Holyrood Palace ticket & tour reviews
I’ve reviewed all six Holyrood Palace tickets and tours sold through GetYourGuide — the plain entry ticket, the bundles, and the walking tours that finish at the palace gates. Each review says what you actually get, what real bookers reported, and where the product falls short. One of the six has a thin review record and I say so plainly. If you just want the palace, start with the entry ticket review.
The six tickets and tours I review
Palace of Holyroodhouse Entry Ticket
Plain palace entry with the multimedia guide — the ticket most visitors actually need.
from £22Read the full review ›
Royal Edinburgh Ticket (Castle + Britannia + Holyrood + Bus)
Three royal sights and the hop-on hop-off buses on one 48-hour ticket.
from £81Read the full review ›
Castle Guided Tour & Holyrood Palace Ticket
Guided castle morning, self-guided palace afternoon — read the small print first.
from £85Read the full review ›
Harry Potter Tour & Palace of Holyrood Entry
A guided Potter walk through the Old Town, then the palace at your own pace.
from £58Read the full review ›
Mary Queen of Scots Guided Walking Tour
A live guide and the whole Mary story, Holyrood to the castle esplanade. No entries included.
from £19.50Read the full review ›
The Royal Tour: Castle, Holyrood & Royal Mile
Five hours, both entries, a guide for most of it. Groups of four or more only.
from £99Read the full review ›Prefer to compare them side by side first? See all tickets and tours, the full 2026 price rundown, or my straight answer to whether Holyrood is worth visiting at all.
Frequently asked questions
How were these reviews put together?
I read through the GetYourGuide review record for each product — ratings, counts and what bookers actually wrote — and checked the practical details against what I see on the ground guiding on the Royal Mile. Where a product is new and thinly reviewed, like the castle combo, the review says so rather than pretending eight ratings settle anything.
Are these reviews independent?
Yes. I’m a walking-tour guide, not a ticket seller, and this site is not the Royal Collection Trust. I earn a small commission if you book through my links, at no extra cost to you, but the site recommends the £19.50 Mary tour as readily as the £99 one when it fits. The affiliate disclosure has the detail.
Which ticket should most people buy?
The plain entry ticket at £22. If you also want Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Yacht Britannia inside 48 hours, the Royal Edinburgh Ticket at £81 beats the £94.50 you’d pay buying the four parts separately — the maths is on the combo tickets page.