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 for the April to September season; recheck on reopening in 2027. Children under 7 free but need a ticket; up to two carers free per transaction; Young Scot card holders pay £1 online. Explorer Pass accepted in summer. 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; 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 there is limited visitor parking at Hermitage Castle, with no accessible bays marked; minibuses can use the car park but there is no parking for coaches, and coach drivers should contact the site in advance. No charge or free statement is published, so the status is recorded as unknown; OpenStreetMap maps a 14-space lay-by car park tagged free and Google lists free parking.
Driving pin: the car park mapped on OpenStreetMap on the road west of the castle, 184 m from HES's pin; the visitor centre is 100 m along the path and the castle 200 m. The castle is about 6 miles from Newcastleton. Historic Scotland names no bus or rail service, only its journey planners.
Hermitage Castle stands deep in the wild border country of Liddesdale, called by George MacDonald Fraser the guardhouse of the bloodiest valley in Britain, and for most of 400 years the key to controlling Scotland's Middle March. Even building a castle here in the 13th century brought Scotland and England to the brink of war. The grim fortress you see was begun around 1360 by the English lord Sir Hugh de Dacre and transformed beyond recognition by William, 1st Earl of Douglas, then adapted in the 1500s for gunpowder, with gun holes punched through its thick walls. In October 1566 Mary Queen of Scots rode 25 miles from Jedburgh to visit the wounded Earl of Bothwell here, and on the way back fell into a bog and lay with a fever for a week. Visitors find it stark, remote and gloriously quiet, with a little ruined chapel and graveyard by the Hermitage Water and ospreys overhead in early summer.
1 April to 30 September daily 10am to 4pm; last entry 30 minutes before closing; closed 1 October to 31 March. Historic Scotland recommends booking in advance to guarantee entry. No works notice on 18 October 2026.
The castle is 200 m from the car park along a mainly grass path with several steep sections across the old defences; there is a shallow step into the visitor centre; around the castle is cut grass, the entrance has a slight threshold, the courtyard is cobbled and the ground floor gravel; an elevated walkway is reached by 13 metal steps with handrails, another stair has 21 steep steps with one handrail, and the north-east walkway a narrow 18-step stone spiral. Toilets and a picnic area on site; the nearest adapted toilet is 6 miles away on Langholm Street, Newcastleton; no shop, cafe or audio guide. Dogs on leads in the outdoor areas; sheep graze nearby.
Dogs: Dogs are welcome in the outdoor areas on a lead; HES's general guidance excludes them from visitor centres and roofed areas. The site itself is open only 1 April to 30 September. The castle grounds and earthworks are outdoor areas, on a lead, in the open season; livestock graze nearby.
Photo: Hermitage Castle's great west front with its tall arch, seen across the grassy earthworks of Liddesdale. Scotfocus, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hermitage_Castle_near_Newcastleton.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
No reviews yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to share your experience!