Review: Scotland Explorer Pass
Eilean Donan Castle (not covered by the Scotland Explorer Pass)
Are you planning a trip to Scotland and wondering whether you should get the Explorer Pass? Well, read on. If you are looking for tips on how to plan your trip or interested in an itinerary, check out my other posts.
11 days in Scotland for our honeymoon
What is the Explorer Pass?
Cost & Validity of the Explorer Pass
The Explorer Pass for a single adult costs £44. Children below the age of 7 enter for free. As a family of 2 adults and at least one child between the ages of 7-15, the best option is the Family Pass (covering 2 adults and 3 children) for £88. Senior Citizens and Students can get the Explorer Pass for a discounted rate of £35. The full list of accessible venues with the Explorer Pass can be found here.
How to get the Explorer Pass
The Explorer Pass can be booked online via the Historic Scotland website. In Step 1, select the quantity of the passes you need and in Step 2, choose the date from which the validity of the passes should start. This is important especially if your stay in Scotland exceeds 14 days. Say you are flying into Edinburgh on September 15 around noon. By the time you collect your car rental, drive into the city, and grab some lunch, it will already be 3pm. If you don’t see yourself visiting the Edinburgh Castle late in the afternoon, select September 16 as the first point of validity.
Using the Explorer Pass in Scotland
After booking the Explorer Pass online, you will receive an email with a PDF. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with an “Add to Apple Wallet” option. Save it to your phone or print it out because you will need to show it when entering venues covered under the Explorer Pass.
Booking an Explorer Pass does NOT guarantee you walk-in entry to the venues covered under the pass.
Visiting the venues covered by the Explorer Pass
On top of getting the Explorer Pass, you will need to book your entry slot to visit the places covered by it. You might see 350 available places for your preferred date and slot for visiting Edinburgh Castle and think “Oh, there’s plenty of availability. Surely I need not reserve my spot.” You’d be wrong in doing so! We saw slots being fully booked at least a calendar day prior and visitors being turned away from the gates because they hadn’t booked an entry.
If you plan on visiting Urquhart Castle, know that parking is limited. You can book a parking spot for FREE along with the entry. It definitely delighted my husband (who did not know I had booked it) when I pulled out our parking ticket after other cars before us had been turned away.
So, is the Explorer Pass worth it?
If you plan to visit at least 3 of the venues (Edinburgh, Stirling, Urquhart, and Fort George) listed on the Explorer Pass, you will have covered the cost. We ended up not getting the most out of it - Urquhart was extremely busy and we were too tired to explore Fort George in its entirety. We loved Eilean Donan and Scone Palace - both not covered by the Explorer Pass. So, if you think you might visit other places instead of the ones covered by the pass, maybe reconsider getting the pass.
About me
👋 I am Isana, a Product leader moonlighting as a blogger. After 7 years in Düsseldorf, Germany, I moved to join my husband in Utrecht, Netherlands. I write about my experiments for growing vegetables, learning languages, and creating art. Come say hi on Instagram!
