Morning in Edinburgh

Would you be ok with sharing your time interval? When you have to be where and the earliest you could arrive in Edinburgh or at Glamis?

One thing to bear in mind is that 'Edinburgh' is tendering to South Queensferry (Hawes Pier) which is 9 miles outside the City Centre- the ship is not berthed alongside.

I will be able to make it to Edinburgh city center by 8:30 am and will need to leave there by 12:30 for the excursion to St Andrews. The alternative is to take an excursion from the dock at 8:30 am to Glamis Castle and then onto St. Andrews in the afternoon. So, is it better to spend 4 hours in the morning in Edinburgh or spend the same time at Glamis Castle
Advice appreciated

I have not been to Glamis, but Edinburgh is like nowhere else, especially the Royal Mile, which is best enjoyed at around 8am or late at night in my opinion.

I don't find Edinburgh Castle to be the best of Edinburgh and I'd much rather walk through Greyfriar's Kirkyard, stroll up Cockburn and down Victoria and have tea or somesuch than spend my time at the castle, which is very cool looking, but of course, a reproduction. The exhibitions heavily favor military history, including modern military campaigns. You can walk right up to it and take some lovely pictures without going inside and spending hours, but that is just me. :)

Sleight:

Are you saying that you are under the impression that: “Edinburgh Castle is a reproduction “??
Or, are my eyes deceiving me about what you said?!!
Please explain!!

but of course, a reproduction.

I think you are confusing Edinburgh with Las Vegas.

Edinburgh Castle/Caisteal Dhùn Èideann is really beautiful this time of year, a reminder of a 1000 years of history.

One thing above with the street names, please remember to use 'street', 'road', 'square'. There are often streets with similar names in proximity. A Queen Street may be near Queens Park, Queens Square, Queens Street.

To me the afternoon excursion to St Andrews looks very rushed, with most of the time on the coach, and a lot of the reviews on Princess agree.
The full day one of Glamis and St Andrews may be better in that regard.
I still don't know how you can be certain what time you are in Edinburgh city centre, given that this is a tender port.
They will tender morning excursion passengers off first, then some kind of a queue for independent passengers followed by the bus ride into the City.
0830 sounds very optimistic to me.
Tender ports are always unpredictable.
Also, as with any tender port, it is subject to weather. On a Cruise forum I hear frequently from an Edinburgh resident who notes how often the weather doesn't allow tendering. When that happens the ship just goes back out to sea..So please don't book any sights in Edinburgh as you have no guarantee you will get there.

These options seem rushed. St. Andrews seems your top priority, so I'd go there first, independently. It's simple enough: train to Leuchars and then a short hop by bus over to St. Andrews, which doesn't have a train station of its own. Travel time is 80 to 100 minutes each way. You'll have plenty of time to walk around without the pressure of having to be back on the excursion bus after just a couple hours or so. There are departures almost every half hour. You can check the schedule for your port day on the NationalRail website. Enter St. Andrews bus as your destination.

If you get back to Edinburgh early, you can explore locally.

Should you be really unlucky and be in Edinburgh on a day affected by rail strikes, you'd have the option to take a regular, scheduled bus from Edinburgh to St. Andrews. Buses runs approximately hourly and takes about 2 hours. It would be smart to book the bus trip a bit in advance if you know for sure the trains will not be running.

As far as I am know you can't book the coaches to St Andrews. They are coaches but run as a local bus service.
I am looking at that for a day in late June, when I accidentally have 12 hours to get from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and really don't want to go sightseeing in either city.
You can book the Citylink/Megabus, Flixbus and Emberbus coaches to Dundee, but not the Stagecoach buses to St Andrews.
Unless there is something I am totally unaware of.
You buy a Stagecoach East Scotland day ticket from the driver for £11.

I’m still waiting to hear about Edinburgh Castle being “a reproduction “.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh_Castle

On a somewhat related note Rabbie's emailed us to book the sites in advance, as their price does not include entrance fees. In other words they are expecting big crowds this summer.

Went to Edinburgh Castle today. We pre-booked tickets, no issues. Lots of walking on uneven walkways. We had been there maybe 30 years ago and very much enjoyed our hours spent there today. The themes are mostly military and wars England was involved in. Would recommend a visit and did not see “Disney” sites or themes.

Yes Edinburgh Castle Is a reproduction!! Built by Disney for a movie and rather than tear it down it was donated to the city as a tourist attraction and money maker. Surprised you don't know your history.! SJ do your research.

I hope Gail' s comment is tongue in cheek.
I would love to know which castle she is really referring to, but Disney has nothing to do with Edinburgh, Scotland.

Of course it is meant to be funny I never thought anyone would possibly assume otherwise.