Scone: Palace, Coronation History and Landscapes

Scone combines Scottish history with landscaped grounds and a variety of things to discover. Scone Palace, Moot Hill, Scone Abbey, gardens and woodland paths give your stay different points of focus. So if you are looking for holiday accommodation in Scone, you can consider whether historic sites, garden paths, nature or a mixture of these should be at the heart of your trip.

Palace and Coronation History

A guided tour of Scone Palace takes you through the palace’s grand rooms. At the same time, visitors are invited to explore Scone Palace at their own pace. This allows the visit to be combined with individual travel plans without losing sight of the site’s historic character.

Scone was the original place where the Stone of Scone was kept. Immediately northeast of Scone Palace lies Moot Hill, a large, artificially created oval mound with a flat top. During the medieval and post-medieval periods, Moot Hill was the most important coronation site for Scottish monarchs. Scone Abbey was founded by King Alexander I sometime between 1114 and 1122. Those interested in Scottish history will therefore find several distinct points of interest here rather than just a single historic building.

The character of the village itself also has a clearly dated history: Scone was built as a planned village in 1805. This information adds a later perspective on the development of the area to a visit to the Palace and Moot Hill.

Gardens, Paths and Special Landscapes

The gardens and parkland of Scone Palace cover 100 acres. The designed landscape of Scone Palace is considered one of the finest and oldest designed landscapes in Scotland. It includes the Category A-listed Scone Palace. You can therefore combine a visit to the palace with different forms of landscape exploration when planning your day.

The Douglas Trail through the gardens highlights modern cultivated varieties descended from David Douglas’s original plant introductions. Another specific attraction is the maze at Scone Palace. It was created in 1991 using 2,000 beech trees and more than 800 metres of paths. Scone Wood also includes several winding walking trails. This means that, alongside interiors and historic sites, garden and woodland experiences are also available, without having to limit your trip to just one activity.

The parkland of Scone Palace provides a habitat for squirrels and deer. The Kitchen Garden supplies vegetables used year-round in the Palace Coffee Shop. This combination of landscape, wildlife and horticulture adds further dimensions to the visit that can be taken into account when choosing your excursions.

Getting There and Choosing Where to Stay

Scone Palace can be reached by public transport, car or bicycle. Taxis are available from Perth Rail Station for the ten-minute journey to Scone Palace. When planning your accommodation, you can take these travel options into account as well as whether you mainly want to experience culture, walks or the landscaped gardens.

Discover More Destinations

For further travel planning, you can also visit Kenmore, Perth, Aberargie, Morenish, Comrie, Ochtertyre, Dunkeld and St David's.

For the higher-level travel overview: Perth And Kinross.