VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION – All group tours depart from Bus Stand ZE, Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3BQ (opposite Howie’s Restaurant). ⚠️ TEMPORARY DEPARTURE POINT ⚠️ From Monday 7th September, for approximately 9 weeks, all tours will depart from the other side of the street (opposite Bus Stand ZE), outside Howie’s restaurant or nearby. Look out for the Wee Red Bus! Click for Map.
Tour 3 - Rosslyn Chapel, the Borders & Hadrian's Wall bus tour from Edinburgh
Times
Please check in with your driver/guide at Bus Stand ZE, Waterloo Place 15 minutes before departure
Departure
08:45Return
19:15Duration
10 hours 30 minutesPrices & Booking Terms
Included
- A fully guided tour from one of our 5-star reviewed driver/ guides
- Transport in a luxury Mercedes Wee Red Bus
- Free cancellation/rebooking up to 24 hours before departure
- Luggage allowance of up to 15 kg (33 lbs)
Not Included
- Entry fees to attractions
- Meals and refreshments
Tour Highlights
- Average group size of around 12
- Rosslyn Chapel
- Scotland / England border viewpoint
- Melrose Abbey and town
- Hadrian's Wall
- Housesteads Roman Fort
- Walk along Hadrian's Wall
- Northumberland National Park
- The beautiful Scottish Borders
Dates
2026 Season
2027 Season
TripAdvisor Traveler Rating
According to TripAdvisor travelers as of September 2026
Itinerary
One of our most popular day tours to the Scottish Borders and Hadrian’s Wall.
This ever-popular day tour travels to the amazing and mysterious 15th century Rosslyn Chapel, across the historic Scotland / England border and south to Hadrian’s Wall, a World Heritage Site celebrating the power – and northern limit – of the Roman Empire.
Rosslyn Chapel has always been mysterious and Scotland’s best-kept secret achieved worldwide fame after publication of ‘The Da Vinci Code’.
An architectural gem, its superb stone carvings are still not fully understood. Many visitors leave with their own theory but all are amazed. The short walk through the glen to ancient Roslin Castle is also fascinating.
'The origin and meaning of Rosslyn Chapel’s mysterious stone carvings have long been the subject of much debate'
Given the Da Vinci Code’s subject matter, it’s no surprise this beautiful and highly ornate 15th-century chapel features in it. It has long been the subject of much theorising and conjecture about its origins and the meanings of its famous stone carvings.
Many of these are amongst the best of their kind in Europe depicting symbols relating to Old Testament texts and characters, the mysterious medieval order of the Knights Templar and Freemasonry. Incredibly, some carvings even seem to show American plants such as maize and aloe vera, carved fifty years before Columbus’s voyages, while others have thus far defied interpretation.
We travel south to the charming village of Melrose for lunch. Melrose Abbey is believed to be the final resting place of King Robert the Bruce’s heart. Scotland’s great writer Sir Walter Scott (whose monument dominates Princes Street in Edinburgh) lived nearby and loved this beautiful area. One of the highlights of this tour is crossing the ancient Scotland/England border at Carter Bar in the Cheviot Hills.
'Hadrian's Wall is the best-known frontier in the Roman Empire'
We follow in the footsteps of feuding clans and families, known as Border Reivers, who fought a series of violent raids across the border hills until the end of the 16th century. Today it represents the political border between two historic and proud nations.
Hadrian’s Wall is one of the most important monuments built by the Romans and is a stunning example of their engineering skills. It cuts Britain in half just south of the Scottish border. It is the best-known frontier in the Roman Empire and stands as a reminder of one of the world’s greatest civilizations. Built almost 2000 years ago to contain the fierce Picts in Caledonia it stretches for 73 miles and was designated a World Heritage Site in 1987.
We travel to Housesteads Fort (National Trust) in Northumberland National Park, the best preserved Roman fort along Hadrian’s Wall. Here you can enjoy a free nature walk along one of the most dramatic and photographed stretches of the wall.
On our return to Edinburgh we make a quick stop in the Border market town of Jedburgh to stretch our legs and for photos of the famous abbey.
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