Half price, then free, for English Heritage members
This place is cared for by Historic Environment Scotland. First-year English Heritage members get 50% off the ticket price; members who have renewed get in free. Bring your valid membership card, and any pre-booked tickets, to ensure entry.
More information
In-person price; £7.50 booked online. One undated price table is published; recheck in spring 2027. Children under 7 free but need a ticket; up to two carers free per transaction; Young Scot and National Entitlement Card holders pay £1. Explorer Pass accepted. No family ticket, joint ticket or audio guide. English Heritage members: half price in your first membership year and free after your first renewal, on showing a valid card; bookings capped at six people per membership. Historic Scotland members free.
In-person price; £3.50 booked online (the webstore shows up to £4.50); under-7s free with a ticket. English Heritage members: half price in your first membership year and free after your first renewal, on showing a valid card; bookings capped at six people per membership. Historic Scotland members free.
In-person price; £6 booked online. English Heritage members: half price in your first membership year and free after your first renewal, on showing a valid card; bookings capped at six people per membership. Historic Scotland members free.
The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.
Historic Scotland says the small, level tarmac car park has two accessible bays and that the visitor centre is 100 m from it along a mainly level gravel path, with a 130 m level concrete path on to the abbey; coach parking and a bicycle rack are listed. No charge or free statement is published, so the status is recorded as unknown; OpenStreetMap carries no fee tag and visitors describe a rough car park with reasonable space.
Driving pin: the Dryburgh Abbey car park mapped on OpenStreetMap, 100 m from the visitor centre and 223 m north-east of HES's pin on the ruins; the Dryburgh Abbey Hotel's car parks nearby are for hotel customers. The abbey is a 10 minute drive from St Boswells and about a 30 minute walk east of Newton St Boswells. By rail: the Borders Railway to Tweedbank; Historic Scotland names only its journey planners for buses.
Dryburgh Abbey stands in a loop of the River Tweed, founded in 1150 by Premonstratensian canons from Alnwick at the invitation of Hugh de Moreville, Constable of Scotland, and the premier Scottish house of their order. Never as rich as Melrose, Kelso or Jedburgh, it survived three fires and four attacks, the most famous in 1322, when Edward II's retreating army turned back to burn it on hearing its bells, and monastic life ended with the Reformation. The remarkably complete ruin holds some of the best Gothic church architecture in Scotland in its warm pink sandstone transepts, and the 13th-century chapter house keeps its painted plaster. In the 1700s the Earl of Buchan landscaped the grounds; Sir Walter Scott was buried in the north transept in 1832 and Earl Haig beside him in 1928. Visitors love the great old trees, including the ancient Dryburgh yew, the picnic lawns, and the steep spiral stair to a view over the ruins.
Later dates are in the calendar.
Prices, non-members
| Ticket | On the day | Online |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | £8.50 | £7.50 |
| Concession | £6.80 | £6.00 |
| Child | £4.00 | £3.50 |
1 April to 30 September daily 9.30am to 5pm; 1 October to 31 March daily 10am to 4pm; last entry 30 minutes before closing; closed 25 and 26 December and 1 and 2 January. Historic Scotland recommends booking in advance to guarantee entry. No works notice on 18 October 2026.
The visitor centre and ticket office are step-free; the nave and transepts are short grass with stone paving, a 100 m step-free gravel path runs round the site to the gatehouse and refectory, ten uneven stone steps without a handrail lead down into the cloister (or twelve with a handrail from the refectory), and the chapter house is down one historic step and ten timber steps with handrails; the towers are climbed by narrow, steep spiral stairs. Toilets and baby changing on site, the nearest adapted toilet about 4 miles away at St Boswells bus stance; shop with self-service tea and coffee, picnic area, no cafe or audio guide. Dogs on leads in the outdoor areas.
Dogs: Dogs are welcome in the outdoor areas on a lead; HES's general guidance excludes them from visitor centres and roofed areas, so not the visitor centre and shop. The ruins, cloister and the grounds laid out by the Earl of Buchan are outdoor areas, on a lead; which stairs admit dogs is not stated.
Photo: Dryburgh Abbey's pink sandstone transept and east gable rising behind the graveyard in spring sunshine. Kaybeedigital, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dryburgh_Abbey_spring.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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Dog access not confirmed
Waymarked circuit through the Borders towns 'featuring the magnificent ruined abbeys of Melrose, Dryburgh, Kelso and Jedburgh', usually started from Tweedbank, with the Melrose to Kelso section passing Dryburgh and St Boswells. Free; abbey entry needs a ticket.
