Edinburgh

National Galleries of Scotland: National

This holds much of Scotland's fine artwork from Renaissance to 20th century, with changing exhibitions. These rotate seasonally, so an exhibition put on for the Festival typically stays to the end of the year, allowing quieter times to view. Enter from the plaza between gallery and Royal Scottish Academy, and a basement passage connects the two exhibition spaces. The Scottish Galleries on the lowest floor reopened in 2023 after several years of redevelopment, and show a good collection of local work and views which may inspire trips.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Free, charges for major temporary exhibitions · Free entry

Edinburgh Castle

Iconic fortress perched magnificently on a volcanic rock above the city. The castle has been continuously used for 1100 years and is kept in excellent condition; it's still the ceremonial headquarters of the army in Scotland. Highlights include the Great Hall, the Honours of Scotland (the Scottish Crown Jewels), the War Museum and the 12th century St Margaret's Chapel. The One O'Clock Gun is fired each day from Mills Mount battery. Audio guides available. It's mobbed with tourists and in summer often sells out, book online well in advance.

Daily: Apr-Sep 9:30AM-6PM, Oct-Mar 9:30AM-5PM · Adult £19.50, child (7-15) £11.40, conc £15.50, Historic Scotland / English Heritage / Cadw free · Limited wheelchair access

Calton Hill

This is the stubby crag just east of Princes Street: a short stroll up it commands great views. The "National Monument", a memorial to Scots killed in the Napoleonic Wars, was an attempt to out-do the Parthenon in Athens but the money ran out with only the west facade built. Nelson's Tower was built 1807-16 in the shape of an upturned telescope in honour of the naval hero. A Time Ball on the mast drops at 1PM every day just as the One O'Clock Gun is fired from the castle - this gives a time signal to ships in the Firth before the sound rolls out to them, or it would if not obscured by drizzle and the ships in possession of reliable watches. It was operated by the adjacent City Observatory, superseded in 1896 by the Royal Observatory in the south of the city. City Observatory remained active until 2009 then was refurbished as the Collective Gallery exhibition space for modern art.

103 m high

National Museum of Scotland

Superb museum of Scotland's heritage. You enter into the lofty Victorian Grand Gallery, where the millennium clock chimes on the hour. Exhibition halls cover Scottish and world history and culture, science, technology, art and design, and natural history. Dolly the sheep, the 12th-century Lewis chess pieces, and dinosaurs are some of the highlights. NMS also run the War Museum in the castle, the Museum of Flight near Gullane, and the Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Free · Wi-Fi · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible

National Library of Scotland

A venerable reference library, which you need membership to access, but it has public exhibitions about literature. "Treasures" is its permanent exhibition. But don't stumble in here mistaking it for Central Library across the street.

Mon-Sat 9:30AM-5PM · Free

The Scotch Whisky Experience

Tour of the history and craft of whisky distilling, with expert guides - the basic or "silver" tour works well for beginners. They have a huge selection; the core of it is the 3384 bottles collected by Brazilian whisky enthusiast Claive Vidiz.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Basic tour £23 adult, £21 conc, £10 child · Wheelchair accessible

Dynamic Earth

Interactive natural history museum exhibiting the forces and features of our planet: volcanoes, polar ice, rainforests and so on. Opened in 1999, it's a tent-like structure on the former site of a gasworks and brewery.

Wed-Fri 10AM-5PM, Sat Sun 10AM-6PM · Adult £19.50 adults, conc £16.70, child £12 · Wi-Fi · Wheelchair accessible

Museum on the Mound

Museum about money and coins, in the basement of the Palladian pile of the former Bank of Scotland headquarters. Scotland developed a banking sector in the 18th century to support long-distance trade, and still prints its own banknotes.

Tue-Fri 10AM-5PM, Sat 1-5PM · Free · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible

Museum of Childhood

Concepts and imagery of childhood are ever-changing. See if you can find your (or your grandparents') old toys in the collection, and your place in history.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Free · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible

Museum of Edinburgh

Museum of city history in a mustard-hued mansion built in 1570.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Free

Fruitmarket

Gallery of contemporary art, refurbished in 2018. From 1936 to the 1970s this was where soft fruit and veg were traded, handy for the trains and delivery vans.

Daily 11AM-6PM · Free · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible

Talbot Rice Gallery

David Talbot Rice (1903-72) was in the louche crowd at Oxford that inspired Brideshead Revisited and became a distinguished scholar of East Mediterranean and Russian art, with extensive contacts in those parts - how come this fellow was never implicated in a spy ring? His spell as University Vice Principal is commemorated in this gallery with changing exhibitions of contemporary art. It's housed within Old College of Edinburgh University, a fine building built between 1789 and 1827 by Robert Adam and Henry Playfair. The Georgian Gallery has a Playfair interior and a mixture of Old Masters and modern installations.

Tue-Sat 10AM-5PM during exhibitions · Free · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible

Gladstone's Land

Thomas Gladstone was a wealthy merchant, and in 1617 he had this house refashioned to accommodate his family and to partly rent out. A "Land" means a tall narrow townhouse from the period when Old Town was cramped and the only space for development was upwards. Typically along the Royal Mile the ground floor was shops and trade, genteel folk lived on the first and second floors, and lower-income residents had to lump up many steps to the upper floors. It's now a museum run by the National Trust for Scotland exhibiting 17th century elite city life, richly furnished and decorated but with no running water. In the 18th century prosperous folk relocated to New Town, where the NTS property at 7 Charlotte Square continues the story.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Adult £10, conc £8.50, child £6, NTS / NT free

The Peoples' Story Museum

This is housed in Canongate Tolbooth, the medieval centre for governance and justice (preferably gruesome) as Canongate was a separate jurisdiction until 1856. The museum covers the story of working class life, and of organised labour, from the late 18th century to the present.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Free · Free entry

Royal Scottish Academy

An august neo-classical building on The Mound, fronting onto Princes St, and its main function is to be confused with the National Gallery behind. The RSA is a separate organisation promoting contemporary Scottish art. The building hosts temporary exhibitions but doesn't have a permanent display - the Academy's extensive collection is dispersed across many galleries. That might include your own home, as they run an art rental scheme.

Free entry

Trinity House

Stately neo-classical building of 1818 which is now a maritime museum, but only open for special events. It's built over its predecessor of 1560, which in turn was built over a medieval monastic site. The organisation dates back to 1380, when Leith mariners gained the right to levy duty on goods landed at the port; the funds supported sick or aged mariners or their families. They went on to fund lighthouses and to develop training for mariners, which became Leith Nautical College. They invested in real estate and the neighbourhood of Trinity was originally theirs. Other medieval ports copied these arrangements, such as Trinity House in London Deptford from 1514 which became the governing body for English lighthouses, but the Leith version was senior and distinct. A separate body for Scottish lighthouses was established in 1786, now called the Northern Lighthouse Board.

Built 1818

Modern Two

Opposite side of Belford Rd has a slightly smaller collection, but enough to infuriate about one-in-five reviewers, who rage that their kids' drawings stuck on the fridge door are better. A neon sign in the garden reassures all and sundry that "There will be no miracles".

Mo-Su 10:00-17:00

St Cecilia's Hall

Scotland's oldest purpose-built concert hall, opened in 1763 and still in regular use. It hosts the University of Edinburgh collection of historic musical instruments, crafted 16th to 20th century, many of which (such as the Trompette Demilune) are no longer played.

Tue-Sat 10AM-6:30PM · Historic instruments free · Heritage listed

The Georgian House

This townhouse was designed by Robert Adam, completed in 1796 and has been furnished in the style of its first owner John Lamont. Its last private owner the Marquess of Bute also acquired adjacent townhouses and along with the other owners got the entire north facade of the square restored to Adams' imposing original design. Visit by self-guided tour, and in mid-summer you need to book as it sells out.

March Fri-Sun 10AM-4PM, April-Oct daily 10AM-5PM · Adult £12, conc £7, NTS / NT free

City Art Centre

Four-floor gallery run by the city council. They rotate artwork from their extensive Scottish collection and have changing exhibitions.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Donation £3 · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible

Museum of Scottish Fire Heritage

Volunteer-run museum within McDonald Road fire station. History of Scottish firefighting from the era of rival commercial fire companies, through early wooden fire engines to more recent appliances.

Mar-Nov Tue-Sat 10AM-4PM · Donation · Free entry

Stills

Photography gallery with three exhibitions a year. They also support photographers through courses and hire of equipment, darkroom and digital lab.

Tue-Sat 11AM-5PM · Free · Free entry

Surgeons' Hall Museums

The permanent exhibitions are the Pathology Museum, the History of Surgery and the Dental Museum. Not suitable for children under 10 as the exhibits include human remains.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Adult £9.50, conc £6 · Wheelchair accessible

Anatomical Museum

Large collection of anatomical specimens and life and death masks. Best known is the skeleton of William Burke, hanged in 1829 after he and William Hare killed at least 16 people to sell the bodies for dissection. Limited opening as the area is in continual use for teaching, booking essential.

Last Sat of Sept-Nov and Jan-May · Free

Edinburgh Printmakers

Creative centre for printmaking & visual arts, Two free galleries & shop. Vegan Cafe.

Sun & Mon closed; Tue 10:00-17:30; Wed & Thu 10:00-21:00; Fri & Sat 10:17:30 · Free for galleries

National Galleries of Scotland: Portrait

Completed in 1890, this is a striking red sandstone neo-Gothic building. It holds portraits of Scots from down the ages, with new faces being added all the time: Billy Connolly and Tilda Swinton mingle with Mary Queen of Scots. The entrance hall has a grand frieze of notable Scots in procession.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Free

Patriothall Gallery

Small art gallery and artists studios in the former co-op bakery. The gallery has regular exhibitions of modern art. The studios are open.on one weekend in mid-August and another in late November.

Tue-Sun noon-6PM

National Galleries of Scotland: Modern One

The original modern art gallery, established in 1960, was in the Botanic Gardens. In 1895 it moved into this neoclassical building, originally a refuge for fatherless children, and in 1999 it expanded across the road into the neoclassical orphanage now known as Modern Two. The gardens of Modern One have been sculpted. Both buildings have extensive contemporary collections and most visitors find that seeing one of them is plenty for an afternoon.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Free · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible

Camera Obscura

World of Illusions

Over 150 years old, the Camera Obscura projects light from the top of the tower onto a large dish in a dark room below, displaying a panorama of the city. The effect still works on overcast days or at night but is best in sunlight, when you can use a sheet of paper to "pick up" people seen in the streets and have them scurry in your hand. The tower also houses a gallery of optical illusions that wouldn't be out of place in Blackpool.

Mon-Thu 9:30AM-7:30PM, Fri-Sun 9AM-9PM · Adult £24.95, conc £21.95, child (5-15 years) £17.95

Dovecot Studios

Tapestry studio and gallery housed in the former public baths. There is a cafe, shop, and viewing gallery where you can look down on weavers at work.

Mon-Sat 10AM-5PM · Free