Edinburgh-South Que tender to Castle?

We will be arriving at South Que, tendering from Caribbean Princess, what are our options to getting directly to the Castle with as little walking involved? Taxi, shuttle, bus, train? So many options, need to minimize walking.

B&B

Least amount of walking? Take a taxi from South Queensferry to Edinburgh.

The bus is slow and makes a lot of stops. Some people will say that's the way to go but you have to walk to/from the bus.

Not sure where the train stops in that area, but I think I read someone's post recently that it was very close to the tender dock. You might take a look at some of the other posts and maybe you'll see it. https://www.thetrainline.com/

I commiserate with you about getting to the castle in the fewest steps.

We are with Holland America in S. Queensferry and have been there before. We took the shuttle ($15 now?) that was offered there, BUT it leaves you at the bottom of the STEEP hill up to the main part of Edinburgh. (look online at some videos about Edinburgh) (The train is no better and is not really an option from my memory for the S. Queen tender area...you're still at the bottom of that hill) IMO the only way to do it is with a taxi and it will be steep! (Possibly take the shuttle at S.Queen to town and then a taxi from where it leaves you off...best plan, I think.)

Since we've been in Edinburgh before a couple of times, we're thinking of hanging out in S. Queen (a delightful village) and taking the ferry to an island with old ruins on it, and just enjoying the day.

Try to find a taxi online that you can share with others perhaps. It IS a long way to the castle...and the Royal Mile is all uphill (or downhill from the castle) and is also a walk.

Our car service through Seven Sevens (aka Capital Cars) is only 33 GBP. I thought that wasn't too bad considering we're going from Rosyth to Edinburgh, which is farther out than South Queensferry. This is still your best choice for the least amount of walking.

If you take the train, as janmcn mentions, you still have a walk uphill to the castle. There are taxis at Waverley though so you could hire one to take you that last bit up to the castle, but depending on when you're going (I think they block off part of the Royal Mile during August Festival season), there's a limit as to how close you can get. You'd at least get up the majority of the hill.

I would recommend taking a pre booked car or taxi from South Queensferry, taxis at Waverley are no longer on the concourse and less accessible. If catching a taxi it is easier from Haymarket station where they are across the road and easily found. But to get a train is quite hard an uphill walk about a third of a mile, the public bus (now LRT buses 43) is a bit of a walk too about half a mile but not uphill.

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Shuttle to to Edinburgh central. Then Uber up the hill to Edinburgh central. We actually took the train, and then took an Uber up the hill.

There are 4 of us arriving Aug 8 on Holland America Konnigsdam. Am I understanding that we can catch a shuttle and after leaving the shuttle we can either take a taxi or use uber to get us up the hill to the castle?

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Not wanting to hijack the OP's post, but would like to know whether there will be sufficient taxis available at the pier or whether we should pre-book a pick-up.

Since there are 6 of us in our group, it is more cost-effective to take a taxi rather than the ship's shuttle, and one of our group has mobility issues, so the train and bus are not options.

Would also be interested in know whether there are likely to be 6-passenger taxis available.

Appreciate any information :)

Buses aren't a viable option any more from SQ. Train involves a walk up a steep hill at SQ and again in Edinburgh and not suitable for anybody with mobility issues. Yes there is a hill up from Princes Street to the Castle but my friend who has breathing difficulties can manage it in easy stages. This is a thread I created previously which may help

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2046842&highlight=shuttle+Edinburgh

Buses aren't a viable option any more from SQ. Train involves a walk up a steep hill at SQ and again in Edinburgh and not suitable for anybody with mobility issues. Yes there is a hill up from Princes Street to the Castle but my friend who has breathing difficulties can manage it in easy stages. This is a thread I created previously which may help

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2046842&highlight=shuttle+Edinburgh

Lothian buses are running the 43 as before on the same route to St Andrew Square every half hour from around 5am to after midnight, the last service being after midnight. Passengers at South Q will have an easy half mile walk from the pier at Hawes Inn to the stop in the centre of the village. Details at

https://lothianbuses.co.uk/timetables-and-maps/timetables/43. There is also the X43.

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Buses aren't a viable option any more from SQ. Train involves a walk up a steep hill at SQ and again in Edinburgh and not suitable for anybody with mobility issues. Yes there is a hill up from Princes Street to the Castle but my friend who has breathing difficulties can manage it in easy stages. This is a thread I created previously which may help

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2046842&highlight=shuttle+Edinburgh

What happened to the buses? I've been taking notes from the forums about the trains and buses and did notice they were a couple years old - so I should throw away all my bus notes? And just plan on the train?

You should note that once you get to the castle gate, the hill does not end. Inside the castle is pretty steep but they do offer to help people with mobility issues to see at least some of it.

Mobility vehicle

 

Our mobility vehicle is available for visitors who are unable to manage the castle’s steep slopes. The car can take visitors from the esplanade (entrance of the castle) to the castle’s highest point and back down at the end of their visit.

To make use of this service, simply ask a member of Edinburgh Castle staff to contact the car for you on arrival. Please note, this service is provided on a first come, first served basis so there may be a short wait before the car is available. Very occasionally we are unable to provide this service at short notice due to factors outwith our control.

Please contact us 24 hours prior to your visit to check the availability of the mobility vehicle’s on +44(0)131 225 9846 or email visitor information.

Wheelchairs

 

A limited number of wheelchairs are available on a first come, first served basis, and can be requested from the castle staff. Please note – pushing is hard work on the steep cobbled roadways.

https://www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/visit/access-for-all

What happened to the buses? I've been taking notes from the forums about the trains and buses and did notice they were a couple years old - so I should throw away all my bus notes? And just plan on the train?

A different bus has now replaced the old one but leaves from the same stop. This is the timetable for it. It's about a 10 minute flat, interesting walk from the pier to the bus stop but obviously it's a city service so will stop every few minutes.

https://lothianbuses.co.uk/timetables-and-maps/timetables/X43

The best site to get rail info is this one :

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk

And there is of course the privately operated shuttle bus, which I anticipate will be running this season

Thanks a lot for those useful answers. I'd like to know where exactly is the tender pier in SQ? I'm planning to take the regular bus, but, as I don't know where the pier is, can't plan the walk to bus stop on google maps. Thanks.

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The pier is called Hawes Pier and it is at the bottom of Hawes Brae. You can google both and they're clearly marked on the map.

Thanks a lot!

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Pas de quoi!