Lauriston Farm
ENTRY
Free
SETTING
Outdoors
WHERE
Edinburgh
What it’s like
A working city farm where kids can join a tour, help in the garden, or just tramp about the fields for free.
There's no ticket booth here. Lauriston Farm is free to get into and the main appeal is the farm tours, drop-in gardening sessions and volunteering slots where kids can actually help grow food rather than just look at it through a fence. Community events pop up too, so what's on depends a fair bit on when you turn up.
The unfenced parts of the farm are open whenever you fancy a wander. The food production areas, the bit behind the deer fencing where the actual growing happens, only open up during those tours, workshops and volunteer sessions, so if you want to see more than fields you'll want to time your visit around one of those. The fenced area to the north is kept for wildlife and isn't for tramping through.
Wear boots you don't mind ruining. The site itself says the ground gets properly muddy once you're off the compacted stone path from the car park, and that path is about as far as a buggy or an ordinary wheelchair will comfortably get before things turn to rough grass. Robust mobility scooters and wheelchairs have made it further, by their own account, but it's not a smooth pavement job. Some workshops happen in portacabins with a step or two up, which is a small faff if you've got a pushchair in tow.
Parking is sorted via the Toby Carvery car park next door, and a handful of Lothian bus routes stop within five minutes' walk if you're coming without a car. If you've got a dog, keep it on the lead properly, the farm openly admits it isn't a secure space with multiple gates and exits, so it's not one for letting a dog off to explore alone.
Facilities
Need to know
- Parking
- Available at Toby Carvery car park adjacent to main entrance
- Wheelchairs
- Level access from car park on compacted stone path
- Dogs
- Need to be under proper control across the farm, but this is not a secured area for dog walking with multiple exit points
- Getting there by bus or train
- Lothian Buses 16, 27, 29, 37 & 47 all stop within 5 minutes of the farm
- Wear footwear you're happy to get muddy, most of the site is rough grassland once you're past the entrance path
- The growing areas behind the deer fencing only open during tours, workshops and community events, not as a general wander
- Portacabin workshops have 1-2 steps up, worth knowing if you've got a pushchair
- Dogs need to stay under close control as the farm has multiple open gates and exit points
Plan your visit
Is it free to visit?
Yes, there's no entry charge. The tours, gardening sessions and volunteering slots are the main draw rather than an admission gate.
Do we need to book ahead?
There's no booking link listed, but the events and sessions run on a calendar, so it's worth having a look at what's on before you head over.
Is it buggy or wheelchair friendly?
There's level, compacted stone path from the car park to the Community Garden gate, but beyond that it's rough grassy ground that gets muddy. Some wheelchairs and mobility scooters have managed parts of the farm, but it isn't smooth going throughout.
Where do we park?
The Toby Carvery car park next to the main entrance. Several Lothian Buses routes also stop within five minutes of the farm if you're coming without a car.
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