How to use the shuttle bus to get to Edinburgh

[AVNode]

Tartanexile: very helpful!!! Thank you so much for your posts.

[2forTravelin]

Hi, tartanexile,

 

Again thanks for the great information.

 

I would like my son in law to experience a real Scottish pub with local beer. Is there one like that on or near the Royal mile? It would be nice to stop for lunch and let everyone see what pub grub (which I love) is like. To complicate things a bit we'll be there on a Saturday.

 

Cindy

[showingdiva]

Allow me to suggest some pubs / restaurants in the Royal Mile.

 

The Albanach (Whisky bar) .. very good menu

http://www.albanach-edinburgh.co.uk/menu

 

Whiski Bar and Restaurant ... traditional Scottish

http://www.whiskibar.co.uk/about/menus.html

 

Deacon Brodies Tavern .. good variety of pub / traditional Scottish food / drink

http://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/scotlandandnorthernireland/deaconbrodiestavernroyalmileedinburgh

 

 

These are all tried and tested.

[2forTravelin]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have saved the list and I'm sure we'll try one as we walk the Mile.

 

Cindy

[fletcher32]

My advice:

 

Stay away from this bus shuttle service.

 

This summer we had a 2 days stop in South Queensferry. The first day I bought two tickets for this bus shuttle. After we had waited for more than 25 minutes for the bus to arrive, we decided to share a taxi with other cruise passengers. In the evening we returned to SQ by train.

 

Next day we wanted to go to Edinburgh again, so I asked the man who sells the tickets if there was any problem in using these two tickets that we had not used the day before. He said that those tickets I was showing to him were for the day before and we had to pay again for the shuttle.

 

The train station (Dalmeny) is only a 8 minutes walk from the dock. A ride to Edinburgh is only 15 minutes and 4.6 GBP for a return ticket.

 

This is just my experience.

[tartanexile81]

My advice:

 

Stay away from this bus shuttle service.

 

This summer we had a 2 days stop in South Queensferry. The first day I bought two tickets for this bus shuttle. After we had waited for more than 25 minutes for the bus to arrive, we decided to share a taxi with other cruise passengers. In the evening we returned to SQ by train.

 

Next day we wanted to go to Edinburgh again, so I asked the man who sells the tickets if there was any problem in using these two tickets that we had not used the day before. He said that those tickets I was showing to him were for the day before and we had to pay again for the shuttle.

 

The train station (Dalmeny) is only a 8 minutes walk from the dock. A ride to Edinburgh is only 15 minutes and 4.6 GBP for a return ticket.

 

This is just my experience.

 

Sorry things didn't work out you with the shuttle bus. Since I published this thread, the shuttle bus has become more and more popular and there are longer queues these days. However you must have hit prime time if you had to wait 25 minutes. Whilst there is a good service from the railway station, I'm sure you'll agree that the walk to the station isn't suitable for all and I personally find the 120 steps a real challenge. Also when the weather is rainy it is a muddy start to your day.

 

It's a pity you didn't speak to the coach operator about a refund on the day. Did the shuttle bus work out okay on day 2?

 

To other people considering the train, I should point out that the £4.60 tickets referred to are off-peak so may not suit everybody. A full price day return is £8.60 and the shortest train journey is 19 minutes and the longest 26 minutes. However you do avoid any traffic problems.

[roothy123]

Whilst there is a good service from the railway station, I'm sure you'll agree that the walk to the station isn't suitable for all and I personally find the 120 steps a real challenge. Also when the weather is rainy it is a muddy start to your day.

 

To other people considering the train, I should point out that the £4.60 tickets referred to are off-peak so may not suit everybody. A full price day return is £8.60 and the shortest train journey is 19 minutes and the longest 26 minutes. However you do avoid any traffic problems.

I may have posted this picture before, but here's a picture of the steps up to the train station. Maybe that will help some people decide if they want to take the train or not. I didn't take the train to Edinburgh, so I don't know for sure how much more climbing/walking/navigating might have been needed when at the top of the steps. However, the picture at least gives you an idea of the steps that tartanexile mentioned.

http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/image/151891015

[FritzG]

I may have posted this picture before, but here's a picture of the steps up to the train station. Maybe that will help some people decide if they want to take the train or not. I didn't take the train to Edinburgh, so I don't know for sure how much more climbing/walking/navigating might have been needed when at the top of the steps. However, the picture at least gives you an idea of the steps that tartanexile mentioned.

http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/image/151891015

 

Thanks, that counts us out.

[tartanexile81]

Thanks, that counts us out.

 

There's 120 steps in total Fritz and the photo just shows some of them. It's not an easy walk and I think fletcher was unlucky with the shuttle bus although when a ship with 3000 passengers arrives it's inevitable that there are some queues

[fletcher32]

It's a pity you didn't speak to the coach operator about a refund on the day. Did the shuttle bus work out okay on day 2?

 

I spoke to the man who was selling the tickets (you?). I just tried not to pay twice for one service but he (you?) refused.

 

 

As you can imagine I don't know if the bus worked ok on day 2 because we went to the train station.

[Cotswold Eagle]

I spoke to the man who was selling the tickets (you?). I just tried not to pay twice for one service but he (you?) refused.

 

 

 

 

 

This insinuation against one of the most helpful posters on this board (and one of the Forth Cruise volunteers, to boot, who give up their own time to welcome and help cruise ship visitors) is pretty pathetic.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Ladybentley]

My advice:

 

Stay away from this bus shuttle service.

 

This summer we had a 2 days stop in South Queensferry. The first day I bought two tickets for this bus shuttle. After we had waited for more than 25 minutes for the bus to arrive, we decided to share a taxi with other cruise passengers. In the evening we returned to SQ by train.

 

Next day we wanted to go to Edinburgh again, so I asked the man who sells the tickets if there was any problem in using these two tickets that we had not used the day before. He said that those tickets I was showing to him were for the day before and we had to pay again for the shuttle.

 

The train station (Dalmeny) is only a 8 minutes walk from the dock. A ride to Edinburgh is only 15 minutes and 4.6 GBP for a return ticket.

 

This is just my experience.

 

We had a worse experience with the shuttle bus. Because we had booked to stay in a hotel in the city after the Tattoo we asked the man directing people to the shuttle buses if we could use the return part of the tickets to come back to the ship the next day. His response was ‘Of course, why not?’We checked again with the lady we bought the tickets from and she also assured us it would be fine to use the return tickets the next day. However, when we returned to Charlotte Square the following afternoon and presented our tickets,the woman there demanded to see our wristbands. We didn’t know what she was talking about and explained we’d been told we could use the unused part of our tickets from the day before. She wouldn’t listen and kept saying ‘You’re not getting on the bus without a wristband’. Finally she called another woman over who was also very rude but finally grabbed our tickets and said to get on the bus. Everyone else we came across in Edinburgh was so friendly but these women made us feel like criminals trying to rip them off when it was actually the other way round. If the tickets are only valid for one day, then they should say so. Also, we wouldn’t have liked to have walked around the city all day wearing bright orange wristbands marking us out as tourists.

[FritzG]

This insinuation against one of the most helpful posters on this board (and one of the Forth Cruise volunteers, to boot, who give up their own time to welcome and help cruise ship visitors) is pretty pathetic.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I agree! Not only is she very helpful and kind on these boards, she is a very lovely lady. We sailed with her in 2015.

[fletcher32]

This insinuation against one of the most helpful posters on this board (and one of the Forth Cruise volunteers, to boot, who give up their own time to welcome and help cruise ship visitors) is pretty pathetic.

 

It is not an insinuation. It´s just that I don´t know if tartanexile81 is the man who I spoke to at the dock.

[tartanexile81]

It is not an insinuation. It´s just that I don´t know if tartanexile81 is the man who I spoke to at the dock.

 

This board is not for people to have a go at other posters who are trying to be helpful. In my POLITE response to you suggested you could have taken the matter up with the coach operator. There was nothing in my reply to suggest I was the person concerned and there was no need for your unpleasant retort. I created this thread myself to help people. I also created one to assist people taking the train from SQ and one for people arriving at Newhaven. I spent time in and around Queensferry, Newhaven and Edinburgh taking photos and putting them together here. It is time-consuming but I'm happy to do it - usually.

 

As other have said I am a Welcome Volunteer. Last year we were presented with an award from the Scottish Tourist Board for the work we do at the four ports serving Edinburgh. This morning I've spent 4 hours on a ship running an information desk, and by the way, we're all volunteers and receive no money for what we do. I love cruising and I love what I do as a volunteer. I also enjoy contributing here as I know how much I benefit from advice from locals for the ports we're visiting. There's no place for nastiness on these boards.

 

Just needed to get that off my chest.

[blakejared]

To other people considering the train, I should point out that the £4.60 tickets referred to are off-peak so may not suit everybody. A full price day return is £8.60 and the shortest train journey is 19 minutes and the longest 26 minutes. However you do avoid any traffic problems.

 

That's a really good tip. We took the train and was surprised the price was only 4.60 since our research suggested higher. When we were trying to get back in late afternoon, we were running for the train and our tickets didn't let us get through the turnstiles.

 

This was because they were off-peak tickets, so we had to ask an inspector to Add Fare, so had to take the next train.

 

The walk to the train station does take 10 minutes even after the stairs, and the signage to the station needs to be improved... one sign was ripped off. Our grandparents took the shuttle bus for 2 pounds more than us, and it was much more convenient for them.

 

I'm not discouraging anyone from taking the train, though. It's easy to do for younger or more fit folk. The family in line in front of me didn't have to pay for their two kids since they were under 16, so that saved them money. Be sure to find out returning train times and name of the train (the final destination) before leaving the train station in Edinburgh, so you can plan ahead for when to get back to the station to find the right platform.

[fletcher32]

In my POLITE response to you suggested you could have taken the matter up with the coach operator.

 

The man who I talked to the second day was the same man that had sold me the tickets the day before. Is he what you call the "coach operator"?

 

There was nothing in my reply to suggest I was the person concerned and there was no need for your unpleasant retort.

 

 

Of course there was nothing in your reply that suggested that you were the person concerned. I was only wondering if tartanexile81 (you) is the man who I spoke to at the dock, ie the man who sells the tickets for the shuttle bus.

 

There's no place for nastiness on these boards.

 

 

I absolutely agree. But I hope you understand that, the same way I give a high rate (o write a review) when I have a great experience, I can do the opposite when I have a very negative experience. And as you can read in this thread I am not alone regarding this shuttle bus service.

[itsanita]

tartanexile81,

 

 

Thank you so much for all your wonderful information.

 

 

We will be 'over nighting' in Edinburgh next August with Celebrity. You were kind enough to suggest some pubs that we will definitely look into, and with all your helpful information about the tenders at Newhaven, we have decided to stay overnight in Edinburgh using airbnb and attend the Tattoo.

My question is about the Witchery. We were planning on making reservations there before our Tattoo performance. Firstly because it sounded so lovely and secondly because it was so close to the castle....very easy to finish our dinner and then join the line for the Tattoo. However I have heard that in addition to be very pricey, they have many tables pushed together and that due to being so crowded you can hardly hold a conversation. I was wondering about your opinion of this restaurant and if there was another one that was close to the castle that we might enjoy more.

 

 

Again, thanks so much for all you do!!

[tartanexile81]

tartanexile81,

 

 

Thank you so much for all your wonderful information.

 

 

We will be 'over nighting' in Edinburgh next August with Celebrity. You were kind enough to suggest some pubs that we will definitely look into, and with all your helpful information about the tenders at Newhaven, we have decided to stay overnight in Edinburgh using airbnb and attend the Tattoo.

My question is about the Witchery. We were planning on making reservations there before our Tattoo performance. Firstly because it sounded so lovely and secondly because it was so close to the castle....very easy to finish our dinner and then join the line for the Tattoo. However I have heard that in addition to be very pricey, they have many tables pushed together and that due to being so crowded you can hardly hold a conversation. I was wondering about your opinion of this restaurant and if there was another one that was close to the castle that we might enjoy more.

 

 

Again, thanks so much for all you do!!

 

The Witchery is very popular with tourists and is ideally placed for the castle. However I'm not that keen on 'themed' restaurants and prefer quieter places where the emphasis is on the food. My only reservation is everywhere is so busy during the Festival.

 

If you're looking for fine dining, one restaurant I like very much is Castle Terrace. I don't know how much it is for dinner as we go for lunch when there is a set menu. From there you would just walk uphill to join the queue for the Tattoo on Johnstone Terrace. We were there last week and there was a really long queue for the late performance. This is the Castle Terrace website https://castleterracerestaurant.com/.

 

My friend likes Michael Neaves restaurant. It's a bit further down from the Castle than the Witchery down one of the atmospheric closes.

http://www.michaelneave.co.uk

 

I've been to a couple more restaurants on the Royal Mile which are pretty good and like the others I mentioned you can check out their websites and read the reviews on TripAdvisor. There's the Wedgwood http://www.wedgwoodtherestaurant.co.uk

or Angels with Bagpipes. http://www.angelswithbagpipes.co.uk/the-restaurant/

 

They all use quality Scottish produce.

 

We love to eat out and depending on fro fine dining to just grabbing a pizza so if you're looking for more of a fast food meal, let me know.

[tartanexile81]

 

I absolutely agree..

 

I hope you will remember that in the future. Other people obviously agreed about the unpleasant tone of your response.

 

Of course people are entitled to give their opinion. However I see 3000+ people disembarking every cruise day and a significant proportion all hoping to use the shuttle bus so there will inevitably be blips. On the whole however people are happy.

 

BTW thanks to my fellow posters on this board for their support. Much appreciated :)

[Ladybentley]

I hope you will remember that in the future. Other people obviously agreed about the unpleasant tone of your response.

 

Of course people are entitled to give their opinion. However I see 3000+ people disembarking every cruise day and a significant proportion all hoping to use the shuttle bus so there will inevitably be blips. On the whole however people are happy.

 

BTW thanks to my fellow posters on this board for their support. Much appreciated :)

 

I'm grateful for your helpful posts in the past and I appreciate that you are a volunteer. Nevertheless I think that being told we could not use the unused part of our tickets from the previous day after being assured twice by the ticket sellers when we bought them that they would be accepted is a bit more than just a blip. This bus company needs to get its policies sorted and then print them on their tickets. Incidentally, although it's not for you to do it, we never received an apology for the rude way we were treated or for promising one thing and then telling us the opposite the next day.

[tartanexile81]

I'm grateful for your helpful posts in the past and I appreciate that you are a volunteer. Nevertheless I think that being told we could not use the unused part of our tickets from the previous day after being assured twice by the ticket sellers when we bought them that they would be accepted is a bit more than just a blip. This bus company needs to get its policies sorted and then print them on their tickets. Incidentally, although it's not for you to do it, we never received an apology for the rude way we were treated or for promising one thing and then telling us the opposite the next day.

 

No point complaining here and having a go at me. Contact the coach operator. At the end of the day it was a £10 ticket, during a holiday that cost £0000s.

[bbqoug]

The Witchery is very popular with tourists and is ideally placed for the castle. However I'm not that keen on 'themed' restaurants and prefer quieter places where the emphasis is on the food. My only reservation is everywhere is so busy during the Festival.

 

If you're looking for fine dining, one restaurant I like very much is Castle Terrace. I don't know how much it is for dinner as we go for lunch when there is a set menu. From there you would just walk uphill to join the queue for the Tattoo on Johnstone Terrace. We were there last week and there was a really long queue for the late performance. This is the Castle Terrace website https://castleterracerestaurant.com/.

 

My friend likes Michael Neaves restaurant. It's a bit further down from the Castle than the Witchery down one of the atmospheric closes.

http://www.michaelneave.co.uk

 

I've been to a couple more restaurants on the Royal Mile which are pretty good and like the others I mentioned you can check out their websites and read the reviews on TripAdvisor. There's the Wedgwood http://www.wedgwoodtherestaurant.co.uk

or Angels with Bagpipes. http://www.angelswithbagpipes.co.uk/the-restaurant/

 

They all use quality Scottish produce.

 

We love to eat out and depending on fro fine dining to just grabbing a pizza so if you're looking for more of a fast food meal, let me know.

 

This is fantastic information for our future cruise leaving out of Edinburgh. We are planning on arriving at least 2 days before the cruise.

I have bookmarked your information since we enjoy fine dining & tasting menus.

[Ladybentley]

No point complaining here and having a go at me. Contact the coach operator. At the end of the day it was a £10 ticket, during a holiday that cost £0000s.

 

I thought I made it clear that our issue was nothing to do with you. I was merely warning other people that there can be problems with using this service, as at least two users recently have discovered. It wasn't just the demand for another £20 that we didn't like but the unpleasant experience. As I said, everyone else we came across in Edinburgh was friendly and helpful.

[tartanexile81]

I thought I made it clear that our issue was nothing to do with you. I was merely warning other people that there can be problems with using this service, as at least two users recently have discovered. It wasn't just the demand for another £20 that we didn't like but the unpleasant experience. As I said, everyone else we came across in Edinburgh was friendly and helpful.

 

 

What can I say? :'):'):')