HMP Edinburgh: visits, calls and family info

Someone you care about is in HMP Edinburgh. Here is how to book visits, get the phone calls going, and send money in, with links to the official pages for the details that change.

Where it is

HMP Edinburgh is in City of Edinburgh. Postcode for sat navs: EH11 3LN. Get directions from where you are.

Plan for longer than the sat nav says. You usually need to arrive 45 minutes before the visit starts for checks.

Getting there by public transport

• Nearest train stations: Kingsknowe Rail Station, about 16 minutes on foot; Slateford Rail Station, about 18 minutes on foot.
• Nearest tube, metro or tram: Saughton (Edinburgh Trams), about 16 minutes on foot; Balgreen (Edinburgh Trams), about 21 minutes on foot.
• Nearest bus stops: HMP Edinburgh (Saughton), about 3 minutes on foot; Saughton Mains Avenue (Saughton), about 5 minutes on foot; Longstone Park (Longstone), about 5 minutes on foot.

Walking times are rough estimates from straight-line distance. Check timetables before you travel, especially for weekend visits.

Booking a visit

Scottish prisons book visits directly with the prison, and most now take bookings through the Scottish Prison Service website. The official HMP Edinburgh page has the visiting times and booking contacts, and lists what ID to bring.

Phone calls

They ring you, from approved numbers only, and calls cost them money, so keeping their account topped up keeps the calls coming. Call prices in Scotland differ from England and Wales, so check with the prison. If they cannot ring yet, it is nearly always number approval or empty credit: our contact tool works through the common reasons.

Sending money and things in

Each Scottish prison lists its own ways to send money on its official page. Letters and cards nearly always get through; for anything else, check the prison's property rules first so parcels do not sit in storage.

What inspectors say

Scottish prisons are inspected by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland, who publish their findings for each prison. Their reports are the honest picture of daily life inside HMP Edinburgh.

If money is tight

On a low income, the Assisted Prison Visits Scheme can pay your travel to HMP Edinburgh, and hardly anyone claims it: check if you qualify.

Contacts and complaints

Contact HMP Edinburgh

Worried about someone right now

If you fear for a prisoner's safety, ring the prison and ask for the Safer Custody team or the orderly officer, and say it is an emergency. For urgent family news like a death or serious illness, ask for the chaplaincy. The free Prisoners' Families Helpline (0808 808 2003) can help you reach the right person.

Making a complaint about the prison

Raise concerns with the prison first. If they are not resolved, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman can look into complaints about the Scottish Prison Service. Independent Prison Monitors also visit every Scottish prison. For family support, the charity Families Outside runs a free helpline: 0800 254 0088.

How the prisoner makes a complaint

The person inside can use the prison's internal complaints process, and has confidential access to independent monitors and to the relevant ombudsman above. Staff cannot read or block confidential complaints to those bodies.

Useful official links

• Official HMP Edinburgh page (times, rules, contacts)
• Scottish Prison Service: family and friends
• Help with the cost of visits
• Prison and parole in Scotland (mygov.scot)

The bigger questions

A note on our calculators: sentence and release rules in Scotland differ from England and Wales, so our release date tool and tag checker do not apply here. The guides on the first 48 hours and children and prison still help.