Fife historic landmarks set to re-open doors for ticket-only visits

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) will welcome visitors back from Friday, April 30 - but online booking is available now.

The venues opening include Aberdour Castle, Dunfermline Abbey, St Andrews Castle and St Andrews Cathedral.

New technology is also being implemented as part of HES’ new visitor offering.

Visitors will be able to explore the stories of many of the sites in innovative ways through downloadable maps, family trails, quizzes and quests, music, poetry and personal accounts to tell stories throughout the centuries, videos exploring Gaelic culture and words, and digital fly throughs to areas of sites usually restricted to visitors.

Visitors to St Andrews Castle will also be able to access an audio tour on their mobile phones during their visit as a new web app audio tour is being rolled out this spring.

The castle and visitor centre will be open, while at St Andrews Cathedral the cathedral ruins and museum within the visitor centre will be open.

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Visitors can also go to Aberdour Castle, including the dovecot, and the Nave at Dunfermline Abbey will be open.

Everyone - including members - will be required to pre-book tickets online and to use contactless payment where possible.

One-way systems will be implemented in some locations, visitors must wear face coverings in any indoor/enclosed spaces including retail and catering areas, and numbers will be limited for safety reasons.

Alex Paterson, chief executive, said: “Scotland’s heritage sector is a key part of our tourism offer – from providing jobs to increasing our wellbeing – and, in addition to reopening the sites that reopened last year, we will also reopen further sites across the country on a phased basis over the upcoming months.

“We hope visitors will also enjoy learning about the fascinating stories of our sites through our new technology – including QR codes, online videos and digital audio guides for an innovative insight into Scotland’s past.

St Andrews Castle open daily from 10am – 4pm, St Andrews Cathedral Wednesday – Saturday 10am – 4pm,;Aberdour Castle Saturday – Wednesday 10am – 4pm; Dunfermline Abbey Tuesday – Saturday from 10am – 4pm.

https://www.historicenvironment.scot/restart-history?rsrc=restarthistory.scot

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