Accessibility information for visitors at Johnnie Walker Princes Street, Edinburgh.
We are pleased to have consulted Euan’s Guide to ensure that we provide disabled access information in advance of people visiting Johnnie Walker Princes Street. To help you plan your visit, we have included an overview of our facilities and what to expect.
Please do let us know if you have any specific requirements at the time of your booking and a member of staff will be in touch.
We are located in the West End of Edinburgh and opposite the junction of Princes Street and Lothian Road. Visitors arriving by car should be aware there is limited parking in the area. Charlotte Square has a number of pay and display parking bays. Blue Badge Holders can park in designated disabled parking bays in nearby Charlotte Square, George Street and Stafford Street.
The closest Blue Badge bays are in the South Western corner of Charlotte Square and approximately 100 metres from the Tour Entrance. Frequent bus services run along Princes Street and Lothian Road; the local Lothian Bus services are all wheelchair accessible. The Edinburgh Tram service, wheelchair accessible, has a stop at the West End which is a five-minute walk away and level access.
The main entrance to the Visitor Centre has an automated door and Experience Ambassadors will greet you on arrival. The building has wide doorways, the narrowest being 82.5 cm and smooth easy to navigate floor surfaces. The main entrance is to the side of the building on Hope Street.
The building has its own story to tell and was formerly made up of two buildings; a department store and a bank. The front of the building, and facing Princes Street, houses our shop and retail experience. The building has eight floors and these are connected by lifts and stairs.
All doors have been designed to be wheelchair accessible. The minimum width of all door clearances is 825mm.
Our shop at the front of the building has been designed to be accessible. We have plenty of space for moving around, our counters have lowered sections and induction loops.If you need any assistance, our Shop Team are happy to help.
We have two rooftop bars which both have lowered sections, and we provide table service where guests require assistance to carry food or beverages.
Our visitor tours follow routes that change floor levels and where these take place there are lifts and platform lifts if required. Staff are always happy to assist in using these if required.
Tours visit a series of exhibition areas and you will be accompanied by your tour guide. Throughout the tours we have created bright, light and obstruction free routes with plenty of space to move around. Some of our tour areas, and we will not spoil the surprise, have visual effects with some flashing lights, audio tracks, differing floor surfaces and aromas to create a sensory experience. For some of these effects there will not be any advanced warning. Visitors who may find this uncomfortable are welcome to bypass this experience if you let us know when you make a booking.
The tour typically takes ninety minutes, and during this time your tour group will move through the Experience to explore the story behind Johnnie Walker. There are occasions where we will ask you to sit for while. We also have portable chairs available if you wish to take as seat as we move around.
Our events spaces are on the upper floor and include Label Studio and Learning for Life training area. Learning for Life has a lowered counter, and the Label Studio is an open floor plan with plenty of room for moving around. Each of these areas has been designed with accessibility in mind and include great views.
We have four main lifts. Two are larger than the others and the dimensions are:
Lift 1 - clear door opening widths of 130 cm, and car dimensions 240 cm depth x 140 cm width x 220 cm height
Lift 2 - clear door opening width of 130 cm, and car dimensions 240 cm depth x 140 cm width x 220 cm height
Lift 3 - clear door opening width of 90 cm, and car dimensions 210 cm depth x 110 cm width x 220 cm height
Lift 4 - (Private Client) - clear door opening width of 90 cm, and car dimensions 140 cm depth x 110 cm width x 220 cm height
Where we have platform style lifts these are 102 cm width x 166 cm depth. The step lifts moving between floor levels are 109 cm width x 145 cm depth cm. These lifts can carry up to 375Kg.
Each floor at Johnnie Walker Princes Street has an accessible toilet available. Each is spacious, has grab rails, a drop-down rail and ample transfer space. The transfer space in the accessible toilet on each floor is a different side; either left or right. Our Experience Ambassadors will be able to show you to either a left or right side transfer accessible toilet if you ask. All our accessible toilets are equipped with an emergency alarm and a red alarm cord.
Basement - Right Hand Transfer space
Ground Floor - Changing Places Toilet with left and right hand transfer
First Floor - Right Hand Transfer space
Second Floor - Right Hand Transfer space
Third Floor - Right Hand Transfer space
Fourth Floor - Right Hand Transfer space
Fifth Floor - Left Hand Transfer space
Sixth Floor - Left Hand Transfer space
Johnnie Walker Princes Street has a Changing Places Toilet. It is located on the ground floor and any member of staff will be happy to show you where this is. The Changing Places Toilet is open to any member of the public who is a Changing Places Toilet user.
We offer assistive devices for language translation, English language captioning, and audio description to help all visitors enjoy the Journey of Flavour tour.
Our Team at Johnnie Walker Princes Street welcomes everyone to share in our stories. If a disabled visitor requires the support of a Personal Assistant or Carer in order to visit, we will provide a complimentary ticket. When making your booking online, just let us know in the additional information section.
Visitors with mobility impairments who may be unable to use the stairs in an emergency evacuation will be advised of their personal evacuation plan; what to do in an emergency evacuation. Where mobility impaired visitors are not on the ground level at the time of the evacuation, they will be escorted to a refuge point. We have evacuation chairs should they be required.
If you have any questions about accessibility and planning your visit please get in touch with us. You can call us by telephone on +44 (0)131 376 9494 or email us via reservations.jwps@diageo.com
Book your experience online today. We look forward to welcoming you to Johnnie Walker Princes Street soon.