The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was established in 1670 and during the 20th century acquired three Regional Gardens – the mountainous Benmore in Argyll; Dawyck in the wooded hills of the Scottish Borders and Logan on the Gulf Stream-warmed southern peninsula of Dumfries & Galloway.
Together they represent one of the world’s largest living collections of plants.
Visitor Centre
The award-winning Dawyck Visitor Centre greatly enhances the visitor experience. This exciting new facility comprises a café, serving refreshments and light lunches (outdoor seating is also available) and a studio for exhibitions and events.
The greatly expanded shop carries a special selection of botanical gifts and books as well as an interesting range of hardy plants reflecting the Garden's collection.
Eating
Dawyck Cafe, with a nice outlook onto the Garden, serves an excellent Fairtrade coffee from Brodie's of Edinburgh and a good range of teas along with great cakes, bakes and interesting lunches with strong emphasis on Scottish, local and seasonal ingredients. A selection of home-made gluten free and nut and dairy free products are usually available for those with special dietary needs.
Accessibility
Dawyck Botanic Garden is set upon a hill-side. As a result, some of the Garden’s paths are steep with inclines of up to 1:6 and there are a number of steps across bridges and terraces. This does make some paths difficult or impossible to access for users of wheelchairs and mobility scooters.
However, there is an accessible route of gravel paths on the lower level of the Garden, which is way marked. This route avoids several sets of steps to access the central part of the Garden. Manual wheelchair users may still require some assistance to negotiate path gradients and the closing of two sets of gates on the designed wheelchair accessible route. The gates are a minimum of 1360mm when open.
Please note that there are occasional tree roots breaking the surface of some paths, which may require careful negotiation.
A range of bench seating, with and without arm rests, is provided at intervals around the Garden in all locations. These provide visitors with an opportunity to take a break and rests with their companions.
Accessible Toilets
There is an accessible toilet in the visitor centre, accessed in the restaurant
Dawyck Botanic Garden welcomes all registered assistance dogs. Dog bowls of water are available on request in the restaurant.
