50 Accessible Edinburgh: A Festival Guide Sights 51
Leith’s big attraction is the Britannia, moored next to the
massive Ocean Terminal shopping mall and cruise ship berth,
easily reached by bus from the city centre. From here, it’s a 10- to
15-minute walk east along Ocean Dr to The Shore, the heart of
Leith’s pub and restaurant scene.
Britannia is best visited as soon as it opens at 9.30am or
10am; to avoid waiting in line, you can buy tickets online until
4pm the previous day. After a morning exploring the ship, you
could head over to The Shore and choose a restaurant for a slap-
up seafood lunch, although it’s about 1km away.
If you plan to visit the Britannia as well as Edinburgh Castle
and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, consider buying a Royal
Edinburgh Ticket, which includes admission to all three plus
unlimited travel on hop-on hop-off tour buses among the various
attractions.
Royal Yacht Britannia
http://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk; Ocean Terminal; adult/child
£15/8.50; 9.30am-6pm Jul-Sep, to 5.30pm Apr-Jun & Oct,
10am-5pm Nov-Mar, last admission 90min before closing; buses
11, 22, 34, 35, 36
Built on Clydeside, the former Royal Yacht Britannia was the
British royal family’s floating holiday home during their foreign
travels from the time of her launch in 1953 until her decom-
missioning in 1997, and is now moored permanently in front of
Ocean Terminal. The tour, which you take at your own pace with
an audioguide (included in the admission fee and available in 20
languages), lifts the curtain on the everyday lives of the royals,
and gives an intriguing insight into the Queen’s private tastes.
Britannia is a monument to 1950s decor, and the accommo-
dation reveals Her Majesty’s preference for simple, unfussy sur-
roundings. There was nothing simple or unfussy, however, about
the running of the ship. When the Queen travelled, with her went
45 members of the royal household, five tons of luggage and a
Rolls-Royce that was carefully squeezed into a specially built
garage on the deck. The ship’s company consisted of an admiral,
20 officers and 220 yachtsmen.
The decks (of Burmese teak) were scrubbed daily, but all
work near the royal accommodation was carried out in complete
silence and had to be finished by 8am. A thermometer was kept
in the Queen’s bathroom to make sure the water was the correct
temperature, and when in harbour one yachtsman was charged
with ensuring that the angle of the gangway never exceeded 12
degrees. Note the mahogany windbreak that was added to the
balcony deck in front of the bridge. It was put there to stop way-
ward breezes from blowing up skirts and inadvertently revealing
the royal undies.
Britannia was joined in 2010 by the 1930s racing yacht
Bloodhound, which was owned by the Queen in the 1960s. She
is moored alongside Britannia (except in July and August, when
she is away cruising) as part of an exhibition about the Royal
family’s love of all things nautical.
The Majestic Tour bus runs from Waverley Bridge to Britannia
during opening times.
The tour is fully accessible for wheelchair users with lifts and
ramps throughout, although wheelchairs wider than 670mm
may not access all areas. There are also restrictions with regard
to power wheelchairs. (Britannia nonetheless gets a five-star
rating from a power chair user.) PRMs can borrow a wheelchair
free of charge and will enjoy having plenty of places to rest dur-
ing the tour. There is an audio tour for the visually impaired, with
a tour script available in Braille and another for visitors with
learning difficulties, which may also be useful for those whose
first language is not English. There are also tablets available with
the tour in BSL. Assistance dogs are welcome. There’s even an
accessible toilet on board! For full details of all accommodations,
visit http://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/plan-your-visit/your-visit/
accessibility/.Trinity House
0131-554 3289; http://www.trinityhouseleith.org.uk; 99 Kirkgate;
9.30am-4.30pm Mon-Fri; all Leith Walk busesThis neoclassical building dating from 1816 was the headquar-
ters of the Incorporation of Masters and Mariners (founded in
1380), the nautical equivalent of a tradesmen’s guild, and is a
treasure house of old ship models, navigation instruments and
nautical memorabilia relating to Leith’s maritime history. Admis-
sion by prebooked guided tour only.
There are three accessible parking bays in the nearby Kirk-
gate Shopping Centre car park and the ramped entrance is at
the side of the building. There is level access only to the ground
floor, with steps to the vaults and the 1st-floor collection. Assis-
tance dogs are welcome. The nearest accessible toilet is at Taylor
Gardens, half a mile away, which requires a RADAR key.