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Advance Tickets???

We are going to Scotland this July, in high season and have purchased some tickets in advance to avoid the line to purchase tickets.
We bought tickets to Stirling Castle and Edinburgh castle.
However, not sure I want to lock us into too many attractions, so I am wondering if I should wait to buy tickets to
Hollyrood Palace (not sure that we will make it to this one) and Culloden Battlefield.
We are also wanting to do the Three Island Tour out of Oban, but since we have three nights there, we want to pick the day with the best weather. So should we wait to purchase tickets for that or buy in advance?
Anyone offer advice as to how long the lines typically are to buy the tickets?
I hate to waste precious vacation time in line to buy tickets!

Posted by
5678 posts

I'll be interested to hear if anyone has ever encountered a long line at Culloden! I never have, and I've been three times. The first time was in July, but that was so long ago it doesn't count. The other times were in August and September. I did not do the three island tour, but I did wait until the last minute to buy ferry tickets to Mull. It wasn't an issue. I hope that others who have waited in line at the TI for tickets will comment, but my experience has been that long lines can be found in Edinburgh, but not so much elsewhere in Scotland. Someone tell me if l am in for a rude shock when I visit in June.

Posted by
8879 posts

We purchased our Three Island Tour tickets in advance from West Coast Tours. They were still selling tickets for that week while we were in Oban, but I don't remember if any particular sailings were sold out or not. We were glad that we did the "early bird" version of the tour.

Posted by
185 posts

I visited Scotland last August. I did not purchase advance tickets to Culloden, and when I arrived there were only a handful of people ahead of me in line. I think you are fine buying tickets when you arrive to Culloden. I also made a last minute decision to do the three islands tour when I was in Oban. I believe I bought my ticket the day before the tour, but it was at most two days before. You might be fine waiting on this one also, but I would hate to advise you to wait and have you miss out. I thoroughly enjoyed this day and would recommend it to anyone I knew visiting the area.