Scotch Tasting in Edinburgh – Inside the Scotch Whisky Experience

– This post was written by Oscar O’Connor –

There’s no other city quite like Edinburgh. Tucked between the crashing North Sea and lush rolling hills, Edinburgh’s unique fusion of airy Gothic atmosphere, historic grandeur, and vibrant modern culture makes the Scottish capital just a wee bit special. 

Needless to say, there’s a lot to do and see here. From exploring the breathtaking Edinburgh Castle and the nearby Palace of Holyroodhouse to bravely delving into the city’s “haunted” underground, you’ll very rarely be stuck for something memorable to do in Auld Reekie. But whatever you choose to put on your sightseeing itinerary, visiting this incredible city just wouldn’t be the same without treating yourself to a Scotch tasting.

Just as Edinburgh itself is a heady blend of old and new, Scotch whisky is steeped in fascinating history while also forming a cornerstone of modern Scottish culture. Sampling the fiery amber-hued spirit is essential to an authentic taste of Scotland. You don’t go to Naples and not try the pizza, and you don’t come to Edinburgh and not try a Scotch tasting! 

We had the chance to catch up with Julie Trevisan Hunter, Marketing Director at the Scotch Whisky Experience on Edinburgh’s beautiful Royal Mile, for a truly fascinating inside perspective on the storied world of Scotch whisky.

Meet your insider: Julie Trevisan Hunter

Thanks for joining us Julie!

Let’s start with the basics; what is your role at the Scotch Whisky Experience, and what does your role entail?

I’ve worked for the Scotch Whisky Experience for 24 years in a number of roles within the organization. But for the last 10 to 15 years, my role as Marketing Director has centred around all things marketing, PR, and communications. 

Part of my role involves finding all the different angles and aspects of whisky that might intrigue and draw people in, and allow us to challenge some of the assumptions and stereotypes about Scotch whisky which lead people to thinking it’s not for them. 

I’m also on our whisky-tasting panel, as I am also a huge whisky fan and enthusiast. Over the decades I’ve been involved in running lots of whisky-tastings and fun whisky events. 

One of the things I really really love about my role, and always have done, is the fact that we sit between the tourism industry and the whisky industry. For me, these are Scotland’s two biggest and most important industries, and I feel like I get work within the best of both worlds.

I get to be involved in the incredibly historical product of Scotch whisky, which is deeply ingrained in Scottish society and cultural history. But I also get to be part of this dynamic, fast-moving tourism industry as well. It’s nice to be involved in two exciting industries that are close to my heart.

I imagine that everyone who comes to the Scotch Whisky Experience is probably the most excited to do some whisky tasting. What is the best whisky for beginners?

So, the way we introduce people to whisky is according to Scotland’s five main whisky-producing regions. We do chat about the basic methods of whisky production and how that influences the flavour and the character, but we then break it down into the regions and the corresponding characteristics associated with each.

We actually don’t go down the track of saying, “here’s the beginner’s whisky” or “this is the one to start on”, because with over three decades’ experience as a business, we know that there is no real beginner’s whisky, as it’s different for everyone.

I remember running a whisky tasting once for a corporate group, and somebody came up to me and said, “this (Islay whisky) powerful, smoky, peaty, whisky was fabulous, but I didn’t think I liked whisky until this one!”

So picking a light mild soft whisky isn’t necessarily the best beginner’s whisky for everybody. That’s why we briefly introduce the regions, discuss the signature flavours of each, and that gives every individual that little hook in their mind as to what flavour characteristics they think might best suit their own personal taste.

Can you do a quick overview of each of the regions and what their characteristics are?

Sure. So in Scotland, we have five whisky-producing regions recognised by the Scotch Whisky Association (the governing body for Scotch whisky). They are: Lowland, Highland, Campbeltown, Speyside, and Islay (pronounced eye-la).

Broadly speaking, the characteristics of Scotch whisky produced per region can be described as follows: 

• Lowland whiskies are quite light and grassy with citrusy and cereal notes.

• Highland whiskies tend to be quite floral, honey-like, and quite nutty in character. 

• Speyside whiskies are very fruity, with notes of orchard fruits, fresh fruits and even some richer dried fruit notes.  

• Campbeltown whisky has really fresh quality and a bit of apple-iness in the character, and a lovely vanilla note from the cask as well.   

• Islay whiskies come from the Isle of Islay, where peat smoke is used to dry out the malted barley, which makes the whisky really, really smokey and peaty in character. 

Speaking of Islay, I’ve heard that the best way to do a distillery tour on the island is to stick out a thumb and hitchhike from one distillery to the other, can you either confirm or debunk this, please? 

So although I sometimes call it the wild west, I generally think that Islay is one of the most welcoming, open, hospitable corners of Scotland you’ll ever visit. So, in terms of hitchhiking from distillery to distillery, I can, yes, absolutely. It wouldn’t surprise me at all for the locals there to take you anywhere you want to go.

There are numerous stories of people that have either become good friends with islanders or fellow whisky enthusiasts on Islay. It makes sense in a way, because if you’re going to make the effort to make it all the way to the island, there’s a good chance of running into a kindred spirit on a similar whisky pilgrimage.

I think a lot of the locals’ goodwill comes from the fact that people appreciate the fact that you’ve made such a commitment to get to their fairly remote island.

Generally speaking, what are the main differences between Scotch whisky, Irish whiskey, and American Bourbon whiskey?

The main thing to think about when differentiating the various types of whisky is the cereals. Single malt Scotch whisky can only be made with malted barley, and also can only be made in copper pot stills. So when you’re looking at whiskeys from other countries across the globe, they’ll be potentially using different cereals and methods to create them. Other countries will use a mixture of traditional copper pot stills and column stills for distillation, which can give a slightly lighter characteristic.

Scotch tends to be distilled twice, whereas Irish whiskey is typically distilled three times. With some of the American counterparts, there are some extra parts of the process like filtering through charcoal at the end of the process that changes some of the flavour and character.

Another difference between American bourbon and Scotch whisky is generally American whiskeys and bourbons tend to be sweeter on the palate, because they go straight into fresh virgin oak casks. So they immediately extract all the vanillins and the naturally occurring chemicals from the oak woods that give it a very sweet character right at the front of the nose and the palette.

There are also differences globally in how long the whisky must be matured in oak casks. In Scotland, it’s the longest with a legal minimum duration of three years (and, importantly, one day!) before it can even be called Scotch whisky. So when it’s in the casks in the bonded warehouse, if it hasn’t reached that age yet, it’s called spirit, not whisky.

For the uninitiated, what is the difference between brandy and whisky?

So the key difference between whisky and brandy is, of course, the primary ingredients used to make them. Brandy is derived from grapes, while whisky is made from grains. In very crude terms then, brandy is distilled wine, and whisky is distilled beer. But obviously there’s a little bit more to it than that!

Brandy is interesting because it’s actually a really good way to get into whisky. One of the things that we often see is that, if you’re the type of person who enjoys a nice after-dinner tipple of brandy, there’s almost certainly a whisky that would suit your palate.

The history and success of the whisky industry is also very much tied to that of brandy. When European grape crops were all but wiped out in the 19th century by an invasive North American aphid called Phylloxera, there was suddenly a hole in the European spirits market.

This coincided with the industrialisation of grain-processing and distillation that were evolving at the time anyway. But if it wasn’t for the decline of wine and brandy production, the whisky industry may never have got going commercially in the same way.

The Scotch whisky industry has had to rise to meet many other challenges over the centuries too, but it has proven to be robust, time and time again. So even during challenging times there’s still cause for optimism and excitement.

Fascinating stuff! So, with all that in mind, what’s your favourite part of the Scotch Whisky Experience itself? 

I’ve been really fortunate because this year, despite the Scotch Whisky Experience being closed for a while. When we reopened it was very much all hands on deck. So I’ve had the opportunity to be back on the floor, running tours and covering some of the gaps in our rota. I got to interact directly with our visitors again, and see what they love about the experience, which has been a lovely way to see the Scotch Whisky Experience with fresh eyes again, and reconnect with what makes Scotch whisky and Scotland itself so special.

For example, in our Sense of Scotland Room, we’ve got these stunning panoramic films of Scotland’s various whisky-producing regions. Loads of people come and visit us in Edinburgh, as part of a trip to the UK or Scotland, but they’re not necessarily going to be spending weeks travelling around all the different corners of the Scottish Highlands and Islands. So we felt it was hugely important to showcase how gorgeous all of Scotland really is.

So apart from making me slightly dizzy at times, this panoramic 180° screen allows us to give people a really great snapshot of these whisky-producing regions; how their physical geography influences the various characteristics associated with each type of Scotch, and where the distilleries are located etc.

Every single time I see it, I just think how beautiful a country we have, and how diverse it is too – the rolling hills and glens, to the sea cliffs and the Atlantic Ocean sunsets, and soaring eagles.

They’re things that sound like twee stereotypes until you actually experience these peaceful landscapes for yourself. There’s always a number of people that walk out of our rooms saying, “R–ight! I need to extend my trip to Scotland” and “oh my goodness look at the countryside!” So, I just adore that part of the tour.

And then there’s our whisky collection itself, which gives this amazing backdrop of almost 3,500 different bottles of Scotch whisky. It’s always fun to see the expressions on our visitors’ faces when they first walk into this room. Because whether they’re already into whisky or not, there’s just something absolutely delightful about the sheer spectacle and amber glow of these fascinating antique bottles.

So following on from that, what is your own personal best whisky experience?

My favourite moments of drinking whisky seem to all be connected with fires. For me it’s connected to being at home, especially in the winter when you’ve got the fire on and you pour a dram for your guests after dinner. Consequently, I personally have no whisky collection whatsoever! I work in a place with one of the world’s largest collections, but you come to my house and I’ve got a lovely range of half-empty bottles. I absolutely cannot maintain a whisky collection, because, for me, whisky is really for sharing!

And so, sitting in front of the fire after dinner is one of my favourite moments to enjoy a dram of whisky. But I also really like camping, so another favourite whisky moment of mine is to take a little hip flask of whisky when we go camping, and sit around the campfire under the stars in the fresh air of the Scottish countryside and sip a dram of Scotch in the evening.

I have to say, it sounds like a charmed life!

What do you consider the hidden gems of Scotch whisky or what do you wish people would stop and appreciate more?

Well this might be a slightly surprising answer, but I think the blends are to some extent the hidden gems of Scotch whisky. That might sound strange when over 90% of Scotch that’s sold is blended whisky, but often once people get really into Scotch, they kind of sweep the blends aside in favour of the single malts.

Blends tend to be a little bit less expensive than single malt whisky, and so there can sometimes be an assumption there that they are lower in quality and not worth exploring. This is a real shame because there are some truly fine varieties of blended whisky out there that are so soft and gentle on the palate. But you also have varieties with lovely hidden layers and complexities that are unique in character in their own right, and every discerning whisky drinker should take the time to try them too. So, in a sense, the hidden gems of Scotch whisky are really hiding in plain sight.

Do the blends also vary per region per distillery, the way that the single malts tend to do, in terms of an overall character of a region?

So generally, the point of the blends is almost like the opposite of the single malt. The single malt will have a very specific character attuned to that one single distillery, and often a flavour characteristic related to that cluster region in which they’re produced as well.

The mark of a good blend is that none of the constituent parts stands out more than the other, they all work in harmony with one another. So blends tend to smooth the edges of the more pronounced flavour characteristics of a given single malt.

But with that being said, there are blends that are designed for the host style to be more robust, so there are certainly blends that you could probably tell were from the Islay or Highland regions, for example.

Do you have any insider tips for first time visitors to the Scotch Whisky Experience?

So we offer a silver and gold tour. The gold tour allows visitors to finish off the experience with some whisky tastings, but otherwise the tours are identical. So my top tip for anyone visiting us for the first time, especially if they’re in a group, is to mix and match silver and gold tickets according to your preferences. 

If everyone in the group fancies ending the tour with some Scotch tasting, then selecting a gold tour for everyone obviously makes sense. But it sometimes happens that not everyone necessarily wants an entire Scotch tasting experience to themselves, so we try to be as flexible as possible. 

For example, if someone in your group buys a gold tour but you only bought the silver one, you can, of course, share the whisky tasting with them. Alternatively, you can also upgrade to a gold tour at the end if you change your mind at the last minute. So you don’t have to commit to it at the very beginning. 

So, gin has had something of a renaissance in recent years, and has become the spirit of choice for a lot of people. Clearly whisky takes a little bit longer to make and can’t be splashed together in a bathtub overnight! But has there also been an uptick in whisky sales in recent years?

Whisky has had a loyal customer base for many years and sales have remained fairly steady even as other spirits have made their gains in the market. In terms of becoming the latest “trendy” drink, I think whisky is almost a victim of its own versatility sometimes. Although a lot of gin producers claim that their product is beautiful to drink on its own, I think it’s fair to say that most people tend to drink gin with tonic, or other mixers.

Whisky, on the other hand is far more versatile, and is enjoyed throughout the world in many different ways: straight, on the rocks, opened up with a drop of water, or as the base for a variety of cocktails.

I find the origin of cocktails fascinating too. The tradition of mixing spirits with other drinks to make cocktails came from America, and probably started as a way to cover up the fact that they weren’t able to produce the most fantastic quality spirits themselves at the time.

I might be a bit biased here, but I think that whisky cocktails are more interesting than other spirits, because you can really taste the character and body of the whisky itself in the cocktail, rather than just a sort of alcohol taste that other spirits can have sometimes. My personal favorite whisky cocktail is an Old Fashioned, and the reason for that is I think that it’s a cocktail that you really get a flavour of whichever whisky you’re using.

If I had more time, I’d love to start an Instagram account solely focused on Scotch Old Fashioned cocktails, because the world is really your oyster with all the different types of bitters and Scotches you can use. So personally, I think Scotch whisky has a really long way to go in the cocktail market.

Let’s talk Japanese whisky. It’s spelled without an ‘e’, is often compared in terms of flavor and overall character to Scotch, and is seen as some of the best whisky in the world. Is this competition something that’s good or bad for the Scotch whisky industry? 

So, believe it or not, there’s actually a huge amount of collaboration in the whisky industry. On the marketing and tourism side, there’s a lot of sharing of knowledge and resources as there is in much of the tourism industry. But fascinatingly, when you look at the world of whisky blending specifically, there is a lot of collaboration there too. And it makes sense in a way. Obviously you can’t blend if you only have your own whisky! You need everyone else’s whisky to be able to make a blend.

So historically, the industry has collaborated to an extraordinary degree on the level of bartering casks, in order to put this diverse portfolio of different whisky blends to use. And that’s extended the relationship of how blenders and distillers work together way beyond Scotland.

We’re involved in hosting an amazing annual event called the International Spirits Challenge. Every May, master blenders come from all over the world to the Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh, and they judge hundreds and hundreds of whiskies from all over the world. They give them those little gold and silver badges that you get on the bottles of all different kinds of spirits, wines and liqueurs.

We’re the home of the judging of the whisky categories, and we have blenders that come from the US and from Ireland, and obviously our own Scotch blenders, and also blenders from Japan – which is where I’m coming back to the question. We always have two master blenders that come over from Japan, and spend the week with us on the judging panel, and it’s in meeting these people that you see the genuine connections that there are between these blenders from Japan, and their counterparts here in Scotland.

It’s not too surprising, as the Japanese whisky industry actually originated as a deliberate carbon copy of the Scotch whisky industry. A Japanese businessman and chemist called Masataka Taketsuru lived in Scotland between 1918 and 1920. He worked in various distilleries and brought his knowledge and love of Scotch whisky back to Japan where he helped set up his country’s first whisky distillery, based on the practices and traditions he found in Scotland.

So, you’re right, Japanese whisky is closer to Scotch than some of the other countries that produce whiskies. But I think overall it’s a good thing. There’s still so much collaboration and innovation that benefit everyone. And after all, imitation is the highest form of flattery!

What is the strangest blended whisky you have in the Scotch whisky collection, or have experienced?

Ha! We have a fair few novelty bottles in our collection that are almost like comedy whiskies.

We have one called Nessie, which, of course, has the Loch Ness Monster on the label (this is about as far away as you can get from an authentic Scotch whisky!). We also have a set of black and white Westie and Scottie ceramic dogs that are filled with scotch. There are also some ceramic ornamental books, but they’ve got a little stopper in them and they’re filled with whisky. And we also have a set of “headless” ceramic monks that are also bottles (the stoppers are their heads).

Maybe the most unusual (and perhaps questionable in terms of its benefits) is a chess set composed of opposing English and Scottish historical figures, but all the pieces have a little stopper on them, and all the main pieces with the exception of the pawns are all filled with a measure of Scotch whisky. Although if you were to have a dram every time you managed to capture a piece I’m not sure that you’d win the game!

We often highlight these novelty bottles as part of our children’s trail tour. As we want to make sure that when families or anyone under 18 visits, they have something appropriate and interesting to see too. Obviously, anyone under 18 can’t take part in any whisky tasting either, so we also serve Scotland’s other national drink: Irn-Bru!

Apart from the Old Fashioned, what are some of the classic whisky cocktails and your own personal favourites?

So as I touched on before, I think I think one of the really exciting things with whisky cocktails is all the different bitters that you’ve had coming out over the years. Because there are around 130 – 140 different Scotch whisky distilleries, and thousands of different blends. And then within each single malt there are countless derivations, with different years and cask finishes.

So you’ve got this enormous array of natural flavour profiles to pull on, and it’s lovely to be able to find some of the bitters that complement those flavours that you can pull out from particular single malts to create these unique cocktails where all the elements work in natural harmony. It’s great for making seasonal cocktails as well.

We’ve been doing a plumb Old Fashioned with plum bitters recently, and picking some really rich, fruity wine-cask-finished whiskies which have been really lovely. And for Halloween, we did a sticky toffee apple version with some lovely butterscotch flavours. For those we used whiskies that are a bit lighter in character that pull in those lovely vanilla, toffee and butterscotch flavours from the cask during maturation.

And another fabulous one I really like is an after-dinner coffee cocktail with espresso coffee, Scotch whisky, and a coffee liqueur shaken with ice and poured in a martini glass, that’s a really gorgeous one.

You’ve talked before about the conflicting opinions purists have about the right way to drink whisky and clearly it’s a matter of taste. But what are the main pros and cons of drinking whisky neat or on the rocks or with a drop of water?

Okay so, with ice it’s fairly straightforward: it just lightens, cools, softens and dilutes the whisky quite significantly, so it’s less about trying to pick out all the flavours and characteristics from it, and much more about just having that lovely chunky, heavy, cut-crystal whisky glass in your hand with chunky bits of ice, and sipping over it. For me, Scotch on the rocks is about the experience of the drink; it’s about the atmosphere that you’re in, and the people you’re with, and the kind of glass you fancy having in your hands.

When you move into drinking whisky either straight or with a splash of water, you’re then more in the territory of flavour and character and mouthfeel and all those kind of things. The scientific theory behind adding a drop of water is most whiskies are bottled at about 40 – 43% alcohol (some a little bit stronger if they’re if they’re cask strength). And that can be a bit strong for the back of your palate and your senses to discern the different individual flavours and characteristics. The alcohol is just too high for you to be able to do that.

So if you dilute it slightly, you dilute the alcohol, and your palate is better able to discern those flavours and characteristics. So that’s one thing. And the second is temperature. We talked a little bit about brandy earlier. With brandy you have these huge glasses that you warm up in the palm of your hand and that releases the aromas and makes the experience of nosing and tasting brandy all to the better.

There’s a similar thing with the addition of a little drop of room-temperature water to Scotch whisky. It slightly raises the temperature of the whisky and releases more aromas and characteristics. So not only are you better able to discern those characteristics. But the water opens them up more in the whisky itself.

For me, there are some whiskies that open up and I think are really improved with a couple of drops of water. And there are some which I just think the flavour and the mouthfeel is so amazing that I prefer them straight. So there is a range of ways to drink whisky. The right one is whatever you’re in the mood for.

Whisky is sometimes (dubiously) used as a toothache remedy, but are there any other quirky uses or old wives’ tales about whisky?

I think one of the most interesting things for me is less of an old wives tale but more of a kind of unknown fact about Scotch, which is that the most traditional way to drink whisky is actually to have a whisky liqueur. These would originally have been milk or cream-based liqueurs (much like some rather famous Irish varieties you have today), and you also had honey-based liqueurs too.

Historically, whisky wasn’t matured in casks; it was fresh spirit that would be mixed with lots of other herbs, spices and ingredients to make it much more palatable. So while you have some purists nowadays who might look down on drinking sweet whisky cream or honey liqueurs, these are actually the most traditional way to drink whisky!

It’s nice because you sometimes get somebody on our tour that says “You know, it’s been fascinating to hear the stories and see the collection, but it’s too strong and I’m just not into spirits”. But with liqueurs, obviously the alcohol is lower, and because they’re softer and they’re sweeter they’re often more palatable, and you can serve them on lots of ice as well which lightens them up even further.

It’s a lovely, lovely way of getting into Scotch whisky, and also a lovely way of feeling that you’ve actually done something really cultural as well. As in all probability, you’re drinking it in a way that is the most culturally traditional of all.

Have you ever had any celebrities visit the Scotch Whisky Experience?

Yes, we’ve welcomed a few famous faces over the years. Every summer Edinburgh hosts the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and we’ve worked and partnered with them for a number of years, and hosted some of their jury dinners for the jurors that are there to judge the various categories within the films.

There are often lots of amazing producers and directors and everything. But for me, the most exciting one was when we did a jury dinner, and the two most famous stars were Britt Ekland and Patrick Stewart.

We then took the two of them up after dinner to the whisky collection for a private viewing and I had two very opposing views and reactions to Scotch whisky! So we have Britt Eckland, who, I have to admit, refused to drink anything other than champagne! And then Patrick Stewart was just like a kid in an Aladdin’s cave of Scotch whisky. He has a big love of Scotch whisky and really enjoyed the space. So yeah, we’ve had a number of stars visit us over the years, but those are the two that stick out in my mind.

So, to wrap things up, once people have come to the Scotch Whisky Experience what are the best whisky bars or pubs where people can do a Scotch tasting in Edinburgh?

I’ve worked for nearly 25 years in Edinburgh’s hospitality and whisky industry, and 25 years ago, there were only a few really traditional whisky bars in Edinburgh. There were only two that I can think of that had huge amazing ranges of Scotch whisky back then, and they were very much for locals. But that’s changed so dramatically. And you can now come to Edinburgh and have the most amazing whisky experiences almost anywhere.

I can think off the top of my head of about 20 or 30 different whisky bars, and the lovely thing about Edinburgh, is that you’ve got this beautiful old town World Heritage Site in the centre, with these lovely cobbled roads leading up to the castle and the little winds and closes that feed off that, and there are loads of beautiful whisky bars around there.

But like many cities, Edinburgh comprises many interconnected villages, and tourism has spread out so much now in terms of where people stay, that you can visit the city and be staying in areas like Bruntsfield or Morningside or Stockbridge or Leith. And all of these areas have their own beautiful pubs and whisky bars as well. And now, basically, all of the more traditional pubs and new bars in Edinburgh have amazing selections of Scotch whisky too.

Leith has an amazing heritage of where all the whisky used to be blended and bottled and then shipped, so naturally there are some brilliant whisky bars there, from the really traditional ones to much more modern ones.

There’s a couple of really good ones up in Morningside too. There’s a bar called the Canny Man’s, and it’s always been a local pub, but it’s just the quirkiest, weirdest and most fabulous place to enjoy a dram. And just a stone’s throw from us here at the SWE there’s a bar called the Bow Bar, which is on Victoria Street and again, it’s been there forever. It’s a fantastic whisky bar.

But then you have kind of much more modern ones like you know the Angel’s Share and Whisky Rooms. The Balmoral Hotel has a phenomenal bar called Scotch, if you’ve got a few more pennies to spare! But Edinburgh is just full of them now, which is just fantastic. So, really, you’re spoiled for choice.

How to get to the Scotch Whisky Experience

The Scotch Whisky Experience is located in the Old Town of Edinburgh, beside the stunning Edinburgh Castle.

It’s therefore within convenient walking distance of Edinburgh’s main transport links, hotels, and attractions. It is located a short distance (0.6 miles) from Waverly Station, and there are taxi ranks aplenty located outside (at the Market Street exit) if walking is not an option.

Opening Hours

The Scotch Whisky Experience is usually open daily from 11:00 – 17:30 (last admission), and Silver & Gold Tours begin roughly every 15 – 20 minutes.

Due to the current situation, the opening hours and tickets are subject to change and limited availability. Normal service will begin again soon.

Update: The SWE is temporarily closed midweek throughout December. It remains open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 – 17:30 (last admission).

Ticket Prices*

• Silver Tour (adult ticket): £17
• Silver Tour (student/senior): £15
• Gold Tour (adult ticket): £29.50
• Gold Tour (student/senior): £27.50
• Child ticket (Silver/Gold tours) £8

*Based on 2020 pricing

SAFETY MEASURES
The SWE has put extensive measures in place to ensure that you have a fun-filled, relaxing, and safe experience when you visit. Some of the measures that are in place include:

• Hygiene sanitizer points, symptom-free entry only, screens at till points, visors or face coverings
• Cleaning deep pre-opening cleaning, deep daily cleaning, enhanced ongoing cleaning
• Distancing reduced capacity, timed entry & some one-way systems to allow physical distancing
• Face Coverings please wear a mask in our shop and on our tour
• Systems pre-booking, contactless payments, and e-menus & content to view on your own device
• Training Covid inductions and full training for our team and daily update Covid briefing

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Looking for adventure closer to home? Don’t miss our handy guide on how to be a tourist in your own town.