Due to essential maintenance the WEST Footpath/Cycleway is CLOSED except during weekends, please use the EAST Footpath/Cycleway.
Open to all permitted vehicles.
Access Restrictions
Scotland's UNESCO Trail
The World's First Country-Wide UNESCO TrailA World Heritage Site
The Forth Bridge is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site.
A world heritage site can be anything, from an incredible landscape to a city with a rich history and vibrant culture. It can be a magnificent monument, an archaeological discovery or a piece of ground-breaking technology. Most importantly, it must be something of world-renowned significance and occupy a special place in history to earn this prestigious title from the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
The Forth Bridge meets all these criteria. As the world’s first major steel structure, it is a powerful symbol of Britain’s industrial, scientific, architectural and transport heritage and, in particular, Scotland’s engineering prowess and ingenuity.
Despite achieving such an accolade, it remains a working estuary crossing. The distinctive red bridge carries around 200 local and intercity trains across the Firth of Forth every day and forms a key part of the national East Coast Main Line.
Scotland's UNESCO Trail
Named in Rough Guide's 24 best destinations to visit in 2024, Scotland's UNESCO Trail brings together 15 UNESCO designations.
The Forth Bridge is one site on the trail.
The full trail takes in:
- UNESCO Biospheres: Wester Ross and Galloway and Southern Ayrshire
- UNESCO Creative Cities: Glasgow (City of Music), Edinburgh (City of Literature), Dundee (City of Design) and Perth (City of Craft & Folk Art)
- UNESCO Global Geoparks: Shetland and North West Highlands
- UNESCO World Heritage Sites: St Kilda, Heart of Neolithic Orkney, Old and New Towns of Edinburgh, New Lanark, Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Antonine Wall, The Flow Country, and The Forth Bridge.
Some of the sites are clustered relatively close to the bridges.
Are you ready to discover the wonders within?
