Melrose Abbey

Visited Melrose and its abbey while on holiday in Scotland. The abbey is conveniently just across the road from a pay and display car park (there are also electric charge points). Entrance is through a small gift shop. Paid a reduced admission fee of £3.85, which included a small donation, because you can't actually go inside the abbey due to renovations and danger from falling masonry. But it was well worth taking the free guided tour around the abbey grounds. John was a great guide, very informative, giving us a full account of the abbey's history and adding a couple of humorous anecdotes as he showed us first around the graveyard and then the foundations of the monks' living quarters, kitchen and cloisters. The abbey church, with its soaring Gothic arches and windows, and a wealth of medieval stone carving, was majestic and awe-inspiring in spite of all the scaffolding and safety barriers. Not to be missed were the grave of one of the original masons who worked on the abbey, the burial place of Robert the Bruce's heart, and the famous bagpipe playing pig! There are info boards around the site with artist's impressions that gave me a real sense of how grand this abbey once looked. The shop has themed gifts and some interesting books, and you can also buy ice-cream here. The young man at the ticket desk was so friendly and helpful, even recommending a nearby café where I could get lunch. Despite the renovations and limited access, Melrose Abbey is well worth a visit.

The old Abbey in Melrose, Scotland is a fantastic place to visit for not only history but architectural photography. When we visited late September 2025, you couldn't actually walk into the Abbey itself because of the danger of falling masonry. If you don't mind taking photographs and trying to keep the fencing out of view, then it's great for photography. I love zooming into the ancient gargoyles and trying to get glimpses inside the Abbey. Well worth the visit and we found it quite easy to park.

We visited Melrose Abbey in July 2025. It would have been such a beautiful place to visit, were it not for the fact that this abbey is also undergoing major renovations. I don't know what's going on, but it seems that every abbey in the area is currently undergoing renovation work. Perhaps a lot of subsidy money has become available? They are all covered in scaffolding, which makes visiting them less pleasant because of all the scaffolding on the outside and inside.

Good information boards and staff on entry informative. Currently the Abbey itself cannot be entered due to high-level maintenance work. Yet still the building is able to impress and inspire. Dogs welcome in all areas except the museum, and water bowls provided. Look out especially for The bagpipe playing pig! Spent about an hour and a half here wandering round reading information boards and soaking up the atmosphere.

If you are lucky enough to get a guided tour this will be an even better experience. After you have done the Abbey and marvelled at the time, energy and skill that must have gone into building it, go to the Museum. Well worth a visit. Parking is possible in the street outside the Abbey Grounds. Priorwood Gardens not really worth visiting. Nor is Harmony Garden. I cannot stress enough how much you will benefit in your appreciation of the ruins if you can get a free guided tour with an enthusiastic, knowledgeable guide

An excellent example of medieval architecture with English and french influences. Well organised grounds with good information boards and a similar excellent audio guide system to Jedburgh abbey which coupled with the guide map with location points on it allows you to view all the key points with plenty of information. Additional sections on the guide give details of associated events such as the legend of William Wallaces heart. Helpfully staff please ty of benches to sit and take in the views and a three d printed copy of the bagpipe playing pig for you to study. Acces for less abled is pretty good with ramps and mats to help in wet weather though the ground in the cemetery could be challenging.Dont miss the small but excellent museum found by exciting the grounds over the small bridge and through the black gate crossing the road and enteting into the house well worth a visit. Entrance using English heritage membership is free. Only reason for not giving five stars is that conservation work means you can not go into the building.

Interesting well preserved site, slightly compromised by current renovations. The Museum well worth a visit as well!

It's very interesting, use your phone an interactive guide.

Visited April 2015: "Border town attraction" We didn't think we were going to spend a great deal of time at Melrose Abbey, due to it being a ruin but there was more to do then our first glance. For one, we were able to walk up a very narrow staircase, to the top of the church. You were able to see the entire village, and not feel overwhelmed by the height. Robert Bruce's heart is buried there. We were not provided or offered an audio guide

As Scottish church ruins go, Melrose Abbey is top of the line! Much more interesting and scenic than St. Andrews Cathedral for what it actually is TODAY - not for what it once was. Great photo opportunity, too. See my photos for reference. This attraction is included in many 1-day coach tours that start off from Edinburgh (mine was by The Highland Experience Tours). Is it worth the trip from Edinburgh on your own (by bus or train)? Well, not really, as you won't spend more than 1 hour max exploring the grounds of Melrose Abbey. And the village of Melrose itself, let's just say that it's a sleepy little hovel between someplace A and nowhere B. But as part of such an organized coach trip, it's well worth your time. The entrance is moderate (5.50 - minus 11% if you're in a group), you can take as many pictures as you'd like. What distinguishes Melrose Abbey from, say, St. Andrews Cathedral, is that a large part of the once mighty construction has survived! So there's actually something to see other than just bricks on the ground that indicate former walls and towers. What's left is enough to let you feel the actual impact the original abbey must have made on visitors. Included in the ticket price is an audio guide. You'll get it when entering through the shop, which is also the ticket office. Since just a couple of clerks are responsible for BOTH shop and tickets you'll find that the simultaneous arrival of two or more bus groups, which is not uncommon, mixed with people who want to get out and buy books or less useful items in the shop, will create an *interesting* situation. Well, that's that particular brand of British efficiency.

Melrose Abbey is an Historic Scotland property so if you are a member it's free entry to a piece of Scotland past for you to wander around, if you aren't a member then it's £5.50 per person entry fee to wander around the ruins of a gothic style church and entry to a museum charting the history of the abbey. You can easily spend an hour going around the site and if you are happy with tight spaces and heights then you can venture onto the roof viewpoint that gives you a view around the borders. Unfortunately I am not good with heights and my partner isn't good with tight spaces so we couldn;t take this opportunity.

I loved my visit here with my husband during our honeymoon. I found the audio guide to be very well made as I was able to follow it from room to room. I learned so much about the abbey and found the monk's daily routine to be extermely interesting. Even though it was cold and a little rainy, hubby and I really enjoyed our visit. Side note: When we first walked into the abbey, I got really annoyed that everyone was on their cell phones! but up close, I realized that it was the audio guide! DOH, I joined them quickly.