The Royal Yacht Britannia

Historic elegant place to visit. Good audio to explain all the interesting places available in a wide range of languages. Very easy to follow and make your way around the yacht. Amazing to learn how everything worked to serve the royal family and see where the various ranks lived. Felt like we were a part of history standing in the same place as so many famous people from around the world.

Visiting the Royal Yacht Britannia felt like stepping back in time into a world of royal elegance and maritime heritage. The self-guided audio tour was both informative and easy to follow, offering fascinating insights into the grandeur of the yacht as well as the daily routines of life aboard the Queen’s former vessel. If you’re in Edinburgh, this experience is an absolute must-see. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in history, royalty, or naval design.

A unique (2h)walk through the past. The Royal Yacht it’s incredibly well preserved. The walk start throughout the exhibition, with some videos, pictures not only of the history of the ship but The Late Queen Elizabeth II and her family. Then you must pick up your self-guided device and start a lovely journey, the experience of the audioguide while in the rooms listening the stories -at your own pace-make it lovely. There is a Tearoom in the Ship that I highly recommend(last admission 16:30). You can also see the late Queen Land Rover, Rolls Royce and the small yacht. There is also a gift shop at the end. Don’t disappoint.

It felt like stepping back in time into royal history. The self-guided audio tour was very informative and easy to follow, giving insight into both the grandeur and the everyday life aboard the Queen’s former yacht. Highlights for me included the Queen’s bedroom, the engine room, and the charming tearoom with a beautiful view. Highly recommend visiting if you’re in Edinburgh – it’s a must-see

Beautifully preserved and full of charm, the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh is a rare glimpse into royal life at sea. Each deck feels like walking through history—with elegant rooms, polished brass, and lovely little details that show how the royal family lived and entertained. The audio guide is excellent, and the tearoom on board is a treat. Definitely worth visiting if you’re in Edinburgh.

A Royal Experience Not to Miss! An incredible glimpse into royal life aboard the beautifully preserved Royal Yacht Britannia. The self-guided tour was informative and easy to follow, with fascinating stories on every deck. Immaculate presentation, friendly staff, and a truly unique experience. A must-visit while in Edinburgh!

Terrificly well presented, it was nice to see where my hard earned tax had gone. Great venue accessed through the shopping centre plus free parking. Staff were excellent and the tearoom delightful. Not so sure about the planned block of apartments on the adjoining land!

Really enjoyed touring the Brittania. It is extremely well organized. The audio tour is very informative and really adds to the experience. It was quite fascinating to see and hear how the Queen and her family lived aboard the yacht. Incredible how many miles it travelled during its active service. Highly recommend this tour if you have interest in the monarchy or just private yachts generally.

Step back into time as if you were a royal from the House of Windsor! The Royal Yacht used by Queen Elizabeth and her family for decades, this ship is unique and historically significant. The self-guided audio tour has plenty of information at each station but you can skip as much as you like. The lower levels showed how the crew lived in cramped but cozy conditions, always with a sense of British humor. The personal rooms of the royals were kept intact, allowing you to see how their personal style impacted the decor. We strolled around viewing the authentic pictures that hang around their rooms, getting chills when we saw the honeymoon suite of King Charles and Princess Diana! The middle deck had a lovely tea room that allowed you to have a full meal or just a cup of tea and scones, which was a nice dining experience amidst the tour. The staff were helpful and friendly, and even took our pictures when asked. Tip: you can share a pot of tea between 2 people, it's large! Overall, the yacht is a fascinating glimpse of the past and insight into how the House of Windsor passed their free time. You can spend 1.5-2 hours here with no trouble!

A bit of a tourist trap but it is interesting in a way. I have a hard time understanding hereditary monarchy in this day and age. But it was quite interesting to see how the royals were cared for

So cool to roam the yacht that Queen Elizabeth loved and used regularly... Had lunch at the tea room really good chicken salad definitely suggest this tour you get a handheld recorded device in your own language. That helps understand the history.

We took the hop on hop off bus here. Unfortunately, the ticket agent didn't reduce our ticket prices with tour ticket for the bus; however, we contacted them afterwards and they made arrangements for the proper credit. Wonderful customer service! The vessel itself and the interiors were all excellently preserved and a marvel to see. You could imagine when the royals were milling about or the many staff were busy to keep the yacht moving and operating. We enjoyed the self guided tour. There were plenty of restrooms on board for public use. There was also a cafe for tea and a fudge shop.

A unique experience. The rich history and opulence are unparalleled. The tour includes many different areas and allows you to see the areas that visitors did not see (such as the laundry room).

I've been wanting to visit the Queen's Royal Yacht since I was a kid. I just knew I couldn't visit Scotland without seeing it, so it was the first thing I did after I arrived in Scotland. Parking was plentiful on my visit, however, I had a hard time locating the parking garage. I had to drive up and down the street a couple of times before I realized where the entrance was. Totally my fault because I was still learning the methods of driving in Scotland at this point. I purchased my timed entry ticket a month in advance, but I was running 30 minutes late for my entry window due to heavy rain and even heavier traffic from Glasgow. I was worried that they would deny me entry when I got there per the entry rules on their website. However, when I arrived, they scanned my ticket with no issues. I was very happy I purchased my ticket in advance because they were extremely busy. I do wish they would remove the timed entry though, it's truly stressful when things happen out of your control and you can't make your entry window. After my ticket was scanned, I waited in line to pickup an audio headset for the tour. The audio tour is great because it gives you some history and insight into what you're seeing as you move along the Yacht. I'd set aside 3 hours for the tour if you want to see, read, and hear the audio in every room. If you're short on time, 2 hours is the minimum amount of time I'd plan around. The Yacht is huge and if it's busy, you'll have to do a lot of waiting in line before you can move forward. It was raining and cold during my visit, so guests who didn't have umbrellas huddled into some of the warm rooms to get out of the rain and warm up. This really made it harder to see and capture pictures in some of the key areas. I highly suggest you bring an umbrella just incase, it's Scotland after all, and it will make your tour easier if it does rain. The Yacht was absolutely amazing. It was cool to see Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's bedroom's, as well as the Royal Dining Room that hosted President's, World Leaders, and other Notable persons. My absolute favorite was the Sun deck. I could totally visualize Princess Margaret sitting in a lounge chair with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of something strong in the other as she looked out at the ocean. I'm sure the Royal children including King Charles have some great family memories on that sun deck. Lastly, I really enjoyed learning about the Royal Navy and other service staff who manned and lived on the Royal Yacht. It's amazing to think it took 300 service people to run this ship anytime the Queen, Prince, or other Royals were on a voyage. It's nice to know the service staff were well taken care of as well. Ticket prices are well worth everything you get to see and learn about while on the Royal Yacht. Queen Elizabeth II truly lived a Royal Life made for a Queen. I'm grateful I was able to get a glimpse of the life she was given. People say Scotland was Her Majesty's favorite place in the world, it's only suitable that her home on the sea rest in Scotland as well. I highly recommend a visit to the Royal Yacht if you ever find yourself in Edinburgh, it's definitely worth the visit.

It's a wonderful venue to visit. it shows you a lot about how the British Royal family lives.

Amazing to the opulent wealth of British Royals. Captains were admirals in the royal navy. Used for weekend cruise ship. Costing millions of pounds. For no other purpose than spoiling incredible wealthy people at taxpayer expense. Peasants.

Great trip through history and the exhibits on the yacht are fantastic. The tea room was also a great experience and the entire staff were helpful and friendly.

We visited the Royal Yacht Britannia years ago and this is the first time we have been back. What a great decision. The entrance in the Ocean Terminal is great, the audio tour is excellent and the boat is laid out perfectly. The tea room during the middle of the tour is lovely with a service befitting the setting. All in all a lovely 1 1/2 hour visit.

Our visit aboard the RYB was so much more interesting than we imagined it would be! This was Queen Elizabeth & Royal Family's home away from home from 1953 to 1997. It sailed 1,000,000 nautical miles. It's a fascinating contrast with the stately private and public rooms that the Royal Family occupied and the below deck quarters of the "Yotties" who served aboard. The RYB hosted 968 state visits with such luminaries as: Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Ronald Reagan and Rajiv Ghandhi. There were many other official receptions, four Royal honeymoons and over 44 years of Royal holidays spent aboard. I especially liked the Queen's bedroom and Prince Phillip's next door, the state dining room with ornate place settings, the "casual" wood floored sun room and the top deck Tea Room. The officers' pub below decks, the non-officer lounge and the various gifts from around the world were also worthwhile. It's £16 for adults and a free audio set (a bit clunky and unwieldy though) is included in the price. There's a really well-stocked gift shop with lots of variety and they sell the ship's homemade fudge both onboard and in the shop. Your admission helps to preserve the ship via the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust. This was the last of 83 Royal yachts in a tradition that began in the 1660's! There is free parking at the Leith mall where it is located. We took the city bus from the Royal Mile and the bus drivers were kind enough to help us with the fare. I usually don't say this about "tourist" attractions, but I'd come back for high tea on that beautiful upper deck with a view. Yelp Challenge 2018: 70/100

Nice tour, but a shame that you can't move directly between decks (there is an access stairwell that connects all decks). Nicely maintained vessel. The Royal Deck Tearoom on the Britannia was a pleasant stop for coffee and tea during our tour of the yacht. Pretty standard tearoom fare, and a bit expensive, but great views and nice place to spend some time. The Britannia is an easy bus ride from the Royal Mile area, but still took over 30 minutes to get there.

Being a navy veteran, I was really anticipating our visit to the Royal Yacht Britannia and I wasn't disappointed. The yacht is well preserved and really shows off the grandeur of how the Royal family traveled. There is a bit of a "disconnect" between the grandeur of the yacht and the real world as you enter the yacht exhibit through a shopping mall. There is an admission fee to tour the yacht but it's well worth the cost of admission. We used the self-guided audio tour which did a good job of explaining what we were seeing. This is an excellent attraction and is well worth the admission fee. The yacht is well preserved and well maintained.

As an American, we found it interesting at the opulence of the Royal family. We have no royalty here in USA, so we find it interesting at the money spent to keep the Royals living in such opulence. I am disabled, and it was great for me to see it. The staff was wonderful and helpful. I was surprised to se that Admirals commanded the operation of what essentially was a pleasure craft for the Royal family. As I understand it....they are not actually in command of anything in the UK. Basically public figureheads. In the US, our President lives in opuance also, but much is needed to protect the actual head of our Government. The Britannia is well worth seeing, and this was my second visit being there 2018 as well.

I came here because my hubby liked to pay a visit to the Britannia at first. I didn't really expected during that time. I did look up some pictures online first before I actually heading there. At the end, we both have enjoyed our visit there. When we first got here, we didn't know that the entrance to the ship was actually inside the mall. But it didn't take us much time to find it, thanks for the great orientation signs inside the mall. The admission wasn't free, but the price was acceptable. We got our tickets and started our exploring here. Before we actual go to the ship. We got a small brief of background of the ship. It was like a small gallery. It used to the personal ship of prince Phillips. After that we started to walk around from the top of ship. There were many interesting sections from each floors. And a mini game to count how many marine bears inside the ship. It made it much fun to check things out. They also offer audio guide at the entrance so we could have better understanding of what is what. We end up spent more than an hour here. We walked through the whole thing. It was brilliant. They did prepare some chairs on board which allowed visitor to take a short break. Also a café. If we had more time back then, we will probably take a small break there as well. After that, we went to the gift shop and looked around. Which it took us back to the shopping mall. The shop got quite a lot to offer. Cool place to look for some gifts.

Mrs. M and I shared a very enjoyable visit to former Royal yacht Britannia. The tour is well laid out and the staff very helpful. As you can imagine it is very much geared to the Royals. I honestly would have preferred a bit more about the ship and crew but it is the former Royal yacht. Be sure to bring along your ear buds for your mobile. You can play the audio position of the tour on your mobile device and I wish I'd have known this before our tour. They do have free audio handsets for the tour but ear buds would have been easier to hear in noisier spaces.

Pricey but lovely. Love menu was great. Staff efficient. The tea and cakes were divine. You feel royal for a bit.

It was neat to see how the Queen lives both with family and playing just to foreign dignitaries. We opted out of the audio tour and just enjoyed taking in the many rooms used by the royal family and the staff of the Brittania. And for kids, they can part in a Corgi hunt which earns them a prize at the end our the tour. That kept the younger members of our party occupied. Definitely a must see while visiting Edinburgh.

Somewhat disappointed that a magnificent vessel, from my childhood and so Royal in it's time, should end up tied to a wharf with a shopping mall as its neighbour. Also, the dock looks so grubby with a drab vista beyond. Bring it back to London where it will be displayed in pride of place and return its Royal heritage.

Loved touring this giant ship! You get an audioguide handed to you before boarding, which is really helpful and navigates you along through the whole ship at your own pace which is very thoughtful. They have a little exhibit on the land before boarding the ship which is also nice, and gets the gears going to think about all you're about to learn. There is also a lovely little cafe surrounded by glass windows, which was perfect to have a little tea time (and GF scones!). Very friendly staff all around who are all willing to even take stupid pictures whenever you want. Learned so much and it's such a stunning vessel! Enjoyed every second of it!

We arrived at 9:30 when it opened and we felt as if we had the place to ourselves. An informative audio guide is included with admission. Almost all parts of the yacht are open from state rooms to laundry to crew quarters to engine room. It took us about 1.5 hours to see everything. Afterward we went to the tea room and had tea, a slice of coffee pecan cake, and a slice of 12-year-old Glenfiddich whisky cake for 15£. Several buses run from Princes Street to Ocean Terminal but the #22 is the most direct. You enter the Britannia from a lift in the Ocean Terminal mall.

The main attraction in Leith is located in the Ocean Terminal Shopping Center (just follow the signs). You can explore five decks of this yacht from the royal apartments to the engine room all with assistance from an audio guide. You can even have tea in the dining hall. It's really interesting to see how British Royalty set sail and learning all the history behind it. However, it's pretty cramped and crowded and it's not that big. Admission for the tour is £16 which isn't too terrible but I found other places in the city more fascinating to be honest.

Riveting must-see! Worth every pound. I was hooked to the audio guide as I meandered the Queen's floating palace. Enthralled by the various rooms, royal family photos, and workers' quarters. Insiders tips: entry to the site is through the Ocean Terminal mall...this is not well-signed. And you can't walk from city centre...take the 22 bus. Ocean Terminal is the last stop.

Very beautiful sitting area with nice tea but the food is expensive for the quality. The scones were nice and we recommend the lemon cake if you want sweets. The rusty nail was a bit watery but still good. The tour is very nice and filled with lots of interesting historical events.

Nicely presented tour of the Royal yacht decommissioned in the mid 1990's. Audio tour included with price. You can spend as much time as you need, and backtrack if you like. The tour highlights the crew and daily operation of the yacht, it's not just about the royals. The tearoom is nice but a bit pricey, Debenham's department store cafe overlooks the yacht so would be great place for reasonably priced breakfast or lunch before or after your tour. Their sandwiches are half the price. We took a taxi from Waverley Station cost over 11 pounds, took number 22 bus back only 3 pounds 20p for both of us! City buses are the best deal for getting around Edinburgh, daily pass about 3 pounds.

Ehhh. Not worth it. Don't waste your money. It was not exciting at all. Overpriced. We ran through the whole tour in no time.

This was absolutely fantastic, so much better then I was expecting. The visit starts at a new shopping mall in the outskirts of Edinburgh at the port of Leith. Lucky for us, our apartments were just across the water from this magnificent yacht so we could easily walk the distance and enjoy the Scottish fresh air. The visit is divided in different levels and you start in the top level of the yacht and you make your way through the ship using an external stairway (a lift is available for accessibility purposes). The visit is self guided, the devices are a little large. I confess I didn't look for a headphone jack but a device with headphones similar to the ones provided at Alcatraz or Holyroodhouse would be preferable, especially for someone with young children that need to be looked after from time to time. I won't spoil the visit but will say that you have access to a the vast majority of the ship and you will see how all the crew lived, from the deckhands to the officers, their recreational spaces and of course the Royal Family living areas. The rear deck is incredible and I could easily see myself enjoying many hours of sunshine in that deck with the swimming pool that could be brought in at a moment's notice. What impressed me the most in the Yacht was the simplicity of the decor. I was expecting something far more ostentatious but it had a real country feeling to it and that's what the Queen wanted according to the audio guide. Good job! Another highlight was all the gifts handed over on state dinners by personalities from all over the world and are displayed all over the main dining room. The lower floors (working areas) were also very interesting, from the mail room to the infirmary and laundry the ship was equipped to become a hospital in just a few hours if required in case of conflict. This dual utility of the yacht was unknown to me and reveals a human side to the English Royal Family that is often forgotten especially in the USA. One more point of interest is the coffee shop. You'll be in the upper deck with all glass walls and a very classic decor. While it is a little on the expensive side, the food quality more then makes up for it. We had a soup and scones and both were delicious. I'd recommend. Another interesting fact is that the Yacht still received often events even from members of the Royal Family with Prince William having had a reception only a few months before we visited the Yacht. Overall I would highly recommend a visit to this floating piece of history.

The Royal Yacht Britannia is a very fun and exciting self guided tour. Upon arrival you get a radio and you basically help yourself around the yacht. Fun and exciting history lesson. Also in the mall is a little instagram booth that allows you to print pictures from your Instagram page for 99 pence. Fun fact for Instagram lovers.

The first thing you need to know is, that you need to walk into the shopping mall and go up to the 2nd floor, to find the entrance for the yacht. Then first you have a small museum with history information and ship staff information, before you can enter this marvelous yacht. We did spend 2,5 hours on the ship within a half hour of lunch in the restaurant on the top of the yacht. We took a wild mushroom soup and a sandwich with bacon and mustard. Both of the meals were absolutely delicious. The sandwich was gluten and dairy free. My soup was vegetarian. On the ship you can use an audio guard, there are 15 languages you can choose for. And if you're hard of hearing, there is a possibility to put a headset in the audio guard. If you're deaf or hard of hearing they have the oral given information also in written languages (in books) also in 15 languages!!! What you can see is: the sleeping rooms of the royal family; those for the staff and the guests. The other ships, the car on the ship, the marvelous dinning room where the staff need to spend over 3 hours to put every spoon, glass and chair completly the same and right. In the yard is just to much to see, you definatly need to see it when you're in town!

If you find yourself in Edinburgh and you don't take time to your the Brittania, you truly are missing out on a treasure! This was the Queen's Royal Yacht until 1997 when it was decided by the people of the UK that it was too expensive to run and was decommissioned. The Queen was pissed and heck! I don't blame her. This is one fantastic yacht!! They show you the royal apartments and the bedrooms including the one where Chuck and Di spent their honeymoon. They have a tea room inside and I highly recommend getting tea and a scone for the added bonus of having tea on the Queen's Yacht! They serve a nice Edinburgh blend too! Definitely go here! Only £17 to enter and a giant gift shop!!

You've got to love dear old Prince Philip haven't you? Known for regularly making "innocent remarks taken out of context", usually about black or disabled people, and gruesomely butchering pheasants and foxes when his dodgy hip allows, he's a shining example of all that is great about the monarchy. Lizzie and him used to take their holidays on this wonderful boat. Since you paid for each one of those holidays, and the boat itself, you're now allowed to come on board since they've decided they don't want it anymore. That pretty much sums up the Royal Yacht. It's basically a testament to the wonderfully lavish lives that the royals lead at the expense of you, me, and every other downtrodden taxpayer in the country. The thought of Lizzie and Phil (with socks still on) going at it hammer and tongs in the state rooms made me feel a bit sick, so I didn't dwell too much on the tour. Don't think I missed all that much.

Really worth the trip. Get off the bus at the giant mall and go to the second floor. Come early do you can have tea aboard. Individual audio tour is really well done.

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of this ship yesterday. It is quite unfortunate that it is retired from service. It looks so well kept that it could probably return to service at any time! Our first delight was the ease and accessibility that we could take our daughter through in her stroller and not have to carry her around. This allowed all if us the ability to enjoy the audio tour and many sites to be had on the boat. The staff are quite courteous and knowledgeable, willing to share other information and snap a family photo if asked. Was a highlight of our trip to Edinburgh.

Amazing to see where the queen slept and ate and entertained guests. Not extremely opulent but nice.

The whole thing seems like a tourist trap as it sits next to a shopping mall. And yet it was very well done - classy and tasteful. The Britannia is a beautiful ship - a testament to how things were built in a different era. The most impressive part for me were the dining room and drawing rooms in the stern. One gets the feeling that the Royal family truly enjoyed their time on board not only for the places they visited but for having a small sense of privacy while away at sea. I enjoyed it more than I thought.

The Royal Yacht - there is no other way to put this - is a floating museum of the life of the Royals. But dont stop reading now, because actually, the whole experience is a great one. Not only will your admission fee get you on board this amazing piece of maritime engineering and treaure trove of Royal decadance that is berthed at Ocean Terminal (so it's quite a way from the city centre - make a day of it), but the stories it tells are laid out like some form of amazing map of where this ship has taken its royal passangers and the reasons they went - ranging from holidays to diplomatic visits. Really, the history on board this ship is staggering - and as a bit of a history buff, thats my thing. A great day out, and getting there couldnt be easier, even though it really is a bit out of the way.

It was recommended by a colleague and glad I made the time to visit. It's always amazing to witness history in the making and this yacht has a story to tell, one I wanted to listen to. It's such a beautiful piece of machinery and the organisation behind to welcome the Royal family on their many voyage was fascinating. I would also recommend a stop in the tea room on the Royal Deck. I had the cream of Cullen soup ... still salivating !!

Really impressive yacht. It was built for the Queen and it was in service for more than 40 years. The private rooms, the engine room, the "yotties" are fascinating. What a luxurious place!!. The ticket includes audioguide so you wont miss a thing! The entrance is inside a shopping Mall. Easy to reach by bus from Princess Street (remember to pay with the exact money the bus driver as they dont give change back)

I came away from looking around the Royal Yaught Brittania feeling very hard done by. I paid £9.75 to look around and it was really disappointing. The Royal family seem to have had terrible taste in decor and it looked like the corgis' had had a chew on everything. The best thing about it was the visitor centre and gift shop which is inside Ocean Terminal. My recommendation - look at it from the shopping mall.

Amazon, just amazing, loved it and very interesting . Saw the picture when Prince Harry and William were little, they just looked adorable as they do, wellbrecommented to having a look plus they have a tea room

Beautiful (former) royal yacht, definitely worth a visit. The Royal Yacht Britannia (which was in use until a few years ago) is a superior tourist attraction in Edinburgh, located at the Ocean Terminal, a 20+ minute bus ride from the Royal Mile (no changes) - look for the big Debenhams to find the entrance. The yacht has been perfectly preserved, and as a visitor you will have access to every deck (if not the actual cabins, which are shielded by glass panes). To get the best out of your visit I definitely recommend the audio guide, which provides a lot of information not otherwise available in any form on the yacht itself. The Britannia experience will indeed provide an accurate representation of what life must have been like for the Queen, her relatives and her staff on trips overseas - the yacht was in use for more than 40 years, traveling more than 1,000,000 miles. The change to another yacht is understandable, considering the quaintness of much of the furniture and decor. Which actually enhances your visit. You can take photos anywhere on the yacht, which I consider a big plus. A visit doesn't come cheap though - UKP 14.00 for an adult single ticket. Opening times: January, February, March, November, December* 10.00am 3.30pm April, May, June, July, August, September 9.30am 4.30pm October 9.30am 4.00pm.

I would consider this a "must see" if you're visiting Edinburgh. You get to view all the sections & decks of this yacht and it gives you a good idea how Royalty enjoy vacation and family time. Lots of photographs of the Royals and a great narrative as you explore the Britannia. We enjoyed afternoon tea in the Royal Dining Room and it was so nice. Definitely worth going.

Fascinating piece of history, especially if you are interested in maritime and/or the Royals. we also enjoyed the tea room (they don't take reservations, so try to get there on the early side) and the Caesar's salad with sundried tomatoes was delicious.

We loved the tour and the tea room. We started with soup and bread. I enjoyed the Sauvignon blanch recommend by waitress. I had the Cullen skink soup, a smokey blended potato soup with haddock. My husband had a blended fresh pea and ham soup that was also wonderful. The views were great and so was the service! We loved the ship!!! We enjoyed the history and the audio tour. It was very accessible for handicapped and elderly people. The gift shop was a madhouse and I will probably regret not buying a fancy teacup and saucer.

This was far more entertaining and enjoyable than I was ready to give it credit. Worth the time.

The Royal Yacht Britannia, hailed as "Scotland's best visitor attraction"... but heck, they all say that, right? It's definitely not the best attraction and to be honest, I'd be at a lose end to pick just one, especially in Edinburgh when there are so many great attractions to go see. I guess, if you're into ships then this is perfect and it's something a little bit different to the usual museum. It is one of the most famous ships in the world after all. I visited the Royal Yacht Britannia with a friend a few weeks ago, we'd just been on a tour bus and got a few squid off with our tour bus tickets. Located in Leith you get a gorgeous view and the ship itself is a beauty. You can find lots of interesting facts about the journeys of Royal Yacht Britannia and I was amazed to find out that it has taken the Queen on Royal Family on 968 official voyages! For me, it was just a boat and I'm not really bothered if the Queen of Sheba had been on it, to be frank, it just didn't really float my boat. (I couldn't resist.) I am aware that it is a very popular tourist attraction, a five star one in fact and I think it's deserving of four stars.

We visited as part of the Edinburgh Royal Ticket (Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, and the hop on hop off bus). I would not have visited if not part of the deal. But I am glad I visited because I learned neat stuff and had afternoon tea and scone on board (they have a restaurant on board). The blue hop on hop off bus takes you there. But I recommend an early departure because we were not told when the last bus comes, around 5pm, and we got off at 3pm. About 1.5 hours is needed to tour the ship, but we stopped for tea, so we ended up more than 2 hours. We barely made the bus and it was the last one. When you get off the bus, go left for the escalators or go right to enter the mall for the lift. It is handicapped friendly with lifts and places to sit. Plenty of restrooms. If you go here without the package deal, you can still get discounts from the hop on hop off bus. And they give military discounts.

With such elegance it seemed strange to step on board this beautiful lady via the entrance of Debenhams. It costs £14 an adult and takes about 1 1/2 hours with the use on an audio handset to explore the five decks. The audio headset is very well done with just enough information and pace to enjoy and follow in the footsteps of Sir Winston Churchill, Gandhi and the Royals. The last time I saw her was in 2011 when she was moored in London before her decommission. I put it on my bucket list to go see her in Leith and take full advantage of going aboard this wonderful yacht, that served as a floating residence for 44 years for the Royal family. I loved the State Drawing Room used as a place of relaxation, a favourite of Princess Diana. The style is elegance and grace with a country fill not ostentatious or overly regal. If I remember correctly the first double bed to be placed aboard the yacht was for Charles and Diana's honeymoon. The Sun lounge favoured by the Queen was informal and the Royal family enjoyed breakfast and afternoon tea here. Relaxed atmosphere with a fully stocked cabinet of drinks it was my personal favourite on the yacht, stunning vista. in the Royal Deck Team Room we enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea. The royal family enjoyed drinks receptions, sumptuous buffets or played deck games here previously. Chocolate Fudge cake and toffee cake was our order along with an iced Britannia coffee and green tea served in a sterling silver tea pot. The setting was immaculate with a grand piano and back ground music, delightful. Christened and launched by the Queen on 16 April 1953 smashing a bottle of Empire wine and declared " I name this ship Britannia... I wish success to her and all who sail in her". What a treat to be able to walk in the Royal footsteps. xoxo

The Royal Yacht is a great place for most ages -- except perhaps the very young or the very old. We visited a few weeks back on a sunny March Saturday as a family. The audio tour for children is a must if you have any with you younger than 13 or so. I was concerned that Dad & I would want to tour at a slower pace than our daughters (12 & 6) but for the most part there was plenty to keep them occupied as we examined photos, documents, artifacts, etc. My favourite part of the tour is the many photos of the family. As an American, I don't have strongly held emotional ties for or against the monarchy, but simply enjoyed the mementos of family. The staff is outstanding -- friendly, knowledgeable without interfering in the enjoyment of the tour. If you have time, The Royal Yacht Britannia is a great addition to your Edinburgh itinerary.