I paid my £15 and jumped on the ‘Hop On-Hop Off’ tour. Depending on how you plan your day, this tour allows you to ‘Hop Off’ at any point along the route, take in the sights and then catch the next tour bus and having completed it I can see how easy that really is.
I took the City Centre tour which is the shorter of four tours offered by Edinburgh Bus Tours. The most popular starting point is at Waverley Bridge just next to Waverley Train Station, you really can’t miss it, as the buses line up on the street and friendly staff talk you through the tour options. I enjoyed the ‘Holiday’ atmosphere clearly emanating from the other tourists, it was brilliant! It’s a clear winters day and I took a seat in the open top area to get the full experience. As the bus weaved through the busy streets our guide talked through the construction of the city pointing out key buildings, the Georgian architecture, the story of the notorious body snatchers and other interesting facts about the city. The information was fascinating and I learned so much about the city that I would never have picked up just on a walk. The views over the city from the top deck were well worth the chill of the open top. The tour was over in a quick hour. I couldn’t recommend this tour highly enough, especially if your only visiting for a couple of days.
