Six Nations Rugby at Murrayfield: The Visitor’s Guide
A Six Nations weekend is one of the best times to be in Edinburgh, and one of the most expensive. For two or three Saturdays between early February and mid-March, 67,000 people head west along the Western Approach Road to Murrayfield, the pubs on Rose Street and the Grassmarket are three deep at eleven in the morning, and every hotel room in the city doubles in price.
This guide explains how the tournament works, how to get tickets, how to reach the stadium, where to watch if you have not got a ticket, and how to survive the accommodation scramble. Fixtures change every year, so we have deliberately kept this evergreen – always confirm dates and kick-off times with Scottish Rugby and the official Six Nations site before you book flights.
What is the Guinness Six Nations?
The Six Nations is the annual northern-hemisphere international rugby union championship, contested by Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, France and Italy. It runs across five rounds from the start of February to mid-March, with each team playing every other team once. Home advantage alternates year to year, so each nation hosts either two or three matches in a given championship.
The tournament grew out of the Home Nations Championship of the 1880s, became the Five Nations when France joined, and the Six Nations when Italy was admitted in 2000 – which makes it the oldest international rugby tournament in the world. Guinness has been the title sponsor since 2019, hence “Guinness Six Nations”.
Alongside the championship itself, several individual fixtures carry their own trophies, which matters enormously to the crowd even when the title is gone:
- The Calcutta Cup – Scotland v England, contested since 1879 and the fixture that fills Edinburgh fastest.
- The Auld Alliance Trophy – Scotland v France, commemorating players of both nations who died in the First World War.
- The Doddie Weir Cup – Scotland v Wales, named for the late Scotland lock and motor neurone disease campaigner.
- The Centenary Quaich – Scotland v Ireland.
A Grand Slam means winning all five matches; a Triple Crown is won by a Home Nation beating the other three.
Scottish Gas Murrayfield
Scotland’s home ground is Murrayfield, about two miles west of Edinburgh city centre. It holds 67,144 and is the largest stadium in Scotland. It was known as BT Murrayfield for several years and has been Scottish Gas Murrayfield since 2023, so you will see both names in older guides and on older signage – it is the same place, and locals simply call it Murrayfield.
The ground opened in 1925, and Scotland won a Grand Slam in its first season there. It has been rebuilt since, most significantly in the early 1990s when the huge cantilevered stands went up. Beyond rugby it hosts concerts and other sports, but the Six Nations is what it exists for.
Getting tickets
Six Nations tickets at Murrayfield are hard to get and there is no way round that. The bulk of the allocation goes to Scottish Rugby member clubs, debenture holders and the supporters’ club, with a public ballot for whatever remains. Practical advice:
- Register early. Public ballots typically open in the autumn before the championship. Sign up to the Scottish Rugby mailing list so you hear when.
- Italy is the easy one. If Scotland host Italy, that is comfortably the most gettable ticket. England is the hardest by a distance.
- Hospitality packages are sold officially and are the reliable way in if you are prepared to pay several times face value. Book directly through Scottish Rugby’s official hospitality programme rather than an intermediary.
- Avoid unofficial resale. Tickets bought on secondary sites are frequently invalid, and stewards do check. Use the official resale platform if one is operating.
- Travelling supporters should go through their own union – away allocations are distributed by the visiting country’s union, not by Scottish Rugby.
Getting to Murrayfield
Do not drive. There is effectively no public parking at the stadium, the surrounding streets operate a permit-only zone on match days, and the roads west of Haymarket close to traffic. Everyone walks, trams or takes the train.
- Tram – there is a stop called Murrayfield Stadium on the Edinburgh Trams line, roughly ten minutes from Princes Street and a straight run from Edinburgh Airport. Trams are packed after full time; expect to queue.
- Walk – from Princes Street it is around 35 to 40 minutes, and from Haymarket station about 20 minutes. On a match day the walk is half the experience: the whole city moves the same way, and the route past Haymarket is lined with pubs.
- Train – Haymarket is the closest mainline station and is far less congested than Waverley for getting away afterwards.
- Bus – Lothian Buses run services along Corstorphine Road; check for match-day diversions.
Allow far more time than the distance suggests. Gates usually open around two hours before kick-off, bag restrictions apply, and the queues at the turnstiles for a sold-out international are long.
What Edinburgh is like on a match day
Buzzing, and busy in a way that surprises first-timers. From late morning the city centre fills with kilts, replica shirts and travelling fans; the atmosphere between supporters is famously good-natured, and mixed groups of home and away fans drinking together is the norm rather than the exception. The pipers on Princes Street do very well out of it.
The flip side is that everything is full. Restaurants that would normally take a walk-in will not. Pubs near Haymarket and Murrayfield stop serving food and go to a queue system. Taxis effectively vanish for two hours after full time. If you are visiting Edinburgh on a Six Nations weekend and are not going to the rugby, plan your day around the fact that the city centre will be extremely busy from about 11am.
Where to watch without a ticket
Watching in a pub is a perfectly good plan B, and in some ways a better day out. Areas to aim at:
- Haymarket and the West End – the closest concentration of big screens to the stadium and the busiest.
- Rose Street and the New Town – a long run of pubs within a few hundred metres of each other.
- The Grassmarket and Old Town – lively, touristy, plenty of screens.
- Leith and Stockbridge – if you want to watch the match without queuing for forty minutes at the bar.
Get in early. For a Calcutta Cup kick-off, the good pubs are full an hour and a half before the whistle, and many operate a one-in-one-out door policy.
Where to stay on a Six Nations weekend
Book as soon as the fixtures are published, which is usually the summer before. Room rates in Edinburgh on an international weekend routinely run at two to three times the normal price, and even budget chains such as Travelodge and Premier Inn can command well over £200 for a Saturday night. If you leave it until January you will be paying a premium for something mediocre.
Strategies that work:
- Book refundable early, then re-check nearer the time. Rates occasionally soften if the match is not a sell-out weekend.
- Stay outside the centre. Leith, Newington, Corstorphine and the airport corridor are all a short bus or tram ride away and much cheaper. Our guides to Edinburgh hotels, hotels near Edinburgh Airport and places to stay in Edinburgh cover the options.
- Consider a base out of town. Linlithgow, Falkirk, Stirling, Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy are all within 25 to 45 minutes by train and are dramatically cheaper. Trains back after a 4.45pm kick-off are busy but they run.
- Hostels and guest houses fill just as fast – see hostels and guest houses.
Making a weekend of it
Most people come for the Saturday and stay two or three nights, which leaves a Sunday to fill. Some suggestions that work in February and March, when the weather is cold and the days are still short:
- Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile – go early on Sunday to beat the crowds.
- The Palace of Holyroodhouse at the foot of the Mile.
- A half-day out to South Queensferry for the three Forth bridges, or to Linlithgow Palace.
- A whisky tasting – start with our Scotch whisky guide if you want to know what you are ordering.
- Sunday lunch and a walk in Holyrood Park up Arthur’s Seat, which is free, and clears a Saturday night.
For a longer trip, our best things to do in Edinburgh and Scotland itineraries pages will fill the rest of the week.
Practical notes
Kick-off times vary by round and broadcaster – Saturday matches are commonly at around 2.15pm or 4.45pm, with occasional Sunday fixtures. Check before booking travel, because a late kick-off rules out a same-day train home for many people.
Weather. February and March in Edinburgh mean roughly 2–9°C, wind, and a decent chance of rain. Murrayfield is partly covered but the wind still finds you. Dress for standing outside for four hours.
Bag policy and security. Murrayfield operates size restrictions on bags and a search on entry. Travel light and arrive early.
Getting home. Trams and trains are rammed for an hour after full time. Walking into town takes about 40 minutes and is usually faster than waiting.
A short history of Scottish rugby at Murrayfield
Scotland played the world’s first rugby international against England in 1871, at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh, and won it. Murrayfield opened in 1925, and Scotland marked the occasion by beating England there to complete a Grand Slam – a piece of symmetry that Scottish supporters have been waiting to see repeated ever since.
The ground has produced some of the most famous days in the Scottish sporting calendar: the 1984 Grand Slam, the 1990 decider against England that remains the most replayed match in the country’s history, and the 1999 Five Nations title. Modern Scotland sides have been more competitive than the results of the 2000s suggested, with Calcutta Cup wins that have made the England fixture genuinely unpredictable again.
If you want the wider story, the Scottish Rugby Museum at Murrayfield runs stadium tours outside match days, taking in the changing rooms, the tunnel and the pitch. It is a good hour for anyone who has been unable to get a ticket for the real thing.
Women’s Six Nations and other fixtures
The Women’s Six Nations runs in parallel each spring, and Scotland’s home matches have increasingly been played at larger venues including Murrayfield and Hive Stadium in Edinburgh. Tickets are far easier to get and considerably cheaper than the men’s fixtures, the atmosphere is excellent, and it is a much better bet for a family trip. Autumn internationals in November are another option, with a similar match-day feel and less pressure on hotel prices.
Club rugby and the pro teams
If your dates do not line up with an international, Scotland’s two professional clubs play through the winter and spring in the United Rugby Championship and European competition. Edinburgh Rugby play at Hive Stadium next door to Murrayfield, and Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun in the west of the city. Tickets are inexpensive and generally available close to the day, the grounds are small enough to feel involved, and a 1872 Cup derby between the two has an edge that surprises visitors expecting a quiet Saturday.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Six Nations? Every year from the start of February to mid-March, across five rounds of fixtures.
How many home games do Scotland play? Two or three at Murrayfield each championship, alternating year to year. The fixture list is normally published the previous summer.
What is the capacity of Murrayfield? 67,144, making it the biggest stadium in Scotland.
How do I get Six Nations tickets? Through the Scottish Rugby public ballot, member clubs, the supporters’ club, or official hospitality packages. Avoid unofficial resale sites.
How far is Murrayfield from Edinburgh city centre? About two miles – a 35 to 40 minute walk from Princes Street, ten minutes on the tram, or 20 minutes on foot from Haymarket station.
Can I park at Murrayfield? No. There is no general public parking and the surrounding streets are permit-only on match days. Use the tram, the train or your feet.
