Mary Queen of Scots' House – Her Story in Jedburgh and Lunch
A few hours.
The route
In 1566 Mary Queen of Scots spent a month in Jedburgh, and the old tower house she is said to have stayed in is now a free museum telling her story, set in a garden of pear trees.
Afterwards, lunch is a short walk away on the High Street at Simply Scottish, a coffee house and restaurant. It's a good choice for a grey or wet morning.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is The House in the Hill, 5 miles away. Sleeps 4; next free Thu 29 Oct to Sat 31 Oct.
The day
Jedburgh
An hour in Jedburgh with Scotland's most famous queen in her tower house and its garden, and lunch on the High Street a few minutes' walk away.
About two and a half hours
Mary Queen of Scots Visitor Centre
An attraction
In Jedburgh, park in the free Canongate car park beside the A68 and walk 3 minutes up Queen Street to Mary Queen of Scots' House, a 16th-century tower house in a garden of pear trees. Mary's month in Jedburgh in 1566 was a turning point: she rode from here to Hermitage Castle to see the Earl of Bothwell, fell gravely ill, and later wished she had died in Jedburgh. Paintings, objects and textiles tell her story, with a Rogues Gallery of the people around her and a room for her last letter. It's free, with donations welcome. From April to October it opens 10am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday, and 10am to 3pm on Sunday; in March and November, 10am to 3pm daily; it's shut from December to February. The ground floor is level, with a touchscreen tour of the upper floor. There are no toilets in the house, and only assistance dogs go inside. Allow about an hour.
About 4 min on foot
Simply Scottish
Lunch
Lunch is a few minutes' walk away at Simply Scottish on the High Street, a coffee house and restaurant with a dark green front and tables outside on fine days. It's open every day, 10am to 4pm, with a proudly Scottish menu, from full Scottish breakfasts to burgers topped with haggis and big slices of homemade sponge cake. If it's full, the Abbey Bridge Coffee House, in the old toll house by the Jed Water, does coffee, home baking and fresh pizza until 2pm, or 3pm from Friday to Sunday.
If it rains
All of it is under a roof but the short walks between the car park, the house and the High Street.
Where to stay
Photograph by Simply Scottish via Google