Mary Queen of Scots’ Visitor Centre

📌 Jedburgh, Scottish Borders
★★

The name of this attraction in the centre of Jedburgh rather undersells the place: the Mary Queen of Scot’s Visitor Centre is really a tower house, museum and garden all in one. If you spend any length of time travelling around Scotland’s old castles, palaces and houses, you’ll surely see Mary’s name crop up time and time again: the young queen stayed in scores – perhaps hundreds – of the country’s residences during her tumultuous reign. She stayed in Jedburgh (probably in this very tower, though it’s not certain) in October 1566, and the building is now one of the best sources of information about her life, laid out clearly and chronologically on the middle floor of the house. Around the rest of the tower are an assortment of artefacts, paintings and models relating to Mary, all surrounded by colourful lawns and flowerbeds. Allow about an hour to see it all in detail.