Scotland's Secret Bunker, Near St Andrews

Scotland’s biggest secret…well maybe not any more if your thinking of visiting Scotland’s Secret Bunker! This family attraction is about 6 miles outside of St Andrews and is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Driving up to it you wonder if you are in the right place, but hiding beneath an old farmhouse is 2000 sq ft of a bunker built to safeguard Scotland during the Cold War in case there was ever a nuclear attack

Scotland’s Secret Bunker

Contents

Ticket Prices & Opening Dates

2021 ticket prices are currently £12.95 per adult (over 16s). Children under 3 are FREE. Please check their website in case prices have been updated.

There is also the option of having an audio guide for an extra fee. Note: We opted not too, but after visiting we thought it would have been a wise decision to take it as there is hardly any information about in the rooms and when there was it was large amounts of small text from newspapers, which made it difficult to read. Personally, I think you would get a lot more information on the audio guide. However, I have not personally heard what is on the audio guide to be able to judge.

They are also not open year-round so best checking its open before you go!

Inside the Secret Bunker

This visitor attraction is not really disabled-friendly (so make sure you check out their website first for more information before heading up), and if you have a pram you will have to make sure you can carry it up and down the stairs. Once down the first lot of stairs, you walk down a 450 ft corridor which takes you 100 ft underground into the bunker which is over two floors. In some places, the walls are 3 metres thick!

There are many old rooms inside to check out – full of old equipment like the telecoms room, and dormitories set out how they were years ago (the beds in the dormitories are set up as “hotbeds” so when an employee finished his shift they would swap with another member of personnel, so no one had their own bed).

Personally, I found that there wasn’t really any interaction for children to do, no quizzes or items to play with for them to learn more, like mockup areas etc. The only section we found was a dress-up area just before leaving.

Food & Drink

This for me personally was a big let down. It is the only place to eat while onsite and it was rather expensive for pretty small portions. We paid £3 for a bacon roll and it was tiny (it also took them 40 mins to bring us our food). I think the owners really need to rethink the cafe as it could be really nice if organised better.

Ther are highchairs available in the cafe, along with bottle warming facilities. However, they do not do children’s cutlery or children’s portions.

Overall Verdict

Overall it was a good day out, with the audio guide you could learn a lot and even without its a good place to look at all the equipment and see how it felt to be down there.

If we went again I would make sure we have eaten somewhere else first and then headed there as the cafe was a letdown. I also wish there was more interaction for the kids. It would be alright for older children but toddlers and young children like to learn by interaction otherwise they lose interest pretty quickly.

NOTE: There are no outdoor play areas for the kids either. So please be aware of this.