Large museum to visit. You need minimum 3 hours for the visit. It is free to the public. This is…read moreprobably the best museum in Scotland. The museum has three levels. A lot of walking. The second floor has cafeteria. The museum may be a link of three buildings. One for industry and Scotland display. The second building is mainly technology. The third building is all other kind displays.

Absolutely massive museum! Come mostly to learn about Scottish history; however, they have a bit…read moreof everything. Kids will love all the animals and technology in some of the exhibits. Definitely get a map - the museum Is maze like at times and cavernous. A tip would be to focus your visit on a small portion of the museum - it's overwhelming to see it all at once!

This is the best art museum in Edinburgh. This museum has 4 levels of displays. It is free to…read morepublic and worth the visit. Level is more like museum shop and cafe. So you actually have three level. Level 2 is mostly Scottish arts. Level 3 is international arts. The level 4 is the international art with impression. I like Scottish arts. There is very different from most art museums dedicated to local artists. The visit takes 1.5 hours or more depending the detail of visit. There is two entrance due to elevation difference of the floor for ground access.

Situated in the heart of Edinburgh, the Scottish National Gallery is a small but delightful museum…read more While Scottish artists are the main focus, the National Gallery also houses works of art from famous European artists. All of Edinburgh's publicly owned museums and galleries offer free entry to their permanent collections, and National Galleries Scotland manage five buildings which provide access to a fantastic array of artworks. In the very heart of Edinburgh, on the Mound, which connects both Old and New Town, is the original National Gallery of Scotland itself, alongside its sister gallery, the Royal Scottish Academy building. Inside the building is a sumptuous series of open spaces with works by some of the world's greatest classic artists on display, alongside iconic works by Scottish painters. Artists like Rembrandt and Van Dyck are represented alongside Monet, Reubens and Titian, as well as British painters like Constable and Turner. One iconic picture which is often considered a definitively Scottish work is Edwin Landseer's Monarch of the Glen, featuring a majestic stag in front of a Scottish Highland backdrop.

The most unique museum I have ever been to. Beware...this is Not for the squeamish…read more Surgeons' Hall Museums is an award winning Museum that is home to one of the largest and most historic pathology collections in England. It showcases the history of surgery and is so different from anything you have ever seen. I'm not in healthcare, I don't like anything that has to do with disease, yet, I couldn't stop looking. I was so intrigued. There was room after room of jars with body parts and showcases of how they see certain diseases. I couldn't stop looking. Venture up to the top floor to see the robotics and AI surgery exhibit....so interesting. to see the wave of the future. No photos allowed but it is worth the $10 entry fee.

I wasn't sure what to expect when we came here today but I've never seen anything like this museum…read morein my life! The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh was founded in 1505 and was originally used as a teaching museum for students of medicine. Its vast collection opened to the public in 1832. Here you will learn about the history of surgeries- how the medical field started and where it is headed. It was also fascinating to learn about William Burke and William Hare who murdered sixteen people in 1828 and sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection at his anatomy lectures. And I've never seen so many bones and organs on display! Many of the specimens show the results of certain diseases or injuries. Plus there are many historical surgical instruments, paintings and illustrations on display. There is also a section on medical advances like robot-assisted surgeries- something I have benefited from. No pictures are allowed so you'll have to come see it all for yourselves!

Anatomical Museum is based in the Medical School of University of Edinburgh. It is open to public…read morelast Saturday of each month between 10am and 4pm. One of the highlights is William Burke's skeleton. Yes, Burke as in Burke and Hare, the pair who sold the corpses of their victims for medical dissection. After they were caught, Hare testified against Burke, Burke was hanged, Hare was released and disappeared. There is something ironic about the fact that Burke's skeleton ended up on display in the museum. There are skeletons and skulls of many different species on display. The most impressive ones are the elephant skeletons in the entrance. You can also enter into an anatomy lecture theatre, which I believe is still in use. I haven't been to Surgeons' Hall Museum, but I suspect that these two museums are similar. Overall, I enjoyed my visit to the Anatomical Museum. I didn't have a problem with the skeletons and bones, but walked past the displays of dissections rather fast:) It is not a big museum. So you can combine a visit there on a Saturday morning with lunch or some other activity outside.

The Anatomical Museum is a bit hard to find, but is open to the public on the last Saturday of the…read moremonth. Just give yourself a minute to find it. One if the photos I included here is of the old set up which is a bit more theatrical than the current, but I suppose less practical. The other photo is a pano view of the downstairs doorway where the elephants stand today. Photos are not allowed upstairs. The museum has animal skeletons as well as a few notable human forms including the last man who was sentenced to be executed and given to the medical school, and William Burke for which the museum is probably best known. I would not suggest bringing young children as the specimens are fragile and many are not behind glass. There are also some which may be too much for sensitive visitors, like foetuses in various stages, or a body which had been preserved (embalming possibly? I've forgotten). The museum is free, and definitely an interesting way to spend a few hours. Just one more thing to keep in mind, this is usually closed to the public and is most often a place for students to study the specimens. They will probably be there if you visit and they appreciate being able to ignore you.

A day trip to Rosslyn Chapel may be within seven miles of Edinburgh, but it feels like stepping…read moreinto another realm. The chapel is easily accessible by bus--a roughly 50-minute journey from the city centre. Our route had more than forty stops, yet I didn't mind at all. We were seated on the top deck of a double-decker, watching the city slowly give way to the Lowlands, enjoying glimpses of Edinburgh's outer edges as we made our way toward the chapel. Rosslyn Chapel is steeped in mystery, but if it looks familiar, that's because it is! Rosslyn Chapel was the inspiration for the book and film the Da Vinci Code. As such, she's a magnet for tourists looking to get a taste of intrigue. Dan Brown may have brought this chapel into popular culture in his book The Da Vinci Code, but this chapel was famous in its own right long before that. Rosslyn Chapel has been loved for both its amazing decorative artwork as well as the mystery that surrounds it with people for decades. After the "Da Vinci Code" movie, thousands of people came here every day looking to find some truth in the story, and thousands of people walked away disappointed. But whether you believe in the Da Vinci and Templar theories or not, this church is still an interesting place to visit. The chapel was founded by William Sinclair of the Sinclair family, a noble family descended from Norman knights who moved to Scotland when they fell out with William the Conqueror in the 11th century. The chapel itself is actually quite small. Standing 12 meters tall and 21 meters long, it was originally built to be a full style Gothic cathedral in the shape of a cross. However, when William Sinclair died his son decided to stop construction. He closed up the "top" and just made the existing building into a much smaller chapel. You can spend hours looking over all the reliefs, statues, and images. They are fascinating. The most fascinating one is the American maize (corn), which was not discovered at the time this church was built. Over one of the windows, there is clearly maize, leading many people to theorize the Sinclairs had contact with America years before Columbus did. (Though that isn't exactly revolutionary, as it's well documented that Columbus was not the first European to discover America.) we had a timed ticket and they have their own guide tht gives you a tour (on certain time). so check out the time when you enter.

I thought it was worth the cost. You have to buy a years pass but we were only going to be there…read moreonce. They do give discounts if you are in military, unemployed, disabled or over 65. Im unemployed and disabled but my hubby didnt mess with the discounts. It's a smaller place than i expected but the detail was stunning. I wish they had allowed photography id have been there all day. So much symbolism and history in every detail but you need a zoom lens to really see it. It was beautiful and so much stone detail it was gaudy. There are yours and information but I'm more visual. I asked why no photos and they claimed someone tripped and try to sue. I would pay extra to be able to do my thang with camera without having to sneak.

We went to the National Museum of Flight on a trip from Newcastle to Aberdeen. The museum is…read morelocated on the WW1 & WW2 airfield of East Fortune, which is one of the best preserved airfields we have ever come across with huts, Nissen huts and hangars. In the distance even the old control tower is visible. In the museum the main attraction is the first BA Concorde G-BOAA. In addition there are plenty of civilian and military airplanes (including a Spitfire, Harrier and Tornado) as well as displays highlighting the military past. Even the cafe is great quality. Absolutely first class and deserving of increased advertising.

There's so much to see and do at this museum that it was well worth the £12 entry. There's 3…read morehangars to explore with planes of all different sizes from olden day to modern planes. You can step on board a few planes and the highlight for me was seeing Concorde and getting to walk under it to really appreciate the size of the plane. One thing I really liked about the museum was that there weren't many restrictions. You could get close to the planes and nobody batted an eyelid. There's lots of flight based games for kids to play and the big kids of course. When I visited you could buy tickets for a short helicopter ride too. It's a great day out even if you're not really interested in planes. The museum has stories on the people who flew and travelled on planes as well as the history of the hangars.

Worth a quick visit. The museum presents aspects of Edinburgh's history through the eyes of people…read morewho lived there. The museum is engaging and admission is free.

Ah to be surrounded by creepy mannequins…read more.. I popped into this place after hopping into Oink for lunch. Because what goes better with pulled pork then a wee bit of history? (answer: a lot of things.) This is no doubt and interesting little museum. It's free to enter and you're welcome to take pictures (obviously), so long as you clear it with the front desk before entering. It's a three story snapshot of how Edinburgh locals lived in the olden days... and the 80's. ... The first floor is a veritable horror shop of Edinburgh during the plague, and definitely take the time to read the information in this little dungeon. It's horrific but incredibly intriguing - an interesting snippet of a tumultuous past. The second and third floors are much of the same - depicting the living conditions and activities of Scottish folk throughout the ages. It is exceptionally interesting stuff. But... (you knew it was coming)... What is a really unique story, gets sort of overshadowed by the abundance of SUPER creepy mannequins. Maybe i've just watched one too many sci-fi flicks, but mannequins give me the hebegebees and the lot that's plunk into this place is a cut above the rest. I would have much preferred to wander about and take in the history of Edinburgh, without having to teeter around plague victims and taxidermy cats. And the 80's mannequins were just downright strange... So it's worth a stop in. It won't take you too long to pop through and if you're made of stronger stuff than myself, i'm sure the plastic people won't be quite so much of a deterrent. But do yourself a favour and actually READ the information... or else you're just walking through a room of creepy fake people and that's wholly a waste of time.

Visited the National Galleries of Scotland while in Edinburgh. The layout was easy to navigate, and…read morethe exhibits were well-presented and fascinating. Highlights included works by Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Raphael, and many other notables. Staff were helpful when needed, and entry was free. Overall, a great way to spend a few hours -- a must-see for art lovers. Saluti.

We wandered in because it started to rain and it was nearby. And then we stayed until it was…read moreclosing because it was such a great museum!! Really great exhibits, lots to see from many different artists, eras, and styles. Highly recommend stopping in.

So many fun illusions. I got confused. Especially on the spinning bridge and the mirror maze.read more

We came to Edinburgh for the Taylor swift concert and wanted to do some exploring. My 13 year old…read moredaughter and her friend made it clear they didn't want to do any sightseeing so we looked for fun activities that appealed to teens...and came across this. We found this to be a fun way to kill 90 minutes in this cool city. There's all sorts of rooms with optical illusions, but you also get to enjoy amazing views of Edinburgh on the rooftops. The girls seemed to enjoy, although the favorite part was probably the last room which included some a mirror maze and something that made me super dizzy. Recommended for kid/teen fun!