HMY Britannia
The Queen's floating home for 43 years — one million nautical miles, 135 countries, now permanently docked in Leith.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Edinburgh offline.
Walk the decks that carried the British monarchy to over 600 ports between 1954 and 1997. Britannia is the 83rd royal yacht in a line stretching back to Charles II in 1660 — and she arrived in Edinburgh intact, not mothballed.
What to look for
- The 139-foot mainmast, whose top 20 feet are hinged — an engineering compromise so the ship could clear bridges
- The layout originally designed for wartime hospital conversion: 200 beds that were never deployed, even during the Falklands War
- Context for the nuclear contingency plan: Britannia was designated as refuge for the Queen and Prince Philip off Scotland's northwest coast
Permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith; draws over 300,000 visitors a year, so book ahead in summer.
HMY Britannia is one of 28 sights worth the detour in Edinburgh, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Edinburgh pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Edinburgh
- Edinburgh CastleAttacked 26 times over 1,100 years — research calls it the most besieged place in Great Britain.
- Holyrood PalaceScotland's working royal residence since the 1500s — the actual rooms where Mary, Queen of Scots lived are open to walk through.
- The National (Scottish National Gallery)Since 1912, two near-identical neoclassical buildings have stood side by side on The Mound — visitors have been walking into the wrong one ever since.
- National Museum of ScotlandDolly the sheep, one of Elton John's extravagant suits, and a Victorian cast-iron hall — all under one free roof on Chambers Street.
- Murrayfield StadiumScotland's largest stadium opened in 1925 with a Grand Slam win — 70,000 people watched it happen.
- St Giles' CathedralA prayer book read here in 1637 caused a riot that sparked a rebellion pulling three kingdoms into war.