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; £10 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 card holders pay £1 online. Audio guide on your own phone or an HES device. Explorer Pass accepted. No joint ticket with the cathedral is offered at present; the cathedral grounds are 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.
In-person price; £5 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; £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.
No visitor parking at the castle beyond one accessible bay outside; on-street parking in the town, and Fife Council's Bruce Embankment car park by the beach three quarters of a mile away, charged April to September (£1.20 for two hours, £4 over four) and free in winter. Not a Trust car park, so membership does not cover it.
Historic Scotland says there is no specific visitor parking, that there is on-street parking, and that the nearest car park is at the Bruce Embankment about three quarters of a mile away; one accessible parking bay stands outside the castle. Fife Council's Bruce Embankment car park (157 spaces, 4 disabled bays, public and disabled toilets) charges seasonally from 1 April to 30 September, Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 1pm to 5pm: £1.20 up to two hours, £2.40 up to four, £4.00 over four; free the rest of the year and for blue badge holders; pay by RingGo. Fife's short-stay on-street bays in St Andrews are £1.20 an hour with a two-hour maximum. Visitors report parking in town is limited.
Driving pin: HES's own pin on the castle frontage on The Scores, since no visitor car park is named within reach. No bike racks at the castle; the nearest are by the University Library, with cycle lockers at the bus station. Coaches and buses: Historic Scotland names only its journey planners.
St Andrews Castle was the official residence of Scotland's leading bishop, later archbishop, through the Middle Ages: a bishop's palace, fortress and state prison over 450 years of history on the sea cliff at the edge of the town. Bishop Roger began it around 1200, Bishop Walter Trail rebuilt it after the Wars of Independence and Archbishop James Beaton added gun towers in the 1520s. Here Cardinal David Beaton had the Protestant preacher George Wishart burned in 1546, before Protestant nobles stormed the castle and murdered him; the siege that followed, with John Knox among the garrison, left the unique mine and countermine, underground passages of medieval siege warfare, now closed, and the bottle dungeon is one of medieval Britain's most infamous castle prisons, where Beaton's body was kept. The Great Hall collapsed into the sea in 1801. Visitors enjoy the cliff-top sea views, stay two hours with the audio guide and pair it with the cathedral; parking in town is tight.
Later dates are in the calendar.
Prices, non-members
| Ticket | On the day | Online |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | £11.00 | £10.00 |
| Concession | £9.00 | £8.00 |
| Child | £5.50 | £5.00 |
1 April to 30 September daily 9.30am to 5.30pm; 1 October to 31 March daily 10am to 4pm; last entry 45 minutes before closing; closed 25 and 26 December and 1 and 2 January. Historic Scotland recommends booking in advance to guarantee entry. Notice: large parts of the site are open, the main courtyards, towers and interiors, but the mine, countermine and Bishop's Apartments are currently closed; the site's phone line is down, so email standrewscastle.vo@hes.scot.
The visitor centre is reached down five steps with handrails or a ramp without, and is level inside, with a multi-sensory exhibition of audio-visual presentations and dioramas; the castle is 50 m away over grass reinforced with concrete strips, entered over a wooden bridge into a grass courtyard from which much can be seen; the south range floors and the sea and kitchen towers are up stone steps with single handrails. Adapted toilet beside the exhibition; shop, picnic area, self-service tea and coffee, no cafe; audio guide on your own phone or an HES device. Pet dogs are not admitted.
Photo: St Andrews Castle's fore tower and ruined ranges on the cliff edge above the beach, with the sea and the castle sands below. Tom Parnell, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:General_view_of_castle_from_SE.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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Dogs, with restrictions
14 miles (22.5 km), about 5.5 hours, rough and tidal in places so check tides; the long-distance trail goes over the cliffs past St Andrews Castle or through the town; one of Scotland's Great Trails. Free.
