Anyone have knowledge about ordering tickets to memorials and attractions in Scotland in advance. I am going to Edinburg and Glasgow this July. Do I need to pre book entry into the major sights so I don’t have to stand in line for a long period of time and do the tickets need to be skip the line I hesitate ordering up tickets because I don’t know what time would be bests for me since I will be doing a self guide walk.
Any info will be valuable to me.
Thanks, Elizabeth
I would pre-book. My husband and I were in Scotland in late May/early June. We bought Historic Environment Scotland passes for our trip. Even on Iona where there were few visitors on the day of our visit, we were asked if we had made a reservation. I think booking just makes it easier for everyone, and it is easy to cancel your ticket and rebook if you need to do so. (I inadvertently booked our visit to Stirling Castle on the day I was on the website booking rather than the day I intended for us to visit. I realized the error and was able to correct the error via email quickly.)
At Edinburgh Castle I booked the first time slot available, and there was quite a crush of people when the site opened for the day. If you book, you know you will be granted entry within the 30-minute window of your time slot (at least at Historic Environment Scotland sites). If you are touring a site with a group, the pre-booking may not be important. We visited Culloden on a Rabbie's tour. Culloden is a National Trust for Scotland site rather than Historic Environment Scotland, and not knowing exactly what time we would arrive at the site with Rabbie's, I did not attempt to prebook.
We pre-booked Edinburgh and Stirling Castles for our trip 3 weeks ago. So did everyone else at Edinburgh and it was required. We had booked the first time of the day and they were announcing that you needed a time ticket and the next available was late afternoon. I can imagine it only getting worse in the summer.
At Stirling we arrived half an hour early for our 11:00 ticket and they waved us right in. It wasn't nearly as crowded as Edinburgh.
We also pre-booked the Glasgow cathedral but only the day before. Once again we arrived early and got right in.
I know for at least Edinburgh, you can check how many tickets are so available for your estimated arrival time.
