Are you wondering what is open in Edinburgh on Christmas Day and over the Hogmanay period in 2025/2026?
Here’s a list of Edinburgh’s most popular attractions and their opening hours.
This article is updated every year.
Do you know any restaurants or attractions that will be open in Edinburgh over Christmas and Hogmanay? Let me know in the comments and I’ll add them to this list!
Read More: 50 Travel Tips for Scotland
Edinburgh Castle
- Christmas Day – Closed
- Boxing Day (26th December) – Closed
- 27 to 31 December 9.30 am – 5 pm (last entry 4 pm)
- 1 January 11 am – 5 pm (last entry 4 pm)
- 2 January to 31 March 9.30 am – 5 pm (last entry 4 pm)
More information can be found here.
Listen to the Life in Scotland podcast: Christmas in Scotland
Holyrood Palace
Holyrood Palace will be open daily, with the following exceptions:
- Thursday, 25 and Friday, 26 December 2025 – Palace closed
- Thursday, 1 January 2026 – Palace opening later at 11:00
- Monday, 19 January 2026 – Palace closed
More information can be found here.
Edinburgh Christmas Markets
The Edinburgh Christmas Market runs between November and January. It’s free to enter.
The Traditional Christmas Markets are open 10:00 to 22:00 daily.
With the exceptions of:
- 17th November 2025 – 17:00 – 22:00
- 24th December 2025 – 10:00 – 20:00
- 25th December 2025 – CLOSED
- 26th December 2025 – 12:00 – 20:00
- 31st December 2025 – 10:00 – 17:30
- 1st January 2026 – 12:00 – 20:00
- 4th January 2026 – 10:00 – 18:00
The Real Mary King’s Close
- Christmas Day – Closed
- New Years Eve – 9.30 am – 5.40 pm
- New Years Day – 11.30 am – 9 pm
More information can be found here.
National Museum of Scotland
- Open daily, 10:00 – 17:00
- Closed 25 Dec
- Open 26 Dec, 12:00 – 17:00
- Open 1 Jan, 12:00 – 17:00.
More information can be found here.
Camera Obscura and World of Illusions
- Christmas Day – Closed
- New Years Eve – 8.30 am – 7.30pm
- New Years Day – Open 10 am – 8 pm
More information can be found here.
The Scotch Whisky Experience
Times for different tours vary, but visit this page for more information.
- Closed Christmas Day
Visiting Edinburgh?
If you’re looking for more inspiration on things to see in Edinburgh, check out my other guides:
- The best things to do in Edinburgh
- An itinerary: How to spend 2 days in Edinburgh
- Things to do in Edinburgh in winter
- Why you should visit Craigmillar Castle in Edinburgh
- Cramond Island: The Edinburgh Island you can walk to
MY BEST TRAVEL TIPS FOR SCOTLAND
Here is a list of travel resources that I always use that save me time and money. For more tips check out my ultimate guide on planning a trip to Scotland.
💜 Planning: If you’re on a budget I highly recommend grabbing my Ultimate Scotland Travel Planning Bundle. It includes an ebook, digital travel planner, and cheat sheets for planning your trip.
💜 Planning a Trip to Scotland Course: If you are looking for help to plan your trip from start to finish, my Planning A Trip To Scotland course is my absolute best resource for creating your itinerary! It includes 70+ videos about every aspect of planning a trip to Scotland.
💜 Booking flights: I use Skyscanner when researching and booking my flights as I find them to have the best deals. I also use Google Flights to compare flights I’ve found on Skyscanner. I always book direct with the airline.
💜 Accommodation: I use Booking.com when booking my accommodation in Scotland. I also have a list of my recommended accommodation in Scotland here.
💜 Travel insurance: I always recommend booking travel insurance for any trip you take. Personally, I use CoverMore– I used to sell this insurance when I was a travel agent and dealt with claims on behalf of my customers frequently and they were really easy to deal with. World Nomads is also another high-quality insurance provider I recommend.
💜 Tours and Activities: I use GetYourGuide whenever I can to book tours and activities. I also recommend purchasing the Explorer Pass if you plan on visiting a few attractions.
💜 Transport: When hiring a car in the UK I always use Celtic Legend. You can save 10% off your car rental by using the referral code WAYFARINGKIWI when you ask for a quote. For train times and bookings I use Scotrail (Scotland’s main network) and I also compare prices with Trainline. For bus travel, I use Megabus for cheap fares.
💜 What to pack: The weather is changeable in Scotland and you can sometimes have four seasons in one day! I’ve written this comprehensive packing list for Scotland that will tell you everything you need to pack, whether you’re travelling from abroad or living locally and you’re planning a day trip to Scotland.
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