What to expect when visiting our places – update

General safety advice

• Once at the property, please look out for signage and follow any directions given by our staff.
• Please allow more time for your visit – because of arrangements in place to help reduce risks, it may take you a little longer to get around the property.
• Please be mindful of others and maintain a safe distance from other households.
• Please note that you are recommended to wear a face covering in indoor places and/or crowded areas, unless you are exempt.
• If hand sanitiser is provided, please use it.
• Wherever possible, please take your litter home with you for disposal.
• Our cleaning teams will be working very hard to keep you safe.

Parking

For non-members who have to pay for parking, we have converted as many of our payment meters to contactless as we can. If that has not been possible, after parking please use the hand sanitisers provided for visitors at the property entrance. It’s always best to bring your own hand sanitiser with you, in case none is available at property you’re visiting, especially if it’s unstaffed.

During your visit

Toilets

Our toilet facilities remain open during times of operation and we encourage you to use them safely during your visit. We have introduced the following precautionary measures to help reduce the risk:

• We will look to increase ventilation within our toilets where we can.
• Our teams will continue to work hard to ensure regular cleaning of touch points and increased ventilation wherever possible.

Visitor reception areas

Within our visitor reception areas:

• We may have one-way systems in place to help provide reasonable distancing.
• There will be hand sanitiser to use.
• All our payment machines allow contactless payments and are cleaned regularly.
• Also, don’t be surprised if something has come between you and our friendly staff – namely a clear plastic screen!

All of these measures are there to help reduce the risks to you, our staff and volunteers.

Countryside estates and parkland

Our estates and parklands are open and we encourage the safe use and movement around them during your visit.

The wild nature of our countryside properties is something we want to protect and preserve, so you won’t necessarily find any signage beyond the car park – please take care and be respectful of other visitors, staff and volunteers you happen to meet while enjoying the paths and landscapes we maintain.

If you’re bringing a picnic, please take all your litter home with you.

Read our Top 10 Tips for exploring our countryside places

Gardens

As with our countryside estates and parklands, our gardens remain open during times of operation and we encourage you to make safe use of them during your visit. We ask you to please be respectful of other visitors and maintain a safe distance where possible.

Garden tours will be conducted at some places. The tour guide may be wearing a face covering but the talks will be as fascinating as before!

Interiors of historic buildings and visitor centres

We recommend that you continue to wear face coverings within our premises, unless exempt.

Hand sanitiser will also be provided, but we ask that you please refrain from touching surfaces wherever possible.

Cafés and catering services

Please check opening times on the property webpage before your visit.

• We recommend that face coverings are worn in communal areas (unless exempt) except when you’re seated at your table.
• Hand sanitiser will be available.
• We also have contactless payment facilities in place.
• We’ll have intensive cleaning regimes to make sure counters, tables and chairs are spotless.
• Tables and chairs may be spaced apart to allow for distancing and clear routes.

Shops

Our retail outlets offer you the same kinds of high quality products, gifts and souvenirs as we always have – and every penny we make from them goes back into conserving our properties.

• We recommend that you continue to wear face coverings within our premises, unless exempt.
• Some of our shops may have one-way systems in place to assist with maintaining physical distancing, therefore we ask that you respect the distance of other visitors, where you are able to do so.
• Hand sanitiser will be available at the entrance/exit to the shop.

Holiday accommodation

We’ll be delighted to welcome you to our holiday accommodation in impressive and beautiful settings all across Scotland.

To make a booking, see our holiday accommodation pages.

We’ll be doing all we can to ensure that you have a safe, enjoyable stay.

You may find that we’ve removed some items of furniture or ornaments to help keep the rooms cleaner.