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The columned stone front of Perth Museum, the former City Hall, lit warmly between the pillars at dusk on St John's Place.
Perth

Perth Museum

The museum in Perth's Edwardian City Hall, opened in 2024, where the Stone of Destiny is on show free beside the collections of Perth and Kinross.

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Welcome

Perth Museum is the new home of the Stone of Destiny, and a wonderful reason to stop in the city.

It opened in March 2024 inside Perth's grand Edwardian City Hall on St John's Place, the concert hall where The Who, Cream and The Kinks once played, now transformed by the architects Mecanoo, and its permanent galleries are free. The Stone itself, first recorded at the crowning of Alexander III in 1249 and used again for King Charles III in 2023, is shown in its own pair of audio-visual rooms. That's free too, but you pick up a timed ticket at the front desk when you arrive, with slots every ten minutes. Around it are the stories of Perth and Kinross, from the Carpow Logboat, made around 1000 BC, to a silk doublet from the 1620s. The Stone Café on the ground floor serves local produce, there are lifts to every floor, and Scone Palace, the Stone's first home, is three miles up the Tay.

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Before you go

Free to visit.

For the Stone of Destiny, pick up a free timed ticket at the front desk when you arrive.

Where
St John's Place, Perth, PH1 5SZ.
Open
October to April, Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 4pm. Closed on 25 and 26 December, and from 1 to 12 January 2027.
The Stone of Destiny
Free, by timed ticket from the front desk, with slots every ten minutes. Last admission 4.40pm, 3.40pm on Sundays. No photography inside.
Price
The permanent galleries are free.
Café
The Stone Café on the ground floor, open from 9.30am on weekdays, 10am on Saturdays and 10.30am on Sundays.
Getting there
Just under fifteen minutes on foot from Perth station; buses stop on South Street. There is no parking at the museum, but pay car parks are nearby.
Access
A ramp and automatic doors at the South St John's Place entrance, lifts to every floor, and a Changing Places toilet.
Dogs
Assistance dogs only.
Phone
01738 632488

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
10am–5pm
Tuesday
10am–5pm
Wednesday
10am–5pm
Thursday
10am–5pm
Friday
10am–5pm
Saturday
10am–5pm
Sunday
11am–4pm

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Where it is

On St John's Place in the middle of Perth, by St John's Kirk, PH1 5SZ.

Close byPerth and the Tay.
  1. The front of Café Tabou on St John's Place in Perth, its name on a red awning over the door and planters of greenery along the wet pavement.Café TabouA French brasserie on St John's Place in Perth, facing St John's Kirk, cooking classic dishes with Scottish produce since 2002.Under a mile as the crow flies
  2. Domed gallery building with T H Marshall Civis Gratia inscription and colourful banners on its columnsPerth Art GalleryOne of the UK's oldest public art collections, in the domed building on George Street, with the Scottish modern painters, Fergusson and Millais.Under a mile as the crow flies
  3. The North Port restaurant in Perth, a three-storey stone building with tall chimneys, sash windows and its name over the ground floor.The North PortA small, independently owned restaurant in a restored eighteenth-century stone building on North Port in Perth, cooking seasonal Scottish food.Under a mile as the crow flies
  4. PerthPerthThe Fair City on the west bank of the Tay, founded as a burgh by King David around 1125, long the lowest crossing of the river, and Scotland's seventh city since 2012.Under a mile as the crow flies
  5. The Black Watch Castle & MuseumThe Black Watch Castle & MuseumThe museum of Scotland's oldest Highland regiment, in Balhousie Castle beside the North Inch in Perth, open every day with a cafe and shop.Under a mile as the crow flies
  6. Kinnoull Hill Woodland ParkKinnoull Hill Woodland ParkScotland's first woodland park, on the wooded hills above Perth, with a folly tower of 1829 on the edge of a cliff high above the Tay.1 mile as the crow flies
  7. Scone PalaceScone PalaceThe red sandstone palace of the Earls of Mansfield beside the Moot Hill at Scone, where the kings of Scots were crowned on the Stone of Destiny.2 miles as the crow flies
  8. Huntingtower CastleHuntingtower CastleTwo fifteenth-century tower houses on the edge of Perth, joined into one, where James VI was held for ten months in the Ruthven Raid of 1582.3 miles as the crow flies
Directions
Coffee & Things café with outdoor tables on a quiet Edinburgh streetCafeCoffee and ThingsA step away
Wooden planters flank The Rose House shopfront on a quiet streetCafeThe Rose HouseA step away
ShoppingTayberry GalleryA step away
Red shopfront sign reading "Effie's of Perth, Traditional Tea Room & RestaurantCafeEffie's of Perth0.2 miles
Church spire beside the River Tay, with a stone bridge in the distanceAttractionsQueen's Bridge0.2 miles
Gift shop interior with dried flower garland above a wooden counterShoppingQuince and Cook0.2 miles
Box hedge maze paths curve through a garden with yellow tansy flowersAttractionsRodney Gardens0.3 miles
Rows of treadmills and weight machines fill the Live Active gym floorWalksDewars Centre0.5 miles
An aerial view of a golf green surrounded by bunkers and trees, rolling countryside stretching to the horizon.SconeMurrayshallPlace to stay · 2.8 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

Places to stay near the museum, and when each is next free.

An aerial view of a golf green surrounded by bunkers and trees, rolling countryside stretching to the horizon.Murrayshall
  • To stay
  • In Scone
  • 3 miles from Perth Museum
Check datesMacbeth's Bothy, a white-harled cottage with a slate roof and a green porch, behind a fence and wildflowersMacbeth's Bothy
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Collace
  • 8 miles from Perth Museum
Check datesAn aerial view shows a black timber cabin with a pitched roof set on a deck in an open field, a bath and seating area visible outside.The Cabin at Fairygreen
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Perth
  • 8 miles from Perth Museum
Check datesA stone cottage with a green door and three chimneys sits behind a lawn bordered by shrubs and flowerbeds.Fairygreen Cottage
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Kinrossie
  • 8 miles from Perth Museum
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in PerthAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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