Doors of the Royal Yacht Britannia

 

Royal Yacht Britannia.

When I shared some photographs from my time at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh in this post, I also mentioned that we had purchased the 48-hour Royal Edinburgh ticket for the hop-on hop-off bus tours. We went that route because it included fast-track admission into Edinburgh Castle, The Palace Of Holyroodhouse, and The Royal Yacht Britannia. The first two places were already on our itinerary to visit. This meant that the Royal Yacht Britannia was a bonus that we were squeezing into the day.

Due to that fact, we decided that we would catch the first bus there. We were staying at Princes Street Suites, which is located at 16 Waterloo Place, so it was walkable to the bus tour which departs from Waverley Bridge. After grabbing a breakfast sandwich to go from Rabbie’s Cafe Bar (many tours of Scotland depart from here) which was just down the street at 6 Waterloo Place, we headed toward the bridge. It was a gray, drizzly morning in Scotland as we made our way to Waverly Bridge.

The Majestic Tour line is the bus that will take you to Leith, which is where the Royal Yacht Britannia is berthed. Along the way, you will see parts of the city that you might not have in just walking around the Royal Mile area of Edinburgh. The glimpse that I had of the Royal Botanic Garden looked like it would have been a beautiful place to visit.

Entrance to the tour.

The entrance to the Royal Yacht Britannia tour is housed inside the Ocean Terminal and is located on the second floor.

There is an audio tour which is offered in 30 languages. My mother and aunt had a good laugh when the gentleman handing out the listening devices asked me “German?”. My DNA is 79% British…plus I can only speak English and bits of Spanish. I’m pretty sure he heard the German family behind us talking and was just trying to be proactive. But I felt bad that he was embarrassed by his mistake. I thought it was sweet that he was being helpful.

While the Royal Yacht Britannia wasn’t originally on our list due to our limited time in Scotland, its impressiveness did not disappoint.

 

Doors.

Today, let’s see some of the doors I passed through while walking along the tour.

 

Because who doesn’t love a wooden door and porthole windows!

The recommended time is 2-3 hours to do the tour. However, we may have done it in less as we had a very full day planned.

The Britannia was launched on April 16, 1953. It served the Royal Family for over 44 years and during those years, the ship traveled over a million miles.

The tour covers the Britannia’s five main decks.

It begins at the Bridge. Then it meanders through the State Apartments and then on to the Crew’s Quarters. Finally, it finishes at the Engine Room.

The Britannia was decommissioned in 1997. Its decommissioning also marked the end of a long tradition of British Royal Yachts. This was a tradition dating back to 1660 and the reign of Charles I.

Have you toured the Britannia?

The Royal Yacht Britannia is listed as Scotland’s Best Visitor Attraction.

I’d love to hear what you thought.

If you enjoy doors, hop over to Norm’s (host of Thursday Doors) blog and be sure to check out part two where we tour the exterior and part three where we tour the interior.

 

Let your light shine!

Amy