Abbotsford the home of Sir Walter Scott

This is a beautiful house of modest size set in a sublime aspect. It is best viewed after entering from the car park from the first floor balcony of the visitor centre. Happily you can also enjoy a pleasant meal while taking in the view. Taking the path down to the house you pass adjacent to the walled garden. First enter the chapel on the left hand side. A beautifully peaceful place to dwell. Then retrace your steps back outside and enter the house after passing through a stone archway. Friendly volunteers welcome you and offer an audio tour should you wish. Only the ground floor is open to visitors but there is a tremendous amount to take in including the interesting range of artifacts which Scott collected. Once finished in the house then the gardens, which are remarkable well maintained, are worth a gentle stroll. Whrn we visited it was a very hot day so we took advantage of sitting on one of the traditional deckchairs near visitor centre. There is a very reasonable parking charge of £2 per day (August 2025). This is a very worthwhile place to visit.

Lovely visit, guides in the house very welcoming and knowledgeable. Used the recorded information - there were 2 to choose from, one factual and one in the style of Walter Scott himself which I used, it was brilliant. Lovely walk by the river and back through the gardens. Staff in the visitor centre with very welcoming and keen to share where the dogs could go (everywhere except the house). Free entry with Historic Houses membership.

Absolutely wonderful visit here with my mom in May! The house was so fascinating and well kept and we really enjoyed the audio guide from Sir Walter Scott's perspective. The staff were all very friendly too. The gardens were stunning and we had a beautiful sunny day so it all looked like a fairytale castle. We were also lucky to be there on a day when they had an exhibit from the volunteers who observe the wildlife on the grounds and we got to see videos and specimens from a truly lovely lady who was so passionate- it was such a highlight!

Marvellous gardens that i could spend days in. The house and whole estate were beautiful. Cafe was very busy with a long wait, the poor staff run off their feet so didn't stop for food.

An amazing house, situated in stunning gardens and wonderful river views. The visitor centre is with a look, and the cafe upstairs has some tasty food

Superb visit . The volunteer we were greeted by recommended that we undertook the Witch Corner trail to avoid the coach trip guests in the house when we arrived- great idea! Grandkids were delighted by their garden quiz trail and by the trail within the house too. Fabulous gardens and so many butterflies- excellent day.

A really well organised attraction. I could imagine a full weekend on a good day in season would be a little cramped as the house rooms are small and the self guided tapes are about 3-4 minutes for each located point (2-3 per room) so not easy to breeze through if you follow those. However, we went on a non Scottish holiday weekday in English half term and had an amazing time. The visitor centre is great the trails for kids are well laid out and the wider grounds expansive. I got a pass for a year as we didn’t quite see every and they are just across the border so a lot to go back for, particularly for me, a book nerd. Great staff too who knew plenty and weren’t shy from admitting the foilbles of Scott’s whimsical purchases.

This house has been on my list of places to visit for ages. The public can only access the ground floor. We chose an audio tour, which had lots of information about the rooms. There are also folders in each room giving more details about the items in each room. All the staff we met were very friendly and we enjoyed the walk round the gardens and along the river bank. The only reason I have given it four stars is because you have to pay to park, it’s not a lot but it should be free if you are paying to visit the house