Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Dalmeny House
Dalmeny Estate, 3 miles east of South Queensferry • June & July Mon-Wed & Sun guided tours at 2.15pm & 3.30pm • £8.50 •
T
0131 331
1888,
W
dalmeny.co.uk • Arriving on foot from South Queensferry, follow the High St eastwards for 1.5 miles until you reach the estate
entrance; by car follow signposts from the A90 near South Queensferry
Set on a two-thousand-acre estate,
Dalmeney House
may not be the prettiest you'll
encounter in Scotland, but the quality of the items on show within make it a fascinating
place to visit. As well as some of the finest baroque and Neoclassical
furniture
produced for
Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI in the hundred years before the French Revolution,
there's also a valuable selection of memorabilia relating to Napoleon Bonaparte. he
art
collection is surprisingly strong too, with a very rare set of
tapestries
made from cartoons
by Goya, and portraits by Raeburn, Reynolds, Gainsborough and Lawrence.
1
Hopetoun House
3 miles west of South Queensferry • Easter-Sept daily 10.30am-5pm • House and grounds £9.20, grounds only £4.25 • Free tour daily at
2pm •
T
0131 331 2451,
W
hopetounhouse.com • Arriving from South Queenferry on foot, follow the coastline westwards for 3 miles; by
car take the M90 turn-off onto the A904, from where it's signposted
Sitting in its own extensive estate on the south shore of the Forth,
Hopetoun House
is
one of the most impressive stately homes in Scotland. he original house was built at
the turn of the eighteenth century for the first earl of Hopetoun by Sir William Bruce,
the architect of Edinburgh's Holyroodhouse. A couple of decades later, William Adam
carried out an enormous extension, engulfing the structure with a curvaceous main
facade and two projecting wings - superb examples of Roman Baroque pomp and
swagger. Hopetoun's
architecture
is undoubtedly its most compelling feature, but the
furnishings
aren't completely overwhelmed, with some impressive seventeenth-century
tapestries, Meissen porcelain and portraits by Gainsborough, Ramsay and Raeburn.
he house's
grounds
include a regal driveway and some lovely walks along woodland
trails and the banks of the Forth.
Inchcolm Island
From South Queensferry's Hawes Pier, just west of the rail bridge, a couple of ferry
services head out to
Inchcolm Island
, located about five miles northeast of South
Queensferry near the Fife shore. he island is home to the best-preserved medieval
abbey
in Scotland, founded in 1235 after King Alexander I was storm-bound on the
island and took refuge in a hermit's cell. Although the structure as a whole is half-
ruined today, the tower, octagonal chapterhouse and echoing cloisters are intact and
well worth exploring. he hour and a half you're given ashore by the boat timetables
also allows time for a picnic on the abbey's lawns or the chance to explore Inchcolm's
old military fortifications and extensive bird-nesting grounds.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
INCHCOLM ISLAND
From Edinburgh
From Waverley Bridge,
Forth Belle
makes two to five sailings each day between Easter and Oct
(£20 including bus from Edinburgh, landing fee on the
island £5.50 extra; 45min each way;
T
0870 118 1866,
W
forthtours.com).
BY BOAT
From South Queensferry
There are regular crossings from
Hawes Pier between April and Oct on the
Maid of the Forth
(times vary, more regular in high season; £17.50; 45min each
way;
T
0131 331 4857,
W
maidoftheforth.co.uk).
