Holyrood Palace tickets and tours: what to buy and where

The short answer

The Royal Collection Trust (the charity that opens the royal residences to visitors) sells Holyrood tickets on its own website, which is usually the first result when you search. For most people on a normal visit, buying there is the simplest thing to do. You can find it from Royal Collection Trust: Palace of Holyroodhouse.

We earn a commission when you book a tour or ticket through the GetYourGuide cards on this page. We earn nothing when you buy from the Trust. So here is the honest version:

• Plain visit to the palace: buy direct from the Trust. The GetYourGuide entry ticket starts at the same price as the Trust’s advance ticket, so booking through us saves you nothing.
• Visiting more than once, or living nearby: buy direct, because only tickets bought from the Trust convert into the 1-Year Pass.
• Seeing the castle, palace and Royal Yacht Britannia in one trip: the Royal Edinburgh Ticket bundle is the case where a reseller listing earns its place.
• A guided visit to the castle: the guided walking tours with entry on GetYourGuide are worth a look.

Holyrood tickets compared

Prices are for adults and were checked in October 2026. The cards on this page show the price we last saw on GetYourGuide, so check the listing before you book.

Option	What it includes	Rough price (checked October 2026)	Who it suits
Standard admission, direct from the Trust	State Apartments, Mary, Queen of Scots’ chambers, abbey ruins, gardens and a multimedia guide	£22 in advance, £26 on the day	Most first-time visitors
Palace and King’s Gallery combined, from the Trust	Standard admission plus the gallery, 10% off both	£29.70 in advance, £33.30 on the day (while The Edwardians runs)	People who want the exhibition too
1-Year Pass	Free re-admission for 12 months, converted from a direct ticket	No extra cost, £2 fee to pre-book return visits	Locals and repeat visitors
Exclusive Guided Tour, from the Trust	A guided tour of the State Apartments for a small group, with a guidebook, about 1 hour 30 minutes	£55 per person	Visitors who want a human guide
£1 ticket, from the Trust	Standard admission for people on Universal Credit and other named benefits	£1	Eligible visitors
GetYourGuide palace entry ticket	Entry to the palace and abbey	About the same as the advance adult price	People who prefer to book several things in one place
Royal Edinburgh Ticket	Edinburgh Castle, the palace and Royal Yacht Britannia, plus 48 hours of Edinburgh Bus Tours	About £80	Visitors doing all three sights

Buying direct from the Royal Collection Trust

The Trust’s 2026 standard admission prices are on its Holyrood visitor page. For adults they are £22 in advance and £26 on the day. Young people aged 18 to 24 pay £14 or £17, and children aged 5 to 17 pay £11 or £13. Disabled visitors pay £11 or £13, and their access companion goes free. Under-5s go free.

Every ticket includes the multimedia guide, which takes about an hour and runs in ten languages. It also comes in British Sign Language and with subtitles, plus an audio-described version. Inside Holyrood explains what you will see on the way round.

Booking ahead matters for two reasons. It costs less, and the palace has a calendar with gaps. It is shut on Tuesdays and Wednesdays outside summer, and for Holyrood Week and the royal family’s stays. Visiting Holyrood sets out the pattern, and the Trust’s closure list is linked from its visitor page. Check both before you pay.

The 1-Year Pass

If you buy straight from the Trust, you can turn the ticket into a 1-Year Pass before you leave the site, by signing it. The pass gives 12 months of free re-admission, and a £2 fee applies when you pre-book a return visit. The Trust says this applies to tickets bought directly from it, and £1 tickets cannot be converted. If you plan to come back, the direct route is the better one.

£1 tickets

The Trust sells £1 tickets to people who receive Universal Credit and other named UK benefits. It is sold through the Trust, not through resellers. See the £1 tickets page for the full eligibility list.

Guided tours

The Trust’s Exclusive Guided Tour takes a small group round the State Apartments when the palace is closed to other visitors. It lasts about an hour and a half, costs £55 per person and includes a guidebook. The pages we saw gave different running dates, so check the booking page for the date you want.

In our view the multimedia guide is enough for a first visit. Pay for a person if you like asking questions in a small group. If you want a guide for the area rather than the rooms, the Edinburgh tours page lists walking tours of the Old Town, and a guided hike up the hill behind the palace is below (see also Arthur’s Seat).

The Royal Edinburgh Ticket

The Royal Edinburgh Ticket bundles three royal sights with a bus pass. VisitScotland lists entry to Edinburgh Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Royal Yacht Britannia, plus 48 hours on three Edinburgh Bus Tours routes. It is from £81 for an adult, £43 for a child and £76 as a concession (checked October 2026).

Two practical notes. First, the palace is shut on Tuesdays and Wednesdays outside summer, and the ticket covers only two days. Start it on a Thursday to Sunday, or you risk losing a day of palace access. Second, the bundle only pays off if you want all three sights. Add up what you would pay for the castle, palace and Britannia separately, and compare that with the bundle price.

The GetYourGuide listing for this ticket is in the cards above. Read its terms on changes and cancellation before you buy, since we could not check them.

Adding Edinburgh Castle

Holyrood and the castle sit at opposite ends of the Royal Mile, so many people do both. Edinburgh Castle’s own site says tickets often sell out well ahead, so book early. For a guide, the two castle tours in the cards on this page include entry, and a longer two-hour castle tour with an expert guide is listed below. Our Edinburgh Castle page covers the visit itself.

What the ticket does not cover

A standard ticket does not include the King’s Gallery, which has its own ticket, and it does not include a guided tour. The gallery, once called the Queen’s Gallery, charges £11 for an adult and was showing The Edwardians: Age of Elegance until 6 December 2026. Check the Trust’s gallery page for its current hours.

Choosing quickly

• Palace only, one visit: a standard ticket from the Trust, booked in advance.
• Palace and the current exhibition: the combined palace and King’s Gallery ticket.
• Coming back within a year: buy direct and convert the ticket to a 1-Year Pass.
• Castle, palace and Britannia over two days: the Royal Edinburgh Ticket, started on a Thursday to Sunday.
• Receiving a qualifying benefit: the £1 ticket from the Trust.
• Visiting with a disability: a concession ticket and a free access companion, arranged through the Trust.

You can also buy on the day, because the Trust lists an on-the-day price. It costs more, and you take the risk of arriving at a closed palace, so look at the closure list first.

Our recommendation

Buy direct from the Trust for a plain palace visit, and book a date that is not a closure day. Use a GetYourGuide listing when you want the three-sight bundle or a guided castle tour. If you are still planning your trip, the home page has an overview of the palace and the area around it.