It's the museum on Chambers Street. The entrance is in the round tower that is across the street…read morefrom Greyfriars Bobby. You might as well rub his nose for good luck before crossing over. There is a beautiful & bright atrium in the heart of the museum. You can see all 4 floors from this spot as you look up from the first floor. There are galleries and exhibits all around it. We started our journey on the ground floor of the tower in the Kingdom of the Scots, and then worked our way up and over. It truly is the perfect place to go on a rainy morning. The best part is that it's free admission, but donations are always welcomed. There were many highlights for me. The Maiden that was used for public executions in Grassmarket, Mercat Cross, and Castlehill was certainly eerie to look at along with some of the torture devices used back in that period. The display of items belonging to Mary, Queen of Scots was presented beautifully. Especially that lovely jeweled necklace. The exhibits of the Americas was nicely done. I even saw a gut parka on display that was similar to one we saw in Alaska earlier this year. The displays of musical instruments and ceremonial dance costumes was vibrant & interesting. I was drawn to the Bloody Empire display. It was a very artistic expression of anarchism in the form of wallpaper. It's unique. I have to say the same thing about the Slit Gong musical instrument that is said to bring out the voices of a dead ancestor. Very creepy stuff! The subject matter lightened up a bit as we walked through the technology & industry part of the museum. It was cool to see "The Hawk" as well as the display of bicycles and phones (including a Mickey Mouse one). But, I think the best part was the spectacular view of Edinburgh from the open rooftop. It would have been better on a sunny day, but it was still a great sight to see. It's worth taking those outdoor spiral steps up to see it. I love that there's a mini garden with upland grasses and plants along the lookout walls of the roof. A nice little touch. We spent about 2 hours here, but could have easily stayed longer. There's a balcony café on what is technically the 3rd floor of the building (2nd floor when looking up from the main atrium). There is a fee-based exhibit called "Monkeys Our Primate Family" that may be of interest to some. It ends on 30 Nov 2025. Overall, the museum is great fun for all ages. It's a great way to learn more about the Scottish innovators throughout history.

Free entry at the National Museum of Scotland. Filled with rich history and interactive booths…read more There is a cafe with grab and go options and a gift shop too. The best photo op is the third floor balcony overlooking the atrium! Such a gorgeous spot and great option to get out of the rainy weather!

St Andrews museum is set in a lovely park surrounded by tennis courts, bowling green and a small…read moreputting green all open in summer months. The museum itself has two galleries one of witch stays the same all year and is the history of St Andrews, the other changes every few months. Cafe in the park is situated on lower floor of museum and is a bright welcoming place to have a spot of lunch at great prices, well worth a visit!!!

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.

Superb gallery in Edinburgh - well worth the visit…read more We stopped by on our third morning and had a wonderful time. This is not a massive (aka tiring) place, but it has excellent representation of Masters (Rubens, Rembrandt, Titian), and even a specially designed octagonal room dedicated to Nicolas Poussin's Seven Sacraments (1644-1648) - considered one of the greatest sets of paintings in the history of Western art. But my favorites pieces were by lesser known English, Scottish and Italian artists - such as Monarch of the Glen, Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch, and The Campbell Sisters. They have a small cafe which we visited when we needed a little coffee and cookie break, and the staff were very helpful and gracious. Would be happy to return.

The architecture of this centre of design building and where it is situated on The riverside…read moreesplanade overlooking the river Tay is stunning but what it has to offer in the interior is not very much. The highlight of the whole visit was the silent disco included in the extortionate Night Fever club culture exhibition and the equally extortionate gift shop. Despite this I really enjoyed the exhibition learning about raves, techno music and studio 54 and all the interesting audio and visual exhibits was fantastic but apart from that, there really isn't anything else to comment on. I expected more of a WOW factor and I didn't get that unfortunately.

What a fabulous building! A spectacular piece of architecture, both outside and inside. Shame about…read morethe boxy carbuncle of a building that's going up across the road from it that completely obscures it from the town. I have to say though, I was a bit disappointed with the use of space inside. The vast atrium takes up most of the building, which means there are really only two main exhibition spaces; one of these housing the temporary (paid) exhibitions, the other the more permanent exhibits. The temporary exhibit on ocean liners was really great; we loved seeing the history of (mostly) Scottish shipbuilding, and there was a good selection of artefacts illustrating just how sumptuous and decadent some of these grand liners were - although once it got past the 1930's I mostly lost interest (I was never a fan of 70's design at the time and I'm still not!). We particularly liked the video wall recreating an ocean view off the deck with renowned ships like the QE2 sailing past (good photo opp!). Of the other exhibition, the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Oak Room was the main attraction for us, and the main reason we came. But it felt like the rest of it should have been about three times the size it actually was. We actually spent some time looking around for a third gallery that isn't there. The restaurant on the top floor had a reasonable menu, but the prices were rather on the expensive side so we gave it a miss. The cafe on the ground floor didn't draw us either so we went elsewhere for lunch. The whole visit took us two and a half hours. It was worth a look, but apart from the architecture, we found it slightly underwhelming.

If you're local or in the area, you might as well visit, but not necessarily worth a special trip…read more It has amazing views if you walk to the top of the tower though!! I went here in the January with my nieces and nephews. My niece, who is nine and not feral at all, and to be fair well versed on behaving in museums / churches etc. She asked me to take a photo next to a mannequin and the women behind the desk case straight over "stop touching that!! It's delicate! Don't be ruining it!" And so on. Cripes the poor child hadn't touched it or gone near enough to think of touching it. The the women proceeded to glare and make us feel really uncomfortable. My poor niece was proclaiming her innocence! The artefacts in show are for the local size museum/castle interesting enough. If the kids aren't against it we will probably go back, to walk along the battlements and walk up the tower for the view, but, i really do hope the worker has taken a chill pill!

Cool castle - pretty small but just as neat as the others, it's obvious it's old! It's pretty also…read morebecause it's right next to water. Make sure to check the hours before you go to make sure you can go up into it!

The Heritage Pass will get you in here. Very interesting castle. There's a mine and a dungeon. A…read morelittle creepy and dark. It's all pretty accessible. Go up the tower and walk around. There's a great view of the cathedral ruins from one of the towers. I thought it was worth it using the Heritage Pass. I don't know that I'd pay extra to get in.

Note: This is not closed! Not sure why it says this…read more Went a few weeks back. When you pay to go in, you walk through s brief little history lesson as well so you have some idea of what you're looking at. A gorgeous castle site on the coast. It's amazing soil erosion hasnt wiped this out in the hundreds of years. The edges of the castle still stand but most of the walls are collapsed from the battle destruction and wear and tear. There is still plenty to see and take in. They labeled what all the parts of the castle once were. You can even see the creepy dungeon prison. One of the cooler things is the tunnel. I couldn't do it because of general claustrophobia. But during a battle the enemy was tunneling under the castle. They started a counter tunnel to block them and they successfully did. So, you can walk through the original tunnel. Talk about being in the heart of history!

On a rainy day on our Perthshire holiday we decided to head to the Beatrix Potter Exhibition &…read moreGarden in Birnam for some indoor fun with our 1 year old. I have to be honest I wasn't expecting much, but I was proved wrong. This is a really lovely place that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to visitors with little ones. The exhibition is housed in Birnam's Arts & Conference Centre. Outside is a lovely garden with sculptures of the animals that Beatrix made famous through her books. Inside is a lovely gift shop with Beatrix Potter themed goods, and a great range of non-Potter related cards, books, gifts, toys, and trinkets... Downstairs is the exhibition area. This is relatively small compared to other exhibitions/museums, but it's appeal for us was the great range of play activities for the little ones. From drawing and colouring on blackboards and at old school desks, to playing shop, playing with puzzles, dressing up, and reading books - this was a great way to spend an afternoon with our little one. I feel this is really geared towards younger kids under 8, but was just perfect for our inquisitive 1 year old. Upstairs is the Foyer Cafe, where we enjoyed some lovely coffees. The staff here were really lovely too!

A lovely place to go adult and child alike! Personally, I love Peter Rabbit, Miss Tiggywinkle etc…read moreand this museum is a real tribute to 'Miss Potter', There is a large ish shop selling lovely books and other memorabilia. The 'museum' itself is quite small, yet informative and very hands on for the kids. There are also clothes for the kids to dress up in. Beatrix Potter took holidays in Dalguise in Perthshire (now a PGL centre) before her family changed their holiday destination to the Lakes.

Worth it especially if the weather is nasty! This was a great place for us to hang out for 2 hours…read moreand beat the wind and cold. I wish it was a teeny bit cheaper, but it actually was a pretty cool museum with some interactive elements.

If golf is your thing then this place will be of great interest to you, if not then you will have…read morethe worst time of your life. There is all sorts of golfing history to be viewed in here from the anciant clubs once used to the ancient players that used to swing them. As a mild fan of golf I found it ok to a point but my friend who is a huge golf fan though this place was excellent so it really is a place only suited to golfing fanatics.

My bf is a huge transport fan so it was yesterday on a sunny sunday that we found ourselves taking…read morea drive out here on one of their running days. The museum is open every sunday but when you have a running day it means you can get a chance to go a wee ride on some of the vintage buses. Entry is £7 per adult and includes access to the bus rides. There were loads of really well maintained vintage buses there and it was fun to go out on them and get a wee tour of the fife countryside. Most of the staff that work there are volunteers and are happy to explain the history behind all of the vehicles. If you are into collecting models of buses,trains etc theres a big indoor space with a good variety of stalls to browse and my bf assured me that the prices were really reasonable. Lots of public toilets and a cafe and the usual burger van selling hot food etc. Whilst this is not somewhere i would go usually I actually quite enjoyed it and my bf did too.

I visited the Bus Museum during a Doors Open Day and I was pleasantly surprised. The buses are…read morelovingly restored by keen amateurs and I was amazed at how many I recognised from my youth. You don't have to be a spotter to enjoy the Scottish Bus Museum.

Excellent little museum that goes on and on. Sprawled throughout several charming old buildings and…read morearound a courtyard. Take the map guide they hand out at the front because unless you've found the huge barn with the magnificent old Zulu class fishing boat, The Research, you've missed a significant part of the collection. My two kids, ages 5 and 12, were absolutely enchanted for well over an hour with the various displays and things they could try out. From sleeping in a real bunk bed to taking the helm of a real ship. Arts and crafts, how fishing nets were made, how fisher folk lived, why the distinctive patterns on their hand-made jerseys mattered. On and on. A lot of history is covered and you will definitely learn something. There are even some spectacular paintings like Anchored by the late John Bellany. The café looked pretty nice too though we did not get to try it this time. This is THE perfect place to while away an afternoon if the weather should turn during your visit to beautiful Anstruther. Enjoy.

For a very low entry fee this Tardis of a place is full of surprises and offers a highly…read moreinformative,surprising and fascinating day out, offering glimpses into Scotland's fishing industries past. From outside it doesn't look that big, but inside you will be amazed at the extensive dipsplays and full-size fishing vessels contained therein. A futher suprise is an ancient well, discovered only during building museum extension work. This museum is truly a labour of love, as it is a private interest.