Escape the city and see some of Edinburgh’s lesser-known sights on a boat cruise that takes you to Inchcolm Island, home to both a medieval abbey and a colony of sea lions and seals. As well as escaping the crowds on land, you’ll bag the best views of the famous Three Bridges.

Escape the crowds on land during a cruise to Inchcolm Island from Edinburgh
Choose a departure time to suit your schedule
Enjoy the best views of the UNESCO-listed Forth Bridge
Increase your chances of spotting wildlife such as puffins and seals

What's Included

Views of the seals and puffins and the Three Bridges as you have never seen them before.e

Inchcolm Island landing pass

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

2 Hawes Brae
2 Hawes Brae, Queensferry, South Queensferry EH30 9TB, UK
Opposite Hawes Inn, South Queensferry

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

South Queensferry

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 1 hours of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed

Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 200 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Kathy_G

The water was calm even though it was windy and the scenery was beautiful! I would take this cruise again and I would recommend it.

Reviews

4.5

323 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 323 reviews

The agent does not care about the customers.

Nqoba_M, Sep 2023

Location was changed an hour before departure without any replacement transport to the new location. The lady I spoke to suggested the new location was only a 15 minutes walk without even asking what my circumstances were. She further suggested I could wait for the next tour if I could not arrive on time meaning I would wait another hour and a half. When I asked her about getting a refund because I wouldn’t arrive on time, she told me to contact the agent I booked through. Did the agent change the departure location or it was the actual company? I would not recommend this tour. Location can change anytime and there won’t be any replacement transport.

Be on time!

Jay_C, Sep 2023

Loved the entire trip BUT wished we had left on time as stated in the information! We ended up waiting for people past the 1:00 departure until approx. 1:20!!

Beautiful Excursion

DAnne_M, Sep 2023

Beautiful experience, fun crew and comfortable boat. Spend time in South Queensferry at Orocco’s on the water which is a short 15 min walk to boarding. Pictures were Magical from boat tour, wonderful excursion. It does take 30 min in taxi to get to there from Edinburgh.

Lovely

85zmyy67q2, Sep 2023

Very fun! Loved seeing the sights and opportunity of hiking the island! Queensferry is a very scenic village with friendly residents!

Fantastic experience, great family day out

Douglas_F, Aug 2023

Being from Edinburgh, it was an amazing experience for myself and both my kids who are 16 and 10. Learning the history of all 3 bridges was great and getting to see the abbey on inchcolm was amazing. Chuck in seeing a load of seals, you can’t ask for a better day out. Loved it.

well organised and...

Karen_B, Aug 2023

well organised and excellent value for money, well worth the trip get to see lots of interesting sights

Great little cruise

Donna_K, Aug 2023

We really enjoyed the boat trip. The narration was clear and interesting …lovely views and lazy seals. If anyone has a physical disabilty, I would advise catching a bus rather than a train. There is a shorter walk from the bus and mostly on the flat. The walk from the train is longer and steep

Fulfilling experience

Rafael_G, Jul 2023

I felt the chill of excitement as I arrived to the pier. The views were jawdropping. The experience was worth as a whole.

Lovely day out

Gina_H, Jul 2023

Getting our passes in exchange for our voucher was very easy. The staff on board were friendly and they explained about each of the bridges and inchcolm island well. We had a great time and even got to see some seals. Queensferry is a beautiful little town and definitely worth staying to visit and explore the surrounding area. The railbridge bistro was a lovely restaurant and did great pie and haggis.

Great cruise! Great staff!

Kathy_G, Jul 2023

The water was calm even though it was windy and the scenery was beautiful! I would take this cruise again and I would recommend it.

Lovely way to spend a couple of hours

Kirsty_F, Jun 2023

I’m a support worker and went on this trip with a Service User who really wanted to go on a boat! They thoroughly enjoyed themselves , staff were kind, patient and polite, keeping us up-to date with changes to the sailing port due to a large cruise ship being there. I’m desperate to do the trip again in my own time with family. Would definitely recommend

Jacob_S, Jun 2023

Was very windy day. Boat ride was rough. I paid for these tickets through. Viator then when we got our Hop on Hop Off tickets, the boat ride comes with it. Don’t bother buying one when you can get both. Worst part is no one would refund my money so instead I got stuck with the cost of 10 tickets instead of five.

Great view

Robert_N, Jun 2023

A little challenging to get to….we taxied it there, not cheap, but used the train back into Edinburgh, very reasonable. Weather improved during trip. Great views of the bridges.

Fantastic tour

Jennifer_D, Jun 2023

The tour far exceeded out expectations. The crew, especially the gentleman from The Netherlands, were extremely helpful, kind, and delightfully entertaining. Great seeing the seals and the puffins. The prerecorded guide was fantastic. Great information

Relax on a river tour

Adrian_W, May 2023

This was an amazing tour by boat up the river. We managed to see a couple of puffins and a few seals. The island was beautiful and the bridges are spectacular from the boat. The crew on board are incredibly knowledgeable about surroundings and history. Definitely worth a few hours escape from the city to relax up river

3 Bridges, 0 Puffins, lots of Seals!

Stephanie_F, May 2023

Plenty of room inside if it's cold and outside if it's nice out. It was cold and windy the day we went so we did not see any puffins, but lots of seals and sea birds. The bridges are awesome, waved to walkers on the bridge, sailors and kite surfers. A bar below serves hot chocolate and you can get some rum in it! The abbey on Inchcolm looked beautiful, but sooo cold -we did not get off the boat. Several families with children who seemed to be enjoying themselves. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, walking around to point things out and generally help everyone have fun. A very informative recording plays throughout the tour on a good, easy to hear sound system.

Worst I been On

Joni_B, May 2023

There was some much talking going on with all rides on the boat!! When the crew or Captain was talking over speaker, the rides would start talking louder. Could not hear the BOAT SAFE speech. Maritime officers should be informed. The Captain and crew didn’t do anything about rides talking. We couldn’t hear the history of 3 bridges. That was the worse tour I Have Ever been on

It was a lovely tour of...

Tania_B, May 2023

It was a lovely tour of the three bridges and the crew were very kind and knowledgeable. We did not see alot of wildlife,but overall a good tour.

Great trip

Claire_G, Apr 2023

Great trip, the staff were lovely and gave us extra information on what we were seeing. And se saw puffins which we were hoping for. Will do it again and get an earlier boat so we can have time on the island

What a beautiful experience. Great for kids to see animals. Smooth ride. You keep dry inside the boat.

Nancy_G, Apr 2023

The trip was smooth. It’s so beautiful to see the bridges and experience the local animals at every turn. The fellas on board are helpful and informative. We had a great time. While there you can see a little of charming, Queens ferry.

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