Hello,
We are leaving for Scotland on May 29 and returning on June 15. Is it necessary to purchase tickets in advance for visiting castles? Not sure how busy these places get, and are there maximum numbers of people allowed in to control the crowds? There will be 4 of us.

We plan on visiting the following:
Edinburgh Castle
Elgin Cathedral
Cawdor Castle
Urquhart Castle
Dunvegan Castle and Gardens
Stirling Castle

Thank you!

For Edinburgh it is best to pre-purchase - there's a queue for tickets otherwise.

The rest of the list is all a walk up

And even Edinburgh can be walk up -- depending on the day and time. No harm pre booking for Edinburgh, but not at any of the others. The only other one that might have any sort of queue would be Stirling - but it never takes much time.

I agree with Edinburgh castle. Every time there has been a line sometimes a long line depending on what time you go. I like to go right when it opens, and I print my tickets at the kiosk. All you need is the confirmation number and I've not seen a line to print.

So it sounds like what everyone is saying is that we might possibly have to wait in line to buy tickets for Edinburgh and Stirling if we don't pre-purchase. But none of the others on my list. But we will definitely get in; they don't limit the number of people allowed in.

If we decide to pre-purchase for Edinburgh and Stirling, do we have to select a time of day? Or would the tickets be for any time that day?

That's good to know that we don't necessarily need to pre-purchase tickets for Stirling. We will be stopping there on our way from Glencoe to our hotel near the Edinburgh Airport, so it would be difficult to pinpoint what time we would arrive at Stirling.

Thank you, everyone!

Our last trip paralleled your dates, although pre-Covid. We didn't pre-purchase tickets for Edinburgh or Stirling and didn't wait in any lines.

We were in Edinburgh on May 27, 28, & 29 last year (Thurs, Fri & Sat). Sunday was the Scottish marathon which started in Edinburgh. First time we tried to go to the castle, many people were huddled around the entrance with their cell phones trying to buy tickets. Many were having trouble obtaining them. We went back to our hotel & purchased timed tickets for the next morning. It was VERY crowded. If you go to their site it says:

"Tickets often sell out far in advance, especially over the summer months. Book your tickets online in advance for the best price and to guarantee entry. Once tickets are sold out online, there will be no further tickets available at the castle."

Their site indicates that it is necessary to choose a date and a time. April 6 is sold out in the morning. April 7 is close to being sold out in the morning also.

Stu Dudley

Stu: You were there over the Bank Holiday weekend so everything would be more crowded than normal and April 6 and 7 is school hols/Easter weekend so also a lot more crowded. The OP is arriving after this year's May holidays and schools are in session. Pre-booking Edinburgh Castle is a good idea but once booked one cannot change the entry time.

Thank you to Jean and Stu Dudley.
Stu, I didn't think to check the website. Good point. I think I will purchase the tickets online for Edinburgh Castle. I do remember now that when I was booking our hotels that a lot of them were full. I might do the same for Stirling Castle. This is my husband's must-see castle, and we will be there on our last full day in Scotland. So we don't have any flexibility as to what day we can visit Stirling Castle.

I plan on booking a guided walking tour of the Royal Mile with Mercat Tours, and they have an option to purchase tickets for the castle so we can skip the line. I think that is what we will do.

I went on to the Mercat Tours website to see what is available for our dates. I had hoped to book the Royal Mile walking tour (including the castle) for May 31 at 10AM, but they only have 2 slots available. There are 4 of us. They have 6 slots available for the 1:00pm tour so that's what we will do. I checked for June 1 and June 2 and there are even fewer slots available for that particular tour.

I took the advice to pre-book Edinburgh Castle tickets and audio device.

Then, jetlag kicked in big time, and I slept right through my booked time. Still haven't seen the Castle. Putting it on my list for next time???

Oh no! Maybe it's a good thing I couldn't book the 10am time slot and booked the 1pm time slot instead!

Karen, there used to be a Visit Scotland pass which gave access to some main sites at reduced rates, plus free access to several others, don’t know if it’s still available. Of course there were no timed entries at that time, but we didn’t wait in line anywhere. We also saw quite a few other places we perhaps wouldn’t have paid to visit.

Just checked and even members of Historic Environment Scotland (previously Historic Scotland) are now advised to pre-book Edinburgh Castle timed tickets even though they get free admission.

Looks like things have changed since 2019. We were able to book a guided tour right through the Edinburgh Castle website but I don't see it anymore.

Karen, here is my trip report for our few nights there if you are interested: Edinburgh Trip Report July 2019

We loved Edinburgh and hope to spend more time there and other parts of Scotland. So nice you can travel from the East Coast. I may need to move someday! HAHA!

Thanks for the link to your TR. I just re-read it! Very helpful. And I just topped it as well.

I was there two weeks ago. You can look on their site and see how many tickets are available so that as you get closer to your date you can determine whether you want to purchase them or not. I have been traveling Europe for the past month, and what I have found is that with the weather like it has been, you have no ability to change your date if you pre-book.

I did book the Mercat walking tour of the Royal Mile for May 31 at 1PM since that is the only time and date when they had 4 tickets available. I purchased the tour that includes entrance to the castle and a 45-minute introductory tour. So we are all set with the Edinburgh Castle. And before we leave, I probably will reserve online tickets for Stirling Castle since there is only one afternoon in which we can visit. And this is a must-see for us.

I won’t pre-purchase tickets for the other castles. I am confident we won’t have any trouble getting into those. And we like to have flexibility.

We were in Edinburgh in July 2022. No tickets to the Castle were available on site, only online. On site you can just print the tickets that you purchase online. When I was purchasing, tickets for the next day were all sold out, only the day after was available. So you can buy from hotel, but have at least couple of days before planning the visit.

BTW, this is a slideshow of our visit to Scotland last year, including the Castle:

Timed entry but I think I mentioned that it shows you how many tickets are available. This way if you wait to buy until you get closer to your visit, you can see how many tickets are left for that time slot and plan accordingly.