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Cruises from Edinburgh
Seventeen departures, every one of them luxury or expedition. Leith is a small port with no mainstream cruising at all, and the Silversea ships here are the expedition ones.
Who sailing from Edinburgh suits
Anyone wanting expedition or ultra-luxury cruising from Scotland rather than the south coast. Every line here, Windstar, Seabourn, Silversea Expeditions, Regent Seven Seas, Azamara and Scenic Eclipse, sits at Luxury or above on our ladder. There is no mainstream or family option at all.
Anyone drawn to Silversea Expeditions. Leith's Silversea sailings run on Silver Wind and Silver Endeavour, the expedition ships with ice-strengthened hulls and Zodiacs, doing one-way voyages to Dublin, Reykjavik and Copenhagen rather than round trips.
Anyone wanting small-ship yachting or port-intensive cruising without flying to join it. Windstar's Gaelic Explorers routes, on its new Star Explorer, and Azamara's Norway Intensive itineraries both depart from here.
Anyone chasing a long, remote voyage. Seabourn's Wild Scottish Isles programme reaches Iceland, Greenland and Baffin Island on its longest sailings, running to nearly two months, among the longest itineraries leaving any British port.
When you'd be better off elsewhere
Anyone wanting mainstream pricing or a family cruise. Nothing here fits either brief; Southampton, Portsmouth or Liverpool-and-Newcastle is where that lives.
Anyone wanting a short taster or budget break. The shortest sailing from Leith is 8 nights, on Windstar; there is no Tilbury- or Portsmouth-style weekend option.
Anyone specifically wanting Silversea's classic, resort-style product. The Silversea ships here are the expedition ones, not the classic fleet, see below.
The Silversea ships here are the polar ones, not the classic fleet
Every line that sails from Leith sits at Luxury or above on our ladder, without exception, which makes it the most upmarket port on this site by its own inventory rather than by reputation.
The Silversea point is worth being precise about, because the name alone can mislead. Silversea's Leith sailings run on Silver Wind and Silver Endeavour, the ships with ice-strengthened hulls, Zodiacs and expedition teams, covered on our Silversea Expeditions page. They are not the resort-style ships on the classic Silversea page. A guest picturing formal evenings and a string of famous ports would get something else here: one-way voyages to Reykjavik, Copenhagen or Dublin, with landings along the way. Leith is where the expedition side of the brand boards from Britain.
The rest of the line-up follows the same pattern. Regent's inclusive luxury, Azamara's long days in port, Scenic Eclipse's helicopter-and-submarine ship, and Seabourn's expedition ship heading as far as Baffin Island. None of it is aimed at a first-time cruiser or a family.
The practical catch is volume. Seventeen departures across a short summer season means the date will usually decide the ship. If you want one of these lines from Scotland, look early and be flexible.
Which lines board at Edinburgh
Not from here, despite what you might expect: P&O Cruises, Cunard, Princess Cruises, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, MSC Cruises.
What actually sails from Edinburgh
Windstar: Gaelic Explorers, Norway, Scandinavia and the Baltic on the new Star Explorer, 8 to 18 nights
Seabourn: Wild Scottish Isles, extending to Iceland, Greenland and Baffin Island on the longest voyages, from a fortnight to nearly two months
Silversea Expeditions: one-way expedition voyages to Reykjavik, Copenhagen or Dublin, 11 to 12 nights
Regent Seven Seas: inclusive luxury around Britain and Ireland's coast, 12 to 14 nights
Azamara: Norway Intensive, calling at Olden, North Cape and Trondheim, 17 nights
Scenic Eclipse: Scotland and the Norwegian fjords, 10 nights
Departures from Edinburgh at a glance
17 sailings leave Edinburgh across the current programme, typically from 8 to 59 nights, starting around £4,269 per person. The season we can see runs May to August.
- 4 sailingsWindstar: Star Explorer
- 4 sailingsSeabourn: Seabourn Venture
- 3 sailingsRegent Seven Seas Cruises: Seven Seas Voyager
- 3 sailingsSilversea: Silver Endeavour, Silver Wind
- 2 sailingsAzamara: Azamara Journey, Azamara Quest
- 1 sailingScenic Eclipse: Scenic Eclipse
Checked 2026-08-23 against live cruise-line inventory. Departure totals are exact. Ships, trip lengths and the season are what we saw in a sample of the programme, so a line may run others. Prices are the lowest we could see and move daily.
Getting there
By tram and rail
Edinburgh Waverley is the main station, with direct services from London King's Cross taking a little over four hours. The Edinburgh Tram line runs from the city centre out to Newhaven, close to Leith and the cruise berths, since its 2023 extension.
By road
The A1 from the south and the A90/M90 from the north both run into Edinburgh, with Leith docks signposted from the city's ring road.
By air
Edinburgh Airport is close to the city and well served from across the UK and internationally, a short transfer from the docks.
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