Melrose Abbey

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.

A fascinating place to visit. Currently having work done so there is a reduction on the admission charge and you cannot go inside the abbey due to scaffolding but you can walk around the outside, visit Sir Walter Scott’s grave, the museum and enjoy the remains of the other parts of the abbey. There are QR codes around giving information and sounds. Parking across the road from the abbey on the pay and display. This is a Historic Scotland site so if you have CADW or English heritage membership it’s free to get in.

Really enjoyed this abbey. We had a little road trip to see this place. Lovely old ruins. Atmospheric day. Worth the time to wander the site. Lots of history in its old bones - Robert the Bruce anyone?

Great for a quick stop or a lingering one. The Abbey grounds include the structure, garden and picnic areas, and a museum. We enjoyed a leisurely tour.

Very historical interest wandering around the abbey grounds. Opted for the free audio guide. There is also the museum so it’s not 20 mins in and out, you can spend well over the hour. There are lots of picnic tables so we got the one under the tree in the far corner of abbey grounds to have our picnic.

Very nice abbey but covered in scaffolding with the lie that it's not safe (it's been covered for 5 years ) the vaulted ceiling is about 2 meters thick .. If it was going to fall down it would have already done so poor show from historic Scotland being lazy about checking brickwork that could be done if it was done properly in a few months not 5 years

Lovely place, nice abbey and good gor a day trip. We went from Glasgow so around 2 hours drive . Parking is available nearby but mostly busy so we parked on roadside just 100-200 meters far.

We got a small tour from one of the volunteers, John. Very enjoyable. To bad this Abbey, like the others are closed for entry due to renovations that are not actively being done, just fences and scaffolding... This Abbey has a large outside area that's very interesting, so it was worth the discounted entry fee.

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.