Maeshowe Chambered Cairn

PricingHalf price in your first year of English Heritage membership, then freeEH memberHalf, then freeNon-member£11

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 (aged 16 to 64)£11.00

Child (aged 7 to 15)£5.50

Concession (aged 65 and over)£9.00

Pricing details

In-person price on the day, if any tickets remain; £10 booked online, which Historic Scotland strongly recommends. One undated price table, which applies today; recheck in spring 2027. English Heritage partner tickets should be booked online in advance. 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 all year. No family ticket, Orkney joint ticket or audio guide; HES's free Explore Maeshowe app has 360-degree views. 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; £5 booked online (the webstore shows £5 to £6); 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; £8 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.

ParkingParking not known

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

Parking details

Historic Scotland says parking is available at Maeshowe Visitor Centre at Stenness, with accessible bays and level tarmac. No charge or free statement is published, so the status is recorded as unknown. There is no parking at the cairn. There is no coach parking for coaches of more than 14 seats at the visitor centre or the nearby lay-by; drop off and pick up only.

Driving pin: the visitor centre car park, 29 m from HES's pin; tours start and finish here and a shuttle bus takes visitors about 1.6 km to the cairn. Historic Scotland names no bus service, only its journey planners, and lists a bicycle rack.

About

Maeshowe is a chambered tomb built some 5,000 years ago, one of the finest Neolithic buildings in north-west Europe and part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site with Skara Brae, the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar. From outside it looks like a large grassy mound, howe being Old Norse for hill, ringed by a ditch. Inside, you stoop along a 10 metre passage into a central stone chamber with three side cells, built from sandstone slabs of up to three tonnes. For about three weeks either side of the winter solstice the setting sun shines down the passage and lights the back wall. About 3,000 years after the tomb was sealed, Norsemen broke in and carved runic graffiti on the walls, the largest collection of runic inscriptions outside Scandinavia. Visits are by guided tour only, by shuttle bus from the visitor centre at Stenness, and reviewers praise the guides who translate the runes. Book ahead, as tours fill.

Check today’s timesSee all times

Maeshowe Chambered Cairn10:00 – 16:00; tours at 10:00, 12:00 and 14:00; last entry 15:00

Opening times may change at short notice.

1 April to 30 June 9.30am to 5.30pm (Fridays and Saturdays to 5pm), tours at 10am, 12 noon, 2pm and 4pm; 1 July to 31 August 9.30am to 8pm Monday to Thursday and to 5.30pm Friday to Sunday, tours at 10am, 12 noon, 2pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm and 7pm; 1 to 30 September daily 9.30am to 5pm, tours at 10am, 12 noon, 2pm and 4pm; 1 October to 31 March daily 10am to 4pm, tours at 10am, 12 noon and 2pm. Last entry 4.45pm April to June and September, 7.45pm in July and August, 3pm October to March. Closed 25 and 26 December and 1 and 2 January. Access is by guided tour only; book online in advance to guarantee a place, arriving at least 15 minutes before your tour as the bus leaves on time. A few extra tickets may be sold in person at the visitor centre on the day, first come, first served; when tickets are sold out online there are no walk-up tickets. From about late November to mid January the setting sun aligns with the chamber: book the 2pm tour to see it.

The shuttle bus can take a wheelchair (contact the site first), but there is no wheelchair access to the cairn. From the bus stop the route crosses a busy main road, passes two metal gates and runs 400 m along gravel, stone and uneven grass, ending up a 1 in 5 grassy slope over stone ridges. The entrance is low (119 cm) and narrow (70 cm) and the passage 10 m long; the chamber has a gravel floor, electric light and torches, and ear defenders can be borrowed. No photography inside the cairn. The visitor centre has toilets, accessible toilets, baby changing, a shop, a display, self-service tea and coffee and a picnic area. No dogs except assistance dogs.

Photo: The grass-covered mound of Maeshowe with its stone-lined entrance passage behind a fenced gate, under a blue sky streaked with cloud. Beep boop beep, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maeshowe_exterior.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.