Top Attraction in Edinburgh: Palace of Holyroodhouse

The residence got more renovations under James V in 1528 and it became less of a fortified house and more of a palatial residence. Eventually, Mary, Queen of Scots who is the daughter of James V became the most associated with the palace where she marries her second and third husband. The palace’s infamy in history is also partly because of the murder of Mary’s secretary in her chamber which she witnesses as one of the most violent events during her short reign.

The palace of holyroodhouse Edinburgh is today the Royal Palace and also a tourist attraction that’s open to the public throughout the year while being the locus for celebrating the best of Scottish culture. On your visit, you can explore 14 grand historic and state apartments, the magnificent royal gardens and the historic 12^th century ruins of Holyrood Abbey with a multimedia tour in ten languages. The highlights include the Great Gallery which is the largest room in the palace where dinners, banquets and receptions are hosted by the queen and the Queen’s Gallery which features old paintings, antique furniture and a number of other exhibits from the Royal Collection. The Mary, Queen of Scots’s Chambers is also one of the most sought-after highlight of the tour.

Mary, Queen of Scots is perhaps the most famous of all the monarchs who lived in the palace of holyroodhouse Edinburgh and her chambers is one of the most popular tourist attractions owing to its dark history. Located on the second floor of the northwest tower, this room can be reached by a steep and narrow winding staircase. Built close to 500 years ago, this is one of the oldest sections of the palace and can also be explored as a virtual tour in a computer in the Great Gallery. Divided into the Bedchamber, Supper Room and Outer Chamber, the rooms can be accessed by visitors. The supper room is of the most interest to the tourists as this is the place where David Rizzo, Mary’s secretary was brutally stabbed to death by her jealous husband and a group of Scottish lords. Rumour has it that Rizzo’s blood stains have formed a permanent impression on the floor of the outer chamber where he was left for all to see.

The Great Gallery which is the largest room in the palace is still used by The Queen for hosting dinners, receptions and state banquets. The room features 95 portraits of kings and one queen of Scotland and show the long line of the Stuart dynasty which goes all the way back to Fergus I who founded Scotland in 330 BC. During the 1746 battle, government troops damaged some of the portraits reducing their numbers from the original off 111. If you inspect closely, you can still see the sword cuts on a few of them today. The portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots is the only portrait of a Scottish queen ever and stands with the kings.

The State apartments are located on the first floor of the eastern and southern wings of the palace and include the Throne Room, The Great Gallery, the Morning Drawing Room and the Evening Drawing Room. The Throne Room is used even today for hosting events and receptions and gets its name from the pair of thrones from the time of King George V in 1911. While it was used as the Guard Hall during King George IV’s visit in 1822, it’s now used for many other formal events including luncheons for dignitaries. The Morning and Evening Drawing rooms feature splendid artwork and intricate detailing much like the rest of the palace and is today used for private audiences with The Queen.

The Queen’s Gallery is one of the Palace’s most dynamic rooms with on-going exhibitions of art that change periodically. The gallery is mostly full of paintings of old masters, artefacts, furniture and photographs throughout history from the royal collection. The Gallery shop is where you can get souvenirs that are inspired by the Royal Collection, postcards, children’s toys, jewellery and more.

The palace of holyroodhouse offers some fantastic activities for children and their families to ensure your visit to the palace is fun and even a bit adventurous.

To make things more exciting for both adults and the children the interactive family multimedia tour takes your exploration of the palace to a level that is not only interesting but immense fun at the same time. The interactive map for families shows the palace, gardens and surroundings in a simple-to-understand diagram which gives an overview of each place. The “hotspots” marked everywhere show you what’s there to see in that spot and even play a game of discovering things for yourself. Not only does this interactive map put the whole palace in perspective but also puts all the information at your fingertips. The timeline feature can also be used to find interesting facts about the kings and queens who lived here and all the information you need to know about the rooms and exhibits in the palace.

The palace of holyroodhouse features a family room located at the end of the tour where you can pick up activity sheets to fill in as you go around the palace. The room also has lots of toys for children, a range of books, dressing up costumes, some traditional games and activities and worksheets to make it more fun. Some of the activities include Family Short Talks- where you are told the story of the king who feared witches and all of his attempts to stop them by a member of the staff in the Great Gallery. Learn all about potions and medicines made by witches from the resident herbologist in the activity named Beginners Guide to Herbology with Nicola Brownrigg. Another interesting activity for the kids is Storytelling: The Story of Bald Agnes- this session takes you back to the 16^th century to the story of Agnes Sampson who died at the palace.

To get the kids fascinated with exploration, a number of activities and trails are introduced to keep them on their toes. The Design a Cypher Activity for example introduces children to the concepts of cyphers and teachers them how to make their own. Following this the activity requires them to look out for cyphers on display in the Palace. The Make a Miniature activity gives children an understanding of tiny paintings of royalty and encourages them to make their own. The most exciting of all activities are the trails as they get both the parents and children involved. The Family Garden Trail at the palace of holyroodhouse lets you take your kids on a trail of exploring the royal garden and its range of flora and fauna. You may run into different types of wildlife and even foxes if you’re lucky! On the way stop at the Sun and Moon dial to understand how time could be told with these ancient devices and even explore the Abbey Ruins where it all started.

The palace of holyroodhouse is at Canongate, Royal Mile, Edinburgh, Lothian, EH8 8DX.

The palace is open all year around except on special days which are announced on their website. Generally the opening times are as follows:

1 November to 31 March- From 09:30 to 16:30 with 15:15 being the time for last admission.

1 April to 31 October- From 09:30 to 18:00 with 16:30 being the time for last admission.

Other than the ticket for Palace of Holyroodhouse, a Combined ticket gives admission to Palace of Holyroodhouse and The Queen's Gallery. The prices are as follow:

Adult- £15.00 £20.20 (combined)

Over 60- £13.50 £18.40 (combined)

Student - £13.50 £17.90 (combined)

Under 17 / Disabled- £8.70 £11.20 (combined)

Under 5- Free

Family (2 adults and 3 under 17s)- £38.70 £51.80 (combined)

If you’re taking the train to palace of holyroodhouse, Edinburgh Waverly Station is a 15 minute walk from the palace. You can also reach the palace by Trams and the nearest station is York Place which is a 20 minute walk. To take a bus, select route numbers 6 and 35 and stop at the palace. For those arriving by car, the NCP Holyrood is the nearest car park.

As you would come to expect on a visit to any royal place, there are a number of facilities given to you to make your visit most enjoyable and there are restrictions as well for the safety of the palace and the visitors. Here are some of the things you need to know:

Multimedia tours are available in the form of audio and printed guide which are free and can be picked in 11 languages including English, Gaelic, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese and British Sign Language. The tours guide you through the palace with commentary on all the Royal and Historic apartments. It explains the history and the role of the palace from the political standpoint and also as The Queen’s residence. You can also hear about the former residents of the palace and their story. The printed guide available has the transcript of the multimedia tour in all 11 languages. A special family multimedia tour aimed at children 7 to 11 years old makes it fun to explore the Palace. The games involve searching for hidden animals such as lions and unicorns and hunt for places and things in the palace. There is also free WIFI for the visitors who are in the Palace forecourt and the Mews courtyard.

Refreshments: Eating and drinking inside the palace is prohibited, so you will have to seal your food and drinks in closed bags before going in. Cafe at the Palace in the Mews Courtyard is when you can find a delicious selection of homemade snacks such as pastries, cakes, sandwiches along with tea. Gluten-free and vegan options are also available at the cafe.

For those visiting with children, there are baby-care facilities at the Cafe. You cannot take your own pushchairs for safety reasons and they will need to be checked in at the entrance to be collected at the end. However, free baby carriers and hip seats are available for borrowing depending on the availability. You can also breastfeed your baby anywhere within the palace of holyroodhouse and The Queen’s Gallery.

Photography and filming using any device for non-commercial purposes is not permitted inside the Palace. Commercial filming is only allowed after the submission of an application and the approval process. Visitors however can take photos or film for non-commercial purposes within the grounds of the Palace and even tag Holyroodhouse on Twitter and Instagram. Mobile phones must be switched off inside the Palace.

A typical visit to the palace of holyroodhouse Edinburgh takes about 1-1.5 hour’s tops. If you’re out with kids and they need more fun, these are some of the great places to head to:

Our Dynamic Earth is an amazing indoor attraction with many exhibits and hands-on experiences that is centred on the Earth, nature and the origin and the evolution of it all. Although it’s perfect for children of 5-12 years of age, there is something to learn here for everyone. The best experiences involve the polar ice caps, Aurora Borealis, time travel to the origin of the universe and more. The journey starts with exploring the Big Bang and moving forward to understanding the formation of the stars and planets and finally the origin of life on Earth and its subsequent evolution to the modern day. The modern day exhibits involve the changing climate, an experience of touching an ice berg, 4D experience of a rain forest and prepping along with an astronaut on their journey to space.

Our Dynamic Earth is only a 3 minute drive being half a mile away from the Palace of Holyroodhouse. There is underground parking facility and since the facility is indoors, you can go there on any weather.

On your return from the royal palace, it’s a good idea to stop by The People’s Story Museum which is a museum dedicated to the ordinary working class people. It tells their story through the narrative of Edinburgh’s folks from the 18^th century to the present day. The Canongate Tolbooth which was built as a civic hall and prison in 1591 is now home to the exhibits of the museum. The three floors of the museum feature exhibits that show the lives of Scottish people during their work, free time and celebrations. Various life-size waxwork showcase the daily life of townsfolk from the 18^th century on the first floor. The second floor shows the changes in how business and lifestyle changed during the 19^th and 20^th century. The third floor is centred on how the people spent their holidays and free time. Although not very entertaining, it’s a very sobering look into the lives of ordinary people.

At a distance of 0.9 miles from the palace of Holyroodhouse is Calton Hill, a UNESCO World Heritage Site the views of which have inspired hundreds of photos and paintings. On top of it lies an unfinished acropolis which was initially called the “National Monument”. Started in 1816 soon after the defeat of Napoleon, it was intended to be a memorial to those who perished in the Napoleonic wars. Modelled after the Parthenon in Athens, the monument soon hit a roadblock after the funds dried up and the work stopped. It never resumed construction again and was dubbed “Edinburgh’s Shame”. It is however a popular landmark in the modern day. The top of Calton hill has fantastic panoramic views of the street and only takes about five minutes to reach.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse is a must-visit site for anyone touring Scotland. The old royal palace along with the other monuments around offers plenty of interesting sights and tours for all visitors. Book your flight to Edinburgh along with accommodation to get cheap deals with us and look forward to getting the best service on your travel. Book early for the best time to visit and plan a great trip with big savings.