Scott Monument Tickets

Scott Monument tickets on GetYourGuide come down to one listing, a 3 hour small group walking tour at $27 that finishes beside the monument. It has no rating yet. The monument is 61.11 m tall with 287 steps to the highest platform, per Wikipedia. I would climb on a dry morning, after checking the opening hours.

I found only one bookable option, and it is a walking tour, not a plain ticket. Prices, durations and inclusions come from the listing, checked in October 2026, in US dollars. Links open GetYourGuide in a new tab, and I earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. The point to know before you spend anything is that the tour stops at the monument and does not list going up it.

Scott Monument at a Glance

The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to the Scottish author Sir Walter Scott, standing in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, per Wikipedia. The architect was George Meikle Kemp, who entered the competition under the pseudonym John Morvo, and the foundation stone was laid on 15 August 1840. Kemp drowned in 1844 and did not see it opened. Know the numbers before you buy Scott Monument tickets.

“The highest platform is reached by a total of 287 steps.”

What	Detail
Steps	287 to the highest platform, per Wikipedia
Address	E. Princes St Gardens, Edinburgh EH2 2EJ, per Google Maps
Opening hours	Friday 10 AM to 12:30 PM and 1:45 to 3:30 PM, per Google Maps
Google Maps rating	4.7
Time to allow	3 hours for the walking tour; I have no official time for the climb alone

Hours and closures change, so check the Culture Edinburgh page before you set off.

Scott Monument Observation Deck Tickets

The viewing platforms at the top of the spiral staircases are the Scott Monument observation deck, and they are open to the weather. Wikipedia mentions several platforms but does not give a number, so I will not either. Culture Edinburgh says visitors can enjoy views of Edinburgh from the top, which is what Scott Monument tickets are really for.

None of the Scott Monument tickets I found is a plain observation deck ticket. That is the honest summary of this page: the $27 tour is a way to reach the monument with a guide, and the climb itself is something to check on the official site.

Scott Monument Tickets and Prices

The only price I can give is the $27 per person for the Wee Walking Tours listing. It is a small group, 3 hours, in English, with a walking tour and a guide included and free cancellation up to 24 hours before. That is a price for the walk, and Scott Monument tickets for the tower itself are a separate purchase.

I could not read an official admission price for the climb, so I will not quote one. If you book the tour and then want to go up, plan to buy the climb separately from the official operator. The calculator below totals the tour for a group and links to the booking page.

Scott Monument Tour

The walking tour is called the Edinburgh Storytelling Walking Tour to the Scott Monument. It meets at Makars’ Court, just off the Royal Mile next to the Writers’ Museum, where the guide carries a light green umbrella with Golden Retrievers on it. The route then runs through Edinburgh Castle Esplanade, Castlehill, Victoria Street, Grassmarket, Greyfriars Bobby, the Royal Mile, St Giles’ Cathedral, Tron Kirk and Cockburn Street.

Be clear about what you get. The Scott Monument is the last stop, and the listing describes it as the end point where you marvel at the landmark. The inclusions are a walking tour and a tour guide, with no entry ticket listed, so I read this as an exterior stop. The one thing I like is the 11:00 AM start, which leaves your afternoon free to go up the monument yourself if it is open.

Wee Walking Tours

Edinburgh Storytelling Walking Tour to the Scott Monument

• 3 hours
• Free cancellation

My pick: The only listing here: $27 for a 3 hour Old Town walk that ends at the monument, no entry listed, no reviews yet.

from

$27

Check availability

Scott Monument Climb

The climb is why people search for Scott Monument tickets. Wikipedia says the highest platform is reached by 287 steps, and the stairs are spiral, so it is a narrow and tiring climb. Culture Edinburgh describes a museum room on the way, with Scott’s life and legacy, and the marble statue by Sir John Steell.

I would not buy any ticket for someone who cannot manage a long spiral stair. I found no official climbing time and no accessibility details, only a link labelled Accessible resources, so ask Culture Edinburgh before you go.

Is the Scott Monument Worth It?

Google Maps rates the Scott Monument 4.7, and the setting is hard to beat: the gardens below and the Old Town skyline across the valley. The monument is also the second-largest monument to a writer in the world after the José Martí monument in Havana, per Wikipedia.

For me the answer depends on the climb. If the monument is open and you like heights and stairs, it is a worthwhile stop. If it is closed or the weather is poor, no Scott Monument tickets will help, but the outside still repays a look, and the walking tour covers the story of the city around it.

Scott Monument History

Work started in 1841 after the foundation stone of 15 August 1840, and the structure was finished in autumn 1844, per Wikipedia. It was inaugurated on 15 August 1846. The total cost was just over 16,154 pounds. Wikipedia counts 68 statues on the monument, not counting Scott and his dog Maida, with 64 visible from the ground.

A later restoration costing 2.36 million pounds was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council. Wikidata gives 1840 as the opening year, which is the date the stone was laid, so I use the Wikipedia dates above.

Scott Monument Tickets Online

I found no direct online booking for the climb in my data. The one product among these Scott Monument tickets is the walking tour, which you can book on GetYourGuide with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. That makes the booking flexible, but it is not an entry slot.

For the tower, look at the Culture Edinburgh page for booking rules. Do not treat the tour as a way of skipping a queue, because nothing in the listing mentions entry.

Scott Monument Edinburgh Price

The price I can stand behind is the $27 for the walking tour. For a family of four that is $108 before any extras, and the calculator above does the sum for any group size of Scott Monument tickets. The official climb price is the number missing from my data, so use it to judge whether Scott Monument tickets for the walk are good value.

My reading is simple. The tour is priced as a three hour guided walk led by a former history professor, per the listing, and the monument is the finale.

Scott Monument Hours

Google Maps lists Friday as 10 AM to 12:30 PM and 1:45 to 3:30 PM, with a lunch break in the middle. I found no seasonal table on the official page. It also said the monument was closed for essential maintenance and would reopen on Saturday 17 October, so check Culture Edinburgh for the current times.

Those short windows mean Scott Monument tickets need planning, and the tour is easier to plan around than the climb. The tour starts at 11:00 AM and runs 3 hours, which would finish after the morning slot, so I would climb first or on another day.

Scott Monument Edinburgh Tickets

All the Scott Monument tickets on this page are for the one tour, so there is no choice to make. The listing says the guide is Sami, a former history professor, and that the group is small and run by a family business. It is offered in English, and there are no reviews or rating yet, so I cannot tell you how past guests found it.

If you want the monument alone, the walk is not the cheapest way, since it includes eleven stops. If you want the Old Town story first and the monument last, it is a sensible pick.

Best Time to Visit Scott Monument

The platforms are open to the weather, so cloud decides the view. In the 2025 weather data from Open-Meteo, the clearest month was May at 51% average cloud cover and 13.4 sunshine hours a day. The cloudiest was December at 77%, with 2.5 sunshine hours. October averaged 72% cloud and 15 rainy days.

Month	Sunset (London time)	Cloud cover	Sunshine a day	Rainy days
Jan	16:11	66%	3.9 h	9
Feb	17:17	72%	4.1 h	11
Mar	18:16	69%	7.9 h	9
Aprclearest	20:19	59%	10.2 h	6
Mayclearest	21:19	51%	13.4 h	9
Jun	22:00	69%	11.9 h	15
Jul	21:47	70%	10.8 h	13
Augclearest	20:48	61%	11.5 h	12
Sep	19:29	61%	8.7 h	15
Oct	18:11	72%	5.3 h	15
Nov	16:04	72%	3.8 h	18
Dec	15:37	77%	2.5 h	12

Sunset runs from 15:37 in December to 22:00 in June. Opening hours are short and finish mid-afternoon on the day I have data for, so sunset only matters if the monument is open late. If it is, arrive 45 to 60 minutes before sunset. Otherwise I would go in the morning of a dry day.

What You Can See From Scott Monument

I have no cited height for the top platform above ground, so I have left out the horizon calculator rather than guess. Below are places around the monument, with straight-line distances computed from the Google Maps coordinates.

St Giles’ Cathedral is 0.35 km (0.22 miles) away and the Royal Mile 0.41 km (0.26 miles). Edinburgh Castle is 0.59 km (0.37 miles), the National Monument of Scotland on Calton Hill 0.76 km (0.47 miles) and the Palace of Holyroodhouse 1.31 km (0.81 miles). The Royal Observatory on Blackford Hill is 3.31 km (2.05 miles) away.

Scott Monument vs Other Viewpoints in Edinburgh

Edinburgh has no other ticketed observation deck in my data to rival it, but it has plenty of viewpoints. Ratings and reviews are from Google Maps, and distances are straight-line from the monument.

Viewpoint	Google rating	Reviews	Distance	Cost
Scott Monument	4.7	not shown	the deck itself	Check locally
Camera Obscura & World of Illusions	4.6	16,189	0.41 km (0.25 mi)	Check locally
The Vennel Viewpoint Edinburgh Castle	4.7	2,060	0.71 km (0.44 mi)	Open 24 hours
Victoria Street Viewing Point	4.8	356	0.45 km (0.28 mi)	Check locally
North Viewpoint	4.9	52	0.79 km (0.49 mi)	Check locally

For a free skyline, the Vennel Viewpoint is the one I would pair with the climb. Outside Edinburgh, the other Scottish tower on this site is the Wallace Monument, about 50 km away in Stirling.

How I’d Choose Scott Monument Tickets

• Cheapest way to see it: the $27 walking tour is the only listing, and it ends at the monument.
• First visit to Edinburgh: the same tour, because it covers the Old Town before the monument.
• Climbing the tower: none of these Scott Monument tickets, so use the official page and pick a dry morning.
• Families: the small group tour, the only one of the Scott Monument tickets here, with the free 24 hour cancellation if plans change.
• Anyone who cannot do 287 steps: skip the climb and take the exterior stop on the tour.