Abbey or priory · Edinburgh · City of Edinburgh

Holyrood Abbey

Holyrood Abbey is a monastery ruins in Holyrood, City of Edinburgh. It holds the status of a scheduled monument. Top of the 163 other places within 15 km is Palace of Holyroodhouse, 100 m off.

Photo: Holyrood Abbey, Enric (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Where

In Edinburgh

inside the locality

How well known

Top 2%

#145 of 8,556 places we list

Warmest months

Jun–Aug

highs of 18–20°C

In brief

Abbey or priory in Edinburgh

One of the best-known places to visit in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

#145 of the 8,556 museums, castles, gardens and other attractions we list, by how widely it is covered (25 Wikipedias). About ↓

Inside Edinburgh

Holyrood Abbey is inside Edinburgh’s locality, with 108 more places to visit within 5 km. Towns near it ↓

Scheduled monument

On the official list of protected heritage; Edinburgh has 4,435 listed buildings in all, on its History page. About ↓

Written from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, NRS’s localities and Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

When to go

Picking your season

The warmest stretch in Edinburgh is June to August, at 18–20°C in the afternoon.

Jan7° / 1°69 mm

Feb8° / 2°55 mm

Mar10° / 3°49 mm

Apr12° / 4°45 mm

May15° / 7°52 mm

Jun18° / 10°69 mm

Jul20° / 11°73 mm

Aug19° / 11°75 mm

Sep17° / 9°57 mm

Oct13° / 7°79 mm

Nov10° / 4°68 mm

Dec7° / 1°70 mm

Green months are the warmest. Typical afternoon highs and night lows in Edinburgh, and rain in a month. Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for Edinburgh. Opening times change through the year: check before you go. Edinburgh’s full climate →

About

Holyrood Abbey

25 Wikipedia editions have an article on it.

Edinburgh’s listed buildings and monuments →

Type: Abbey or priory
Listed: Scheduled monument
Wikipedias: Covered in 25 languages
Town: in Edinburgh

Facts: Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors).

The map

Mapping Holyrood Abbey

Holyrood Abbey sits at the orange dot; the numbered ones are listed below.

Towns near it

Towns that count Holyrood Abbey

With 493,794 people, Edinburgh is the largest of the 8. Pick a base: each town is a page of its own, with what else there is to see.

1 · It’s in town

Edinburgh

493,794 people · 150 places to visit

2 · 5.9 km southeast of it

Danderhall

3,389 people · 21 places to visit

3 · 7.7 km east of it

Musselburgh

21,476 people · 21 places to visit

4 · 8.3 km south of it

Loanhead

7,007 people · 16 places to visit

Compare the 8 towns

Town	Where Holyrood Abbey is	People	Places to visit
Edinburgh	It’s in town	493,794	150
Danderhall	5.9 km southeast of it	3,389	21
Musselburgh	7.7 km east of it	21,476	21
Loanhead	8.3 km south of it	7,007	16
Dalkeith	9.7 km southeast of it	15,125	18
Bonnyrigg	9.8 km southeast of it	18,088	16
Wallyford	10 km east of it	4,493	13
Mayfield	12 km southeast of it	14,259	15

Make a day of it

Other places close by

163 more lie within 15 km, 3 art galleries, 2 museums and a historic house among them.

Historic housePalace of Holyroodhouse100 m away 2

Castle · Historic Environment ScotlandEdinburgh Castle1.9 km away 3

Big drawArt galleryNational Gallery1.5 km away · 661K visitors a year (2021)4

MuseumNational Museum of Scotland1.3 km away 5

CathedralSt Giles' Cathedral1.3 km away 6

Art galleryScottish National Portrait Gallery1.4 km away · 313K visitors a year (2015)7

Art galleryScottish National Gallery of Modern Art3.5 km away · 458K visitors a year (2015)8

MuseumHMY Britannia3.2 km away

Within 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.

Know before you visit Holyrood Abbey

Where is Holyrood Abbey?

Holyrood Abbey is in Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, inside the town’s locality.

What is Holyrood Abbey?

Monastery ruins in Holyrood, City of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

When is the best time to visit Holyrood Abbey?

June to August are the warmest months in Edinburgh, with afternoon highs of 18–20°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).

Is Holyrood Abbey a listed building?

Yes: scheduled monument.

What else is there to see near Holyrood Abbey?

Within 15 km: Palace of Holyroodhouse (100 m), Edinburgh Castle (1.9 km), National Gallery (1.5 km) and National Museum of Scotland (1.3 km).

Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the NRS 2022 locality (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (9)

Holyrood Abbey: Enric, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Palace of Holyroodhouse: 瑞丽江的河水, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Edinburgh Castle: Stephencdickson, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
National Gallery: 瑞丽江的河水, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
National Museum of Scotland: Maccoinnich~commonswiki, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
St Giles' Cathedral: 瑞丽江的河水, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Scottish National Portrait Gallery: Original uploader was Maccoinnich at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art: Grousebeater2, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
HMY Britannia: Akiramenai, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.