Overview

This review is of the grounds, gardens and cafe at Lauriston Castle. The Castle and its separate toilet building are not currently open due to Covid restrictions - but the cafe and outside seating areas are. The grounds are lovely to explore with the trees and plants offering a beautiful autumn display, set against views of the Castle and the Forth estuary. The cafe is run by Mimi’s Bakery with two outside seating areas. One area is dog friendly and fully accessible. The courtyard seating area is also accessible but no dogs allowed. There are now two marked disabled parking bays in the car park at the entrance. A wide, well surfaced path/road leads from the car park to the Castle and cafe. The quality and surfacing of paths vary throughout the grounds though and can also be quite muddy in autumn!

Transport & Parking

There is a small car park just inside the entrance. This is often very busy. There are now two marked disabled bays but the horizontal position of these may make exiting a vehicle difficult for some drivers (see picture). The nearest bus stop is in Davidson’s Mains and the pavement from Davidson’s Mains to the entrance is narrow (see picture).

Access

The grounds have some excellent paths - but also some very poor paths! It’s worth checking the photos before you visit. The route from the car park to the Castle & cafe and to the Japanese garden is wheelchair, mobility scooter and power chair accessible but the path surfacing changes. Some of the other paths around the grounds have steps or steep inclines but there is usually an alternative path or route to take. There are numerous seats around the grounds including covered seating in the Japanese Garden. There is a written accessibility guide for Lauriston Castle on their website (2018)

Toilets

The toilets, including disabled toilet, are currently closed to the public.

Staff

The cafe staff were really friendly and efficient

Anything else you wish to tell us?

The car park was very busy but the grounds are large and there was no crowding on the paths or on the large green spaces and gardens. The outside seating areas for the cafe are very well spaced out. Staff in the cafe were wearing masks and used hand sanitizer between each customer (only one customer allowed inside to order at a time). It was a very relaxing and peaceful place to visit.

Photos