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Collections & Galleries

Museums

TODO — what museums in Edinburgh are actually worth the time.

5 places
National Museum of Scotland, Edinburghmust see
Chambers Street

National Museum of Scotland

Dolly the sheep, the Lewis chessmen and a Victorian glass hall, all free, with a roof terrace almost nobody finds.

Scottish National Gallery, Edinburghmust see
The Mound

Scottish National Gallery

Titian, Vermeer, Velázquez and the skating minister, free, in two Playfair temples on a bank of earth dug out of the New Town.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburghmust see
Queen Street

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

A red sandstone cathedral to Scottish faces, with a processional frieze of national history round the entrance hall.

Surgeons' Hall Museums, Edinburghmust see
Nicolson Street

Surgeons' Hall Museums

One of the largest pathology collections in the world, including a pocketbook bound in the skin of the murderer William Burke.

Camera Obscura and World of Illusions, Edinburghmust see
Castlehill

Camera Obscura and World of Illusions

A Victorian optical show that still works, on top of five floors of mirrors and illusions aimed squarely at children.