Clackmannan Tower

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free to view the outside for everyone; the interior is seen only on Historic Scotland's paid guided tours (£6.50 to £11.00, members 10% off) on selected dates. No membership card is needed.

ParkingFree parkingFree for all visitors

No charge for anyone.

Parking details

Historic Scotland: the nearest parking is in the centre of the village, around half a mile's walk from the tower, and strong footwear is recommended. Clackmannanshire Council lists Main Street and Castle Street as Clackmannan's car parks and says all its public car parks are free of charge and not time restricted.

Driving pin: the car park behind Main Street in the village centre, 623 m east of Historic Scotland's own pin; walk up the High Street and the track over King's Seat Hill, crossing a cattle grid by its side gate. Historic Scotland gives journey planners only.

About

Clackmannan Tower stands alone on King's Seat Hill above the old county town of Clackmannan, visible for miles, with panoramic views over the Forth to Falkirk and the Ochils. David II, son of Robert the Bruce, granted Clackmannan to his kinsman Sir Robert Bruce in 1359, and the oldest part of the tower dates from then; in the 1400s it was heightened and a second tower added to make an L plan. Historic Scotland calls it showy, with high-quality stonework and repeated vaulting. A mansion added later was demolished in the early 1800s. The Bruces lived here until the late 1700s, and the last of them, the staunch Jacobite Katherine Bruce, knighted Robert Burns with Robert the Bruce's sword when he visited in 1787. Turner sketched the tower. The outside can be seen free at any time, and the interior only on paid guided tours on set dates. From the free council car park on Main Street it is a walk of about half a mile, partly over a field.

Check today’s timesSee all times

Clackmannan TowerExterior open all year; the tower interior is seen only on paid guided tours (selected dates until 28 October 2026)

Opening times may change at short notice.

Historic Scotland: 'The exterior of Clackmannan Tower can be viewed year-round.' Its guided tours of the inside and the roof (10am to 4pm on selected dates until Wednesday 28 October 2026, £6.50 to £11.00, 10% off for Historic Scotland members) are booked online; the tours involve uneven floors, steep stairs, low lintels, enclosed spaces and exposed heights.

The tower stands on a grassy hilltop on working farmland, so follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code; the approach is over a field and strong footwear is recommended. No toilets: the nearest public and accessible toilets are at Morrisons, Alloa.

Photo: Clackmannan Tower's tall sandstone keep on the grassy top of King's Seat Hill under summer clouds, with the parish church tower in the distance. Euan Nelson, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clackmannan_Tower_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2499355.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.