Royal Rhyme Time

Royal Rhyme Time returns to The Palace of Holyroodhouse on Tuesday 2 February, part of the palace's regular series of rhyme sessions for toddlers. It's held in the Abbey Strand Centre, not the State Apartments, so your ticket doesn't include entry to the main palace rooms. Each session runs for about half an hour, led by a member of the Learning Team, and leaves some free play time at the end. It's for children aged four and under, accompanied by a parent or carer.

The sessions change theme every month, each one drawing on the palace's long history. Over the course of the series, they've covered Mary Queen of Tots, David I and the Holyrood Stag, Royal Gardens, Building a Palace, Garden Party, Jacobites at the Palace, Kings and Queens, Unicorns and Thistles, and Christmas. If you've been along to a few, you'll know the rhymes and stories are built around these different chapters of the place's past, so each one feels like a new starting point rather than a repeat of the last.

For context, the palace itself sits at the end of the Royal Mile and is the King's official residence in Edinburgh. Inside you'll find the bed made for Charles II and thrones built for George V and Queen Mary, with the nearly 900-year-old Holyrood Abbey right next door. The Abbey Strand Centre is the dedicated space for these sessions, so you're in the palace grounds without needing to navigate the formal rooms with a toddler in tow.

Tickets are £3.00, and the session lasts around 30 minutes, with the free play at the end giving the little ones a bit of time to just be toddlers before you head home. It's a simple, low-key way to get the kids into the palace for a morning.