As Scotland enters its first Level 3 lockdown weekend in months, it has left many families looking to fill the bank holiday with cheap days out to spend with the kids.
The good news is that, as of today, 70% of Historic Environment Scotland’s sites will be open up to the public.
This includes ticketed sites, as well as more than 200 free-to-access ones.
Further ticketed sites are due to reopen on a rolling basis over the upcoming months.
This includes some of Scotland’s most iconic heritage sites including Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle, Linlithgow Palace, Urquhart Castle, St Andrews Castle, and Melrose Abbey.
Where will reopen?
- Aberdour Castle, Fife
- Blackness Castle, West Lothian
- Caerlaverock Castle, Dumfries
- Craigmillar Castle, Edinburgh
- Dirleton Castle, East Lothian
- Doune Castle, Stirling
- Dryburgh Abbey, Scottish Borders
- Dunblane Cathedral, Stirling
- Dundonald Castle, South Ayrshire
- Dunfermline Abbey Nave, Fife
- Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh
- Elgin Cathedral, Moray
- Fort George, Inverness, Highlands
- Glasgow Cathedral, Glasgow
- Huntly Castle, Aberdeenshire
- Jedburgh Abbey, Scottish Borders
- Linlithgow Palace, West Lothian
- Melrose Abbey, Scottish Borders
- Skara Brae, Orkney
- St Andrews Castle, Fife
- St Andrews Cathedral, Fife
- Stirling Castle, Stirling
- Tantallon Castle, North Berwick
- Urquhart Castle, Inverness, Highlands
What safety measures will be in place?
Visitors will be expected to wear face coverings in indoor spaces. Some enclosed spaces, where social distancing cannot be easily maintained, will not be accessible.
There will also be initial capacity management on numbers, one-way systems will be in place in some locations, and visitors will be asked to use contactless payment where possible.
How can I book?
Tickets should be booked online in advance from the HES website.
To book tickets and for more information on further HES sites reopening visit: restarthistory.scot
What have they said?
Alex Paterson, Chief Executive of HES, said: "Our heritage sites are home to over 5,000 years of history and we can’t wait to welcome visitors back once more, so they can once again experience Scotland’s history.
"As before, there will be measures in place to facilitate social distancing, as well as new innovations to the visitor experience including new audio tours and digital content.
"We know how much people enjoy being able to access heritage sites, and we’ve worked hard to provide a mix of sites across the country, with over 70% of our sites opening up on the 30th and many others on a phased basis over the next few months.
"On the eve of what is a historic reopening, it’s been great to be at the castle to see all the hard work of the teams coming to fruition as we get ready to welcome visitors once more.”
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