Scotland's Convict Prison: 125 Years of History

Discover the captivating history of Peterhead Prison Museum, Scotland’s only convict prison. Explore its role in the railway industry, the dramatic SAS siege, and experience the sights, sounds, and smells of this award-winning attraction.

Duration: 4 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Peterhead Prison Museum - Our 5* Multi-Award winning visitor attraction is set within the former HM Convict Prison, Peterhead.
    Unique in many ways including being the only “Convict” prison in Scotland [to come here meant you were sentenced to “penal servitude”]; It had the first “state owned” railway in Britain; and it was the only time the Special…
What's Included
  • Includes an audio set for guided tour
Additional Information

The tour covers the scenario within the one and only ‘Convict’ prison in Scotland.
The tour explains that it accommodated the first ‘state-owned’ railway in Britain, and you’ll have the opportunity to view the previous wagons and equipment utilized in the railway.
The tour expounds and displays to visitors the famous usage of the SAS to terminate a…

Location
Peterhead Prison Museum
South Road, Admiralty Gateway
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(713 Ratings)
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Davidsy4671jh
Mar 15, 2026
Museum prion explore - Fascinating great day out loved it.
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Kimmq6917ut
Mar 15, 2026
Visit with 11 year old son - I visited with my 11 year old son who loved it! For a boy who loves gaming it was great to spend time with him doing something different and to see him learning something new. We did our own tour with the headset which was great at giving you lots of information and gave you time to explore at your own pace. Staff were lovely and the cafe was a great pit stop at the end.
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Frank
Mar 14, 2026
Prison visit - Very interesting visit showing how prisoners were kept until recently. Excellent cafeteria on site.
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R8895uxtanyat
Mar 11, 2026
Brilliant. Inexpensive, thought provoking experience - What a great find for a cold winters day out. Booked seamlessly online for self guided tour. Audio was included, very well done and really informative. Reception staff were friendly and helpful. It was a cold day which added to the atmosphere of the experience. There was plenty time to enjoy the visit. Some of the exhibits left me speechless!! Cafe at the end of journey through the prison was perfect, cosy and welcoming. Again staff were friendly and helpful. Soup n a toastie was great. All in all I’d recommend as an inexpensive day out. Keep up the good work
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O326aichristinaw
Mar 11, 2026
Very enjoyable - There were four of us on the tour and we all thought it was a very good experience. It gave a very good insight into how things used to be in the prison. Very enjoyable.
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Dreamer793323
Mar 6, 2026
Excellent experience - A great experience, friendly staff on entry, and David our guide had great knowledge of the prisons history as well as lots of stories about his time in the prison (as a Prison Officer). You get a real feel for how life would have been in the prison. Once the tour is finished you can spend time on your own wandering around the prison and take some pictures. I would recommend warm clothing, it is as cold inside as it is outside.
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Fisherking332
Mar 3, 2026
Please do not pass this prison, you'll never know what you will be missing - Maybe not an exterior to jump out to you as an eye opening eperiance, but please dont let lhis put you of. On entry pleasent imformative resption member of staff gave us a headset for indevidual areas of information. The walk into the prison wing is a chilling experiance. Both atmisfericaly and tempriture. As an inmate would experiance. With two main fazes how prison is run. The old hard labour then a more unpleasent reformed system up untill 2013 closure. Do rap up in warm cloths as it was sited not to be a plesent punishment. As for the cafe, well once again a warm welcom nice menu with lovely warm soup. Breackfast roll and backed tattie exelent.
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Gigfan
Mar 2, 2026
A must visit attraction - Fantastic day out and will definitely be back. Our tour guide David who was an ex prison officer was both informative and entertaining and made an already enjoyable day even more so. We would highly recommend the guided tour based on our experience. Cafe was also very good with views across the bay.
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Sarahjtayl0r
Mar 2, 2026
Fascinating experience, well worth the ticket price - Booked the 1.5 hour tour, guided by ex prison officer David. We were able to see many areas of the prison, all of which were brought to life by our guide. He told us some fascinating, frightening and funny stories about life in prison, including experience from his own time as a guard. David was very entertaining and engaging, he really brought everything to life and was open to answer any questions we had along the way. The tour was brilliantly done, taking time to look back to the time the prison was built, right up to recent times before it closed. Recommend anyone to visit, there’s a lot packed into the price of the ticket. Ps. There’s a nice looking cafe on site, with a great view out to sea, but it was jam-packed when we visited so couldn’t get a table.
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Caitlinmarym2021
Mar 2, 2026
Great day out! - We had a fantastic visit, our tour Guide Davie Smith was great! Really made our visit with his knowledge and humour. Highly recommend!
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From $20
up to 10 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).