Dunblane Cathedral

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free entry for everyone, donations welcome; free entry tickets can be booked online but are not required. No membership card is needed.

ParkingParking not known

The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.

Parking details

Historic Scotland names a public car park behind the cathedral about 100 m from the entrance, with two accessible spaces, and on-street parking including an accessible space about 50 m away on Kirk Street, but publishes no charge or free statement, so the status is recorded as unknown. Stirling Council publishes a Dunblane off-street tariff (£1.30 for two hours, £3.90 all day, Monday to Saturday 8.45am to 5pm) without naming which of the town's car parks charge; reviewers call the parking adequate.

Driving pin: the Cathedral car park behind the cathedral, 53 m from Historic Scotland's own pin. The cathedral stands at The Cross at the end of Dunblane's High Street; Historic Scotland says it is accessible by public transport and gives journey planners only.

About

Dunblane Cathedral is one of Scotland's noblest medieval churches, on a site held sacred for well over a thousand years: two carved cross-slabs of the 600s or 700s survive inside. The four-storey red sandstone tower of the 1100s is the oldest part and leans at an odd angle against the nave; the rest was laid out in one campaign after Bishop Clement won papal approval in 1237. After the Reformation worship retreated to the chancel, the nave roof fell in 1622 and it stood open to the sky for nearly 300 years until Robert Rowand Anderson re-roofed it from 1889. Look for the rare 15th-century choir stalls, among the finest in Scotland, the Pictish stones and the great west doorway; a memorial to the children and teacher killed in 1996 stands in the south aisle. Still a working church, it is free, quiet and staffed by people happy to talk; reviewers note the hour's closure at lunchtime.

Check today’s timesPick a day for times and prices

Until 24 Dec: Mon–Sat 10:00–15:30, last entry 15:00
25 Dec–4 Jan: Closed
5 Jan–31 Mar: Mon–Sat 10:00–15:30, last entry 15:00

Later dates are in the calendar.

Today, Saturday 24 October

Dunblane Cathedral10:00 – 15:30last entry 15:00

Free entry

Opening times may change at short notice.

1 April to 30 September Monday to Saturday 10am to 4.30pm and Sunday 2pm to 4.30pm; 1 October to 31 March Monday to Saturday 10am to 3.30pm, closed Sundays; closed for lunch 12.30pm to 1.30pm every day; last entry 30 minutes before closing; closed 25 December to 4 January. A working Church of Scotland church, with a service at 10.30am on Sundays and 11am on Wednesdays in the choir, so hours vary for services and events: on Saturday 5 December 2026 the site closes at 2.30pm (last entry 2pm) and on Thursday 17 and Tuesday 22 December it opens at 11.30am. Free guided tours by the Society of Friends run on Sunday afternoons in July and August.

Level 50 m tarmac path from the street and a ramp to the south door; the nave, choir and chapter house are level on stone or tile floors with seating throughout; the West Window Gallery and parts of the burial ground are closed. No toilets on site (the nearest accessible toilet is at Tesco on Springfield Terrace); a shop, contactless donation points and a fact-finding quiz.

Photo: Dunblane Cathedral from the south-west, with its red sandstone tower, the restored nave and the graveyard in front. DeFacto, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dunblane_Cathedral_2017.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.