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EE'S Guide to Edinburgh Bus Tours

No visit to Edinburgh would be complete without stepping aboard an Edinburgh Tour Bus.  With an amazing four tours (in main season) to choose from you are literally spoilt for choice!  The Hop on, Hop off tour buses offer a unique glimpse of the city and stop at some of the key tourist sights located across the Scottish capital. 


The tours run regularly throughout the day from their starting point at Waterloo Place and all tours return to where they started in order to do it all again for another group of excited ticket holders. 


Tickets can be purchased from the army of ticket sellers on Waverley Bridge, the fantastically helpful Tour Drivers or at a Lothian Buses Travel Shop.  There are various ticket options to choose from and the team will help you work out which ticket is perfect for you to ensure you get the best experience possible.
 

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Edinburgh Tour Bus at Waterloo Place

About The Tours

As mentioned above, Edinburgh Bus Tours operate four routes across the capital in main season, each of these tours follow a different route around the city or though obviously there are times when they happen to cross each other’s path. Each tour either has a live guide (The Edinburgh Tour & the 3 Bridges Tour) or a recorded commentary that is translated in 10 different languages and provided through headphones that are available for free on board.
 

Below are lists showing just some of the highlights of each tour.  More in-depth route planners can be found on the Edinburgh Bus Tour's Website.

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  • Grassmarket

  • Lawnmarket

  • Edinburgh Castle

  • National Museum of Scotland

  • Old Town

  • Palace of Holyrood House

  • Regent Road / Calton Hill

  • New Town

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  • Palace of Holyrood House

  • Scottish Parliament

  • Old Town & Royal Mile

  • National Museum of Scotland

  • Historic Grassmarket

  • Edinburgh Castle

  • Georgian New Town

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  • Georgian New Town

  • Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

  • Newhaven

  • Ocean Terminal

  • Leith Cruise Terminal

  • Royal Yacht Britannia

  • Palace of Holyrood House

  • Scottish Parliament

  • Old Town & Royal Mile

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  • Forth Road Bridge

  • Forth Rail Bridge

  • Queensferry Crossing

  • Inchcolm Island

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Separate landing passes can be purchased on board the Forth Belle which are required if you want to visit the island.

Having experienced all four of the tours ourselves, we can't praise them enough.  The buses - each with their own unique tour route livery - visit all the key locations and the commentary that accompanies each tour is both insightful and entertaining.  The entire Edinburgh Tours team are very friendly and are extremely knowledgeable about the city and will be only happy to be of assistance where they can. 


No matter how long or short your stay in Edinburgh is, you can't truly say you've seen the sights unless you have observed the city from the upper deck of an Edinburgh Tour's bus!

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