit to Edinburgh! Thank you, all, for your help, and please continue to post your valuable advice if you think of something more I should know.

Shelley

Thank you for all of your helpful responses. We are still hoping to see the Tattoo on our own and considering spending the night off the ship in a hotel to make everything less complicated. It will make for a pricey evening, and I hope it's worth it. I watched a Youtube video of the entire performance from a prior year, and it looks like it is! I really appreciate the suggestions. If you have more, please let me know.

 

Thanks,

Shelley

This is what we did. We spent the night at the Doubletree using Hilton Honor points. Advice would be to book your hotel as early as you can. Prices started to skyrocket about 60 days out, if I recall, and rooms available for loyalty programs may be limited.

Thanks for your recommendations. The hotel is booked, and we are all set. Thanks,

Shelley

Thank you everyone for your guidance.

We will be docked at Rosyth (Pacific Princess - 900am day 1) and overnighting (departing 600pm day 2).

Didn't even occur to us to think about getting a hotel for the night!

That is appealing as we want to do more of Edinburgh (2nd visit) during the Day 1, dinner, Tattoo and back to Edinburgh on Day 2. It is appealing to have a place to crash before dinner and already be in the city centre on Day 2.

Would love to learn of more pre-Tattoo dinner options. Have the Witchery and the Doric pub/restaurant on the list.

Tartan - thank you for the two private hire companies for transport back to the ship. I'll check in with them. If you have any others, I'll check them too!

Thank you again, all

Melissa

Thank you everyone for your guidance.

 

We will be docked at Rosyth (Pacific Princess - 900am day 1) and overnighting (departing 600pm day 2).

 

Didn't even occur to us to think about getting a hotel for the night!

That is appealing as we want to do more of Edinburgh (2nd visit) during the Day 1, dinner, Tattoo and back to Edinburgh on Day 2. It is appealing to have a place to crash before dinner and already be in the city centre on Day 2.

 

Would love to learn of more pre-Tattoo dinner options. Have the Witchery and the Doric pub/restaurant on the list.

 

Tartan - thank you for the two private hire companies for transport back to the ship. I'll check in with them. If you have any others, I'll check them too!

 

Thank you again, all

 

Melissa

Melissa

There will be lots of private hires at the port of Rosyth as an alternative and I can give you a couple of phone numbers for people I use if you're interested. They're just much smaller businesses and you could just pick one up on the day without any problem. you could easily arrange for them to pick you up the following day.

What kind of food do you want for your pre-tattoo meal. There are so many options in the area from fine dining such as the Wychery etc to pubs to local restaurants serving food from all over the world.

Hotels get very expensive during the Festival so I would strongly advise booking ASAP. If you use one of the booking sites just look for hotels in the Old Town if you want to be close to the Castle. However I love Edinburgh at night and as it's such a compact city it would be easy to walk to any hotel in the New Town as well. There are the usual chains as well - Edinburgh has a huge number of hotels.

For general info about the area, have a look at the website our volunteer group has set up. http://www.cruiseforth.com

Edinburgh changes character during August as there are so many visitors so it will be VERY VERY busy when you are there so I would suggest you allow longer than you think to visit the sights and generally get around

Melissa

 

There will be lots of private hires at the port of Rosyth as an alternative and I can give you a couple of phone numbers for people I use if you're interested. They're just much smaller businesses and you could just pick one up on the day without any problem. you could easily arrange for them to pick you up the following day.

 

What kind of food do you want for your pre-tattoo meal. There are so many options in the area from fine dining such as the Wychery etc to pubs to local restaurants serving food from all over the world.

 

Hotels get very expensive during the Festival so I would strongly advise booking ASAP. If you use one of the booking sites just look for hotels in the Old Town if you want to be close to the Castle. However I love Edinburgh at night and as it's such a compact city it would be easy to walk to any hotel in the New Town as well. There are the usual chains as well - Edinburgh has a huge number of hotels.

 

For general info about the area, have a look at the website our volunteer group has set up. www.cruiseforth.com

 

Edinburgh changes character during August as there are so many visitors so it will be VERY VERY busy when you are there so I would suggest you allow longer than you think to visit the sights and generally get around

Tartan,

Thank you! I would be very interested in the private hires you mentioned. I wasn't sure it would be easy/feasible to wait until Day 1 to secure transportation for Day 2. Post-tattoo transportation will be a moot point if we do the hotel thing, but we do need to get to back to the Port on Day 2.

I'm a planner, so like to make inquiries and book as early as possible and not have to worry about things.

I've delegated the hotel reservation to my husband and he is on it to secure asap. And am ready as a Friend of the Tattoo to secure tickets when they open that up.

Regarding food preferences, I can't do curry dishes nor seafood (not allergies, but do not care for it). Pub food or a couple other locals to choose from would be great! If we choose fine dining, the Witchery works (I love love love steak tartare and cheese). I know there are so many options and could get overloaded, but a selection of a few restaurants would be great to start inquiries with.

I hear of a cheese shop in Edinburgh...well if I could stay there all day, I would love that! :o

Thank you, Tartan, you've been so kind and generous with your insight and time in helping those of us visiting. You were very helpful in getting Jeff and I from Queensferry, up the stairs to the train and onto Waverly for our first visit to Edinburgh back a couple years ago in May.

Have a great day!

Melissa

Sorry for the delay in replying. I've been away for a few days.

Glad the info for Queensferry was helpful.

Some suggestions for restaurants close by include:

Angels with Bagpipes

Michael Neaves Kitchen and Whisky bar

Maison Bleue

Whiski Rooms

They are all a short walk to the Castle and you could check them out on TripAdvisor.

I've never been to The Wychery but I know it appeals to tourists. if I wanted fine dining in that area, I would prefer to go to Castle Terrace.

George Mellis is probably the cheesemonger you've heard about. There is a branch on Victoria Street, just off the Royal Mile.

The taxis mentioned on our website on this page tend to be smaller outfits.

http://www.cruiseforth.com/content/getting-around-rosyth/

Of the first three mentioned we regularly use Tony's for transport into Edinburgh and he is very fair. He is one of the drivers who holds a Welcome Host badge. We personally have also used Go Ra's, Premier and A1TCH but I have to say they all have standards to maintain or they would lose their operator's licence.

Hope that helps.

I've never been to The Wychery but I know it appeals to tourists. if I wanted fine dining in that area, I would prefer to go to Castle Terrace.

Has someone who has eaten at The Witchery I can tell you that it appeals to more than just "tourists." For one thing it appeals to those who l love fine dining. It also appeals to travelers and cruisers. (Sorry, having grown up in a tourist town, I hate that word:D). When we ate there pre-Tattoo, it was completely packed. There were telling people who were coming in off the streets that the next open table was at 11:00 pm (after the performance). You can't be that good and just be sluffed off as "appeals to tourists." Maybe you haven't eaten there, but you should try it. In the off season.

Has someone who has eaten at The Witchery I can tell you that it appeals to more than just "tourists." For one thing it appeals to those who l love fine dining. It also appeals to travelers and cruisers. (Sorry, having grown up in a tourist town, I hate that word:D). When we ate there pre-Tattoo, it was completely packed. There were telling people who were coming in off the streets that the next open table was at 11:00 pm (after the performance). You can't be that good and just be sluffed off as "appeals to tourists." Maybe you haven't eaten there, but you should try it. In the off season.

Sorry you didn't like my use of the word tourist. It is certainly used very commonly in Scotland and I considered myself a tourist when I visited D.C. :D I certainly don't see it or use it as a disparaging term.

We regularly enjoy fine dining in Edinburgh and we are absolutely spoilt for choice. I'm sure The Wychery appeals to many people but after our friends ate there, we decided it wasn't for us. It's only my opinion!!!!

Sorry you didn't like my use of the word tourist. It is certainly used very commonly in Scotland and I considered myself a tourist when I visited D.C. :D I certainly don't see it or use it as a disparaging term.

 

We regularly enjoy fine dining in Edinburgh and we are absolutely spoilt for choice. I'm sure The Wychery appeals to many people but after our friends ate there, we decided it wasn't for us. It's only my opinion!!!!

Are you sure you have the same restaurant? You keep spelling it as The WYchery. See my website link. The place I am referring to is the Witchery. That's their name. Maybe we have a different place. And I have to say that I would never dis a place on Cruise Critic or Trip Adviser if I hadn't been there myself.

Are you sure you have the same restaurant? You keep spelling it as The WYchery. See my website link. The place I am referring to is the Witchery. That's their name. Maybe we have a different place. And I have to say that I would never dis a place on Cruise Critic or Trip Adviser if I hadn't been there myself.

I'm quite upset by your response picking at my spelling. For some time now I have tried my best to help visitors to Edinburgh. I have no agenda. I live here. I eat in many restaurants of all types, I visit the different sights all year round - in short I LOVE this city. I am glad you enjoy the Witchery so much. Its style is just not for me, that's all. I simply pointed out there are many options of fine dining in Edinburgh much loved by locals, I replied to JeffandMelissa. I don't know why this has now become a discussion about The Witchery instead of their questions being answered :confused: