Edinburgh is a magical city with world class attractions and sites that there is so much to see and do. However it can quickly become expensive visiting so many things and this is where the Edinburgh pass can help you.
The pass cost's £26.50 for a one day pass, £39.00 for a two day and £51.50 for a three day pass. It is quite expensive but if you are planning on visiting quite a lot of attrctions then it will easily pay for itself.
You can buy a pass online but the easiest way to get it is to visit the Edinburgh visitor's centre which is located on Princes Street right next door to Waverly train station. If you buy it here the friendly staff will advice you on the best sites for you to visit and answer any questions you might have.
I bought mine at the visitor's centre and although there was a massive queue it was worth it as the ladt behind the counter was extremely helpful and even phoned up a few places to double check some queries I had.
The pass doesn't become valid until the first time you use it so you can pick it up any time without worrying that you aren't making the best use out of it. It has a chip in it just like a debit or credit card so when you visit your first attraction you put it in the machine and it is electronically time stamped from that second. It is valid until for the time period but even if there is only 10 minutes left on the card you can still visit somewhere and spend the whole afternoon there as long as you enter before the validity expires.
There are some decent attractions that are free to enter with the card including the Dynamic Earth exhibit, the Camera Obscura, John Knox House, Edinburgh Zoo and the Botanic Gardens.
You can also experience some tours such as the terror tour which takes you into the purported haunted vaults under the city streets of the medieval old town.
Unfortunately some of the most popular sites aren't included in the card such as the castle which has to be paid seperately for.
Buying the Edinburgh pass only makes sense if you plan to visit as many of the attractions which have free entry with it as possible otherwise you end up spending more on the card than you would visiting the one's you wanted to.
I liked the card as it gave me the chance to do a set list of sites that I might not otherwise have bothered to visit. I did still have to fork out to visit the castle which in my opinion should really have been free with the card.
Another advantage of the card is that if you get it and visit the sites you can bypass any queues for the exhibits that are included in it and go straight to the front which was nice.
It also offers free transport on the airport bus which saves £3.50 for a single. It comes with a good guidebook and map and there is also a section where it lists all the places you can use the card to receive discounts and these include restaurants and shops as well as attractions.
If I visited Edinburgh again I wouldn't bother getting the card but as a first time visitor it gave me the chance to get a good understanding of the city and see plenty of sites as it forced me into squeezing in as much as I could so I wouldn't feel like I had wasted my money.