Museum of Edinburgh
Free: All time At the Museum of Edinburgh, visitors can learn the town’s origins, history and legends. A maze of historic rooms are crammed full of iconic objects from the past. Exhibits include an original copy of the National Covenant signed in 1638 and a reconstruction of Field Marshal Earl Haig’s headquarters during the Great...
New Edinburgh Free Walking Tour
Free: All time In the narrow streets of Edinburgh you were as likely to meet a murderer as a man of genius. Body-snatchers, witch hunters, firebrand priests and philosophers all living on the side of a dead volcano. The New Europe Sandeman’s free walking tour lasts 2.5 hours and covers all the main sights of...
Scottish Parliament
Free: All time The Scottish Parliament is open to the general public for visits. Free one-hour building tour is also available, in which the guide will provide information on the history, work, and procedures of the Scottish Parliament and about the architecture of the award winning building. Advanced booking is recommended. Furthermore, visitors are also...
Museum of the Mound
Free: All time If you ever want to see what a million pounds look like, head over to the Museum of the Mound. This fairly new museum (opened in 2006) specializes in everything money-related: art & design, technology, crime, trade and security. Address: Museum on the Mound, The Mound, Edinburgh EH1 1YZ Opening hours: Tue-Fri...
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Free: All time The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is comprised of three parts: the Modern One, the Modern Two and the Outdoor Sculpture. At the Modern One Gallery, the collection features French and Russian art from the beginning of the 20th century, cubist paintings, modern British art, as well as an intensive holdings...
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Free: All time The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is housed in one of Edinburgh’s most remarkable building. This neo-gothic palace went through a dramatic three-year refurbishment and was completed in 2011. The Gallery now offers 17 new displays that explore different aspects of the history of Scotland. Through the gallery’s rich portraiture collection, visitors get...
Museum of Childhood
Free: All time At the Museum of Childhood, adults can indulge in a trip down memory lane while children will learn what “fun” is in a world before video games. It is a treasure house, crammed full of playthings. The Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh was the first museum of its kind to specialize in...
Portobello Beach
Free: All time Most probably won’t associate Edinburgh with a beach. However, there are several around town. The closest and most popular one is Portobello Beach. It is located a few miles from the city center but despite its urban location, the site still has the traditional seaside charm. Portobello’s sandy beach stretches about a...
Athur’s Seat
Free: All time Athur’s Seat is the highest point in Edinburgh. Located in Holyrood Park, it is a dormant volcano, sitting at about 251m above sea level. Athur’s Seat is also one of the four hill forts that dates back to around 2,000 years ago. So besides greeneries, wildlife, volcanic geology, it is a site...
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Free: All time Located on one mile from city center, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh offers 72 acres of greeneries. The garden was founded in 1670, originally as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants. Today, the collection grows to nearly 273,000 individual plants representing around 13,300 different species from all over the world. There’s...
Writers’ Museum
Free: All time The Writers’ Museum celebrates the lives of three great Scottish writers – Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Visitors can see portraits, rate books and personal objects including Burns’ writing desk and the printing press on which Scott’s Waverley Novels were first produced. Free tours are offered on Thursdays...
