Inchcolm Abbey

PricingHalf price in your first year of English Heritage membership, then freeEH memberHalf, then freeNon-member£8.50

EH members: half price, then freeInfo

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.

Pre-booking is recommended at Edinburgh Castle, Skara Brae, Stirling Castle, Blackness Castle, Urquhart Castle, Doune Castle and Maeshowe. Bookings are limited to six people per membership.
Bring the card itself: joint and family memberships admit the named holders only.
Historic Scotland does not offer reciprocal admission to National Trust properties, and a National Trust card is not accepted here.

More information

Entry

Non-member prices

Adult landing ticket (aged 16 to 64)£8.50

Child landing ticket (aged 7 to 15)£4.00

Concession landing ticket (aged 65 and over)£6.80

Pricing details

Historic Scotland's abbey and island admission, bought with the ferry ticket from Maid of the Forth or Forth Boat Tours (Forth Boat Tours charges £8.92 with fees); the ferry fare is separate. Maid of the Forth waives the landing fee for Historic Scotland, Explorer Pass and associated members (English Heritage, Cadw) on proof of membership; Forth Boat Tours offers no partner option online. One undated price table is published; recheck in spring 2027. Up to two carers free per transaction. No family, joint or Young Scot ticket for Inchcolm. 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.

Historic Scotland's landing price; Maid of the Forth charges £5.50; under-7s free. 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.

Historic Scotland's landing price (Maid of the Forth sells it for those aged 60 and over). 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.

ParkingParking not known

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

Parking details

Historic Scotland says on-street parking is available in South Queensferry; Forth Boat Tours adds that there is disabled parking at the promenade close to Hawes Pier, about 100 m from the boat. No car park or tariff is named, so the status is recorded as unknown. Bike parking is at the pier.

Pin: the Maid of the Forth ticket office at the top of Hawes Pier, South Queensferry, where both operators' Inchcolm sailings start (Forth Boat Tours also uses Port Edgar Marina for some sailings), 6.8 km across the Firth of Forth from the abbey. The boats are commercial and not included in the abbey ticket: on 18 October 2026 Maid of the Forth's 3 hour Inchcolm landing trip cost £21 adult and £12 child (5 to 15) plus the landing fee, and Forth Boat Tours' Inchcolm cruise £19.08 adult, £17.17 senior, £12.40 child and £68.90 family, with about 90 minutes ashore; tickets are collected at least 15 minutes before departure. No membership covers the ferry fare.

About

Inchcolm Abbey stands on Inchcolm, Colm's Isle, in the Firth of Forth, the Iona of the east, with the best-preserved group of monastic buildings in Scotland. Alexander I sheltered here in a storm in 1123 and vowed to found a monastery; his brother David I brought Augustinian canons, and the priory became an abbey in 1235. The cloister is the most complete in Scotland, with three covered walks, alongside an octagonal chapter house of the 1200s, the roofed dormitory and refectory, and a 13th-century fresco of a funeral procession in a tomb recess. Abbot Walter Bower wrote his great history, the Scotichronicon, here in the 1400s. English raiders came for centuries, and the island was heavily fortified in the early 1900s to defend Edinburgh, Rosyth and the Forth Bridge, leaving gun emplacements and a tunnel to explore. Commercial boats sail from South Queensferry under the Forth bridges, with seals and seabirds on the way; visitors take a picnic, explore the tunnel and climb the tower for the views.

Check today’s timesPick a day for times and prices

Until 31 Oct: Daily 10:30–16:30, last entry 15:45
1 Nov–31 Mar: Closed
From 1 Apr: Daily 10:30–17:30, last entry 16:45

Today, Saturday 24 October

Inchcolm Abbey10:30 – 16:30last entry 15:45

Prices, non-members

Adult£8.50
Concession£6.80
Child£4.00

Book tickets

Opening times may change at short notice.

1 April to 30 September daily 10.30am to 5.30pm; 1 to 31 October daily 10.30am to 4.30pm; last entry 45 minutes before closing; closed 1 November to 31 March. Book the ferry and the abbey landing ticket together in advance with Maid of the Forth or Forth Boat Tours; on 18 October 2026 both offered daily Inchcolm sailings to 31 October (Maid of the Forth at 12.15pm) and none in November. Historic Scotland: access to parts of the island may be restricted between May and August when seabirds aggressively protect their young; private boats can only land on the beach.

Both boats have narrow gangways and Forth Boat Tours says the island is not suitable for wheelchair users; the island pier has about 20 stone steps depending on the tide, and parts of the abbey and island have staircases and steep paths, including the stair up the tower. Toilets, a visitor centre with an exhibition and a small shop with self-service tea and coffee, picnic spots and two sandy beaches; no accessible toilet, cafe or audio guide. Dogs on a short lead outdoors, not in roofed areas, and away from nesting birds.

Dogs: Dogs are allowed on a short lead at all times but not in roofed areas; never left unattended; keep them away from nesting and dead birds. Breeding-season care for nesting birds; parts of the island may be restricted between May and August.

Photo: Inchcolm Abbey's tower, octagonal chapter house roof and cloister buildings seen from the island's landing pier. Rosser1954, CC BY 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inchcolm_Abbey,_Firth_of_Forth._View_of_east_facing_facade_from_the_harbour.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.