Edinburgh is synonymous with its castle. It rises on Castle Rock, a volcanic hill, and you'll see it from much of the Scottish capital.
But don't settle for seeing it from afar. Here's how to get tickets, what to see inside its walls, and which ticket to buy.
Written by local guidesUpdated 29 October 2026
See tickets
Every castle ticket is for a date and a time slot, so book before you go. Visit just the castle, or make the most of Edinburgh with the Royal Edinburgh Ticket.
£23.50per adult online, £26 at the gate
65 and over £19, children 7 to 15 £11.50, under-7s free
Castle prices from its website, checked 22 October 2026; they change each spring. Carers of disabled visitors go free.
Best value
£81per adult, 48 hours
£96.40 bought separately
Four of Edinburgh's top attractions in one ticket:
Sold out online? You can't buy at the gate either, but the Royal Edinburgh Ticket guarantees castle entry. What else you can do.
Pick the day your 48 hours start. Your castle time slot is booked for you in Edinburgh.
Calendar not loading? Open the booking page instead.
Open every day except 25 and 26 December. Your ticket is for a time slot; once in, stay until closing. Two to three hours covers everything.
| Season | Open | Last entry |
|---|---|---|
| 1 April to 30 September | 9:30 to 18:00 | 17:00 |
| 1 October to 31 March | 9:30 to 17:00 | 16:00 |
Opens at 11:00 on 1 January. The One o'clock Gun fires at 1pm, except Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day.
The castle is a small walled town on a rock, and one cobbled lane climbs through three gates to Crown Square at the top. This is the walk, in the order you'll meet it, with what's worth stopping for.
The open square at the top of the Royal Mile, with the Old Town behind you and the gatehouse ahead. Tickets are scanned at the gate, and in August the Tattoo's stands fill the square. Bags are searched here, so travel light.
Just inside the Portcullis Gate the lane opens onto the batteries, with Princes Street and the New Town below you and the Firth of Forth and Fife beyond. The gun is fired from Mills Mount Battery, next along, at 1pm every day except Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day. Be at the rail ten minutes early.
Through Foog's Gate, at the very top of the rock, stands Edinburgh's oldest building: a chapel from about 1130 that's still used for weddings and christenings. Beside it sits Mons Meg, a six-tonne siege gun from 1449 that could fire a 150 kg stone two miles, and below the wall is the small cemetery for soldiers' dogs.
The four royal buildings face each other across the square. In the palace, the Crown Room holds the Honours of Scotland, the crown, sceptre and sword of state that are the oldest Crown jewels in Britain, and a small chamber is where Mary, Queen of Scots gave birth to James VI in 1566. The Stone of Destiny that sat beside the Honours moved to Perth Museum in 2024.
James IV's banqueting hall, finished in 1511, under one of the few medieval hammerbeam roofs left in Scotland. The walls are lined with arms and armour, and it's the first stop on a wet day.
Across the square, the Scottish National War Memorial holds the rolls of honour of every Scot lost since 1914, in hushed rooms made from a former barracks. Down the hill, past the statue of Earl Haig, the National War Museum covers four centuries of Scots at war. Both are indoors.
The vaults under Crown Square held prisoners from the American and Napoleonic wars, who left their graffiti on the doors. Recreated hammocks and rations show how they lived. From here the lane winds back down beneath the Half Moon Battery to the gate, past the Redcoat Café and the shop.
A legend, a raid and a lost treasure: three stories the castle walls have kept.
A legend
Centuries ago, the story goes, tunnels were found running from the castle under the Royal Mile. The army sent a piper down to explore them, playing as he went so that soldiers above ground could follow his progress street by street.
Somewhere beneath the Tron, the music stopped. The piper was never seen again, and the tunnels were sealed. Listen carefully on a quiet night, some say, and you can still hear faint pipes under the castle.
History, 1314
In 1314 the castle had been in English hands for almost twenty years, and no siege could take it. Then a Scottish soldier, William Francis, came forward: as a young man in the garrison he had climbed down the north face at night to see a sweetheart in town, and he knew the way back up.
On a dark night in March he led Thomas Randolph, Robert the Bruce's nephew, and about thirty men up the cliff with ladders. They came over the wall, surprised the garrison and took the castle. Bruce then had its defences torn down. Only St Margaret's Chapel was spared, which is why it is still the oldest building in Edinburgh.
An anecdote, 1818
After the Union with England in 1707, the Honours of Scotland were locked in an oak chest in the Crown Room and the room was sealed. A century later, many Scots believed they had been quietly taken to London.
In 1818 the novelist Sir Walter Scott won permission from the Prince Regent to find out. On 4 February he watched the chest being forced open, and there they lay under linen cloths: the crown, the sceptre and the sword of state, just as they had been left 111 years before.
What to bring and what to leave at the hotel, who goes free, and what to do when it rains.
Bags are searched at the gate and the castle has no cloakroom, so suitcases and rucksacks of 30 litres or more are turned away. There are two cafés and toilets inside.
£4, in 13 languages including English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portuguese. Download it before you arrive: the signal on the rock comes and goes.
Under-7s go free. The gun, Mons Meg and the prisoners' graffiti are the hits with kids. The lane is steep cobbles and the exit is 70 steps, and pushchairs can't be stored, so a carrier beats a buggy.
A mobility vehicle runs on request from the gate to Crown Square, except from 12:15 to 13:15 while the gun is fired. The Great Hall, the War Memorial and the café are step-free; the palace rooms and the prisons are not. Carers go free.
The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo fills the Esplanade with stands every August (6 to 28 August 2027), and the castle stays open behind them. It's the busiest month, so book months ahead.
Most of what matters is indoors: the Crown Room, the palace, the Great Hall, both museums, the memorial and the prisons. Bring a jacket for the batteries and the walk up.
The castle stands at the top of the Royal Mile, the Old Town's main street, at Castlehill, EH1 2NG. The entrance is on the Esplanade, the open square at the Royal Mile's upper end.
What visitors ask us most about tickets and the visit.
Yes. Every ticket is for a date and a time slot, tickets are cheaper online than at the gate, and summer slots sell out weeks ahead.
If you buy the Royal Edinburgh Ticket, the agents at the first Edinburgh Bus Tours stop book your time slot when you swap your voucher, and Edinburgh Bus Tours guarantees entry even when the castle is sold out online.
If the castle is already sold out, or your dates aren't on sale yet, see what to do when Edinburgh Castle is sold out, with the dates each season's tickets went on sale.
Only while the day still has slots unsold online, and at a higher price: £26 instead of £23.50 for an adult. Once a day sells out online, there are no gate tickets at all, whatever the queue.
Online, an adult ticket is £23.50, a concession for the over-65s £19, and a child's ticket (7 to 15) £11.50. Under-7s go free. At the gate each costs £2.50 more.
The Royal Edinburgh Ticket costs £81 per adult and includes the castle, Holyrood Palace, the Royal Yacht Britannia and 48 hours of hop-on hop-off buses, which together cost at least £96.40 bought separately.
Not from the castle or the palace themselves, which are run by different organisations. The Royal Edinburgh Ticket is the one ticket that covers both, along with the Royal Yacht Britannia and the sightseeing buses between them.
Allow 2 to 3 hours, but there is no time limit: you can stay as long as you like within the opening hours.
The first slot of the day, at 9:30, before the tour groups arrive. In summer the castle is open until 18:00, so a slot after 15:00 is the next quietest. If you want to see the One o'clock Gun, book a slot before 12:30 and be on Mills Mount Battery by 12:50.
If you enjoy history and fortresses, yes. It's an Edinburgh icon and the most popular attraction in the city. But if you don't like crowds, you might consider visiting another, lesser-known castle, such as Craigmillar Castle.
Partly. The Esplanade in front of the gate is smooth tarmac, but inside, a steep cobbled lane climbs about 350 metres to Crown Square, at up to 15 degrees. A mobility vehicle takes wheelchair users and up to three companions from the gate to Crown Square: ask the staff at the entrance. It doesn't run between 12:15 and 13:15 while the gun is fired, and it takes wheelchairs up to 73.5 cm wide and 150 kg. A few manual wheelchairs can be borrowed, first come, first served.
Crown Square, the Great Hall, the Scottish National War Memorial and the café are step-free. The palace rooms, the Prisons of War and the Battlement Walk have steps, and the exit route is 70 steps; if you can't manage them, staff will guide you back down through the castle.
The castle has no public car park, but a few spaces on the Esplanade are kept for ticket holders with accessibility needs. You can take one on arrival or book it ahead, though from May to October the Tattoo's stands can leave fewer of them.
Blind and partially sighted visitors get the audio guide free, with a large-print script at the audio booth, and assistance dogs are welcome.
Disabled visitors pay the standard price with no proof needed, and up to two carers per booking go free.
Yes. The Tattoo's stands fill the Esplanade for most of August (6 to 28 August 2027), but the castle keeps its normal opening hours behind them and the gatehouse stays reachable. August is the busiest month, so book months ahead.
We have no proof, but no doubts either. If you like macabre and mysterious stories, you will love the legend of the Edinburgh piper.
It is said that, centuries ago, secret tunnels were discovered under the castle. The army sent one of its pipers to investigate where they led.
So others could keep track of him as he advanced through the tunnels, he played the bagpipes. Then, suddenly, the sound stopped, and the piper was never heard from again.
Although many claim that, even today, if you listen carefully, you can still hear the faint melody of bagpipes under the castle.
Yes. The audio guide costs £4, comes in 13 languages including English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portuguese, and can be downloaded before you arrive. For a guide in person, you can book a 90-minute guided tour in English here, with the entry ticket included.
The Royal Edinburgh Ticket covers the castle, Holyrood Palace, the Royal Yacht Britannia and 48 hours of hop-on hop-off buses between them. Explore Edinburgh's other top attractions with the same ticket.
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