Lauriston Castle Reviews Summary

Castle Grounds and Gardens

Pros:

• "Gorgeous public area with Japanese garden and plenty of green space for you / young people to run about in."
• "Great views across the Forth river in beautiful landscaped grounds. Don't miss the friendship garden."
• "The grounds were lovely. There is a big park, there are ponds, places were to play cricket (!), a stunning Japanese garden."
• "Lovely grounds with a great Japanese garden which is lovely in May when the blossom is out."
• "The grounds are huge and free to walk round, with a Japanese garden and beautiful views down to Crammond Island and across the Forth to Fife."
• "With plenty open space, a croquet lawn, Japanese garden, and view of the Firth of Forth, it's hard to find somewhere more relaxing."
• "Great grounds for a walk with the family. Wonderful variety of landscaping and planting with plenty of routes and paths around the grounds."

Cons:

• "Unfortunately some of the sculptures in the garden had fallen or been knocked over and then they'd been taped up with hazard tape, also all the vegetation was rotting too and the bathrooms weren't open."
• "Everywhere you look there's litter, and most of the vegetation is dead."
• "Shame its sooo muddy you can't walk round sometimes and feel sad that there isn't more invested in the upkeep of the rose garden etc."
• "Once magnificent gardens lacking care especially the Japanese garden of Friendship."
• "Bits of the larger garden have succumbed to some folks who would rather light fires and drink from a bottle."
• "Such a shame to see the state it is in. There was broken glass, empty beer cans and drug bags in the Japanese garden."
• "It needs more caring and maintenance."

Castle Tours and Events

Pros:

• "Went to magicfest at castle as part of festival. Magic was awesome."
• "Highly recommended. A very knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide who takes the tours, and a house full of surprises."
• "It's worth booking the guided tour. Amazing Edwardian interiors, rooms untouched for 100 years."
• "We took the castle tour with a whole family. The guide was very knowledgeable and made the whole experience very engaging."
• "Been on the tour twice and was amazing."
• "Fantastic evening at Hogmanay House - a great atmospheric way to visit Lauriston Castle in Edinburgh."
• "We had a Fantastic History Tour, such a unique place in Edinburgh which is almost untouched since the previous owners donated it as a museum."

Cons:

• "Unfortunately, we didn't see a single ghost. :)"
• "We went to the Dinosaur exhibit which was a bit of a flop."
• "The castle wasn't included in the event so to me it felt unfair and wouldn't recommend it nor go again."
• "Unfortunately we didn't get into the castle because the bookings were to be made in advance online."
• "I wouldn’t recommend a visit at the weekend due to the number of people and capacity of the facilities."
• "The Jurassic kingdom event was overpriced for what it was, plus a long muddy walk which resulted in an extra load of washing."
• "I personally found the visit kinda boring. You're not free to explore, you're always behind ropes with the guide talking."

Cafe and Refreshments

Pros:

• "A branch of Mimi's is resident to the side of the castle providing their well known drinks and cakes."
• "A cafe with coffee and cakes with outdoor seating."
• "Lovely coffee and cake outside in the sunshine."
• "Mimi's cafe serving good coffee with pleasant server."
• "Mimis bakehouse on site means you can get great coffee and cakes at the same time, double win!"
• "The Mimi’s is open for teas, coffees, and bakery goods."
• "Phenomenal cafe on grounds."

Cons:

• "Cakes are a bit too sweet."
• "Cafe is very small and could offer a much wider range, I'm sure it would be popular if it offered proper meals."
• "The castle's cafe' is very small but fairly priced."
• "The gluten free cake option is awful. Some pre packed shortbread that I binned after one bite."
• "Cakes are good, coffee is hit or miss. Often a miss."
• "Little cafe was good although limited in terms of lunch options. Was mainly pies and sausage rolls."
• "The castle overs a cafe and cakes."

Accessibility and Facilities

Pros:

• "Mobility, once steps addressed is eased with seats available."
• "Lauriston castle is a fantastic location for walking your dog with huge enclosed grounds."
• "Carpark is available, small but there."
• "Grounds are free to enter, with great views out over the Forth."
• "They have a pound, toilets and there's also a cafe to get tea/coffee and cakes."
• "Benches are available for a sit and even a picnic."
• "Free parking, nice views of the river and relaxing grounds with no entry fee."

Cons:

• "Doing covid ok, but need a lot more hand sanitizer around for customers to use, and to sanitise tables between customers."
• "No toilets open at the moment due to Covid so prepare ahead of time."
• "Parking is very limited though."
• "The only negative is the toilets are currently closed even though you can buy drinks and cakes."
• "Website said open at 9am arrived to find out the house was open at 2pm. Waste of a morning."
• "Disappointing that the toilets were closed as the Web page said they were open but the castle was still closed because of covid."
• "Outskirts, silverknowes, and no local bus take you close enough for comfortable travels to the castle itself."