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Spend some time to get the most from... - Surgeons' Hall

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Surgeons' Hall: Traveler Reviews

Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, Scotland
0131 527 1600
Website
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Pathology Museum
11 visitor photos
Ranked #24 of 174 attractions in Edinburgh
4.5 of 5 stars 180 Reviews
Type: Specialty Museums
Fee: Yes
Recommended length of visit: 1-2 hours
Owner description: Surgeons' Hall houses one of the largest and most historic collections of surgical pathology in the World. Developed as a teaching museum for students... more » Owner description: Surgeons' Hall houses one of the largest and most historic collections of surgical pathology in the World. Developed as a teaching museum for students of medicine, its fascinating collections, including bone and tissue specimens, artefacts and works of art, have also been open to the public since 1832, making it one of Scotland’s oldest Museums. The History of Surgery Museum traces the story of surgery in Scotland from 1505 to the present day through objects, images and artworks. The Dental History section incorporates the outstanding object and art collection of Menzies Campbell, and is rated as one of the top three in Britain. In 2010, the upper gallery of The History of Surgery Museum was transformed into a temporary exhibition space with ‘Skin Deep’ as the first in a series of new subjects. Popular exhibitions include The Real Sherlock Homes and the story of Burke and Hare. We also run a programme of events and highlight tours, more information can be found on our webpage. « less
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180 reviews from our community

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Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Senior Contributor
39 reviews 39 reviews
9 attraction reviews
Reviews in 19 cities Reviews in 19 cities
24 helpful votes 24 helpful votes
“Spend some time to get the most from the exhibits.”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed February 2, 2013

Such a well laid out exhibition, you can really learn a lot by reading the information with each exhibit. It is easy to rush through and seek out the weird & wonderful but best to see how far human knowledge has expanded in the medical field and the fellows and surgeons trained here have made such huge leaps in medical understanding, and a lot of that is here on display. Go if you can, it is simply amazing.

Visited September 2012
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See 11 more reviews by NealeGEdinburgh for Edinburgh
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Top Contributor
81 reviews 81 reviews
24 attraction reviews
Reviews in 21 cities Reviews in 21 cities
40 helpful votes 40 helpful votes
“Interesting”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed January 27, 2013

Full of medical bits and bobs - many I didn't know of! - this is a great way to spend a few hours. The displays are well marked explaining every bit and what the items are for. Nice bright and clean.

Was this review helpful? Yes 1
See 52 more reviews by Littlebigfolk for Edinburgh
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Midlands
Senior Contributor
26 reviews 26 reviews
7 attraction reviews
Reviews in 16 cities Reviews in 16 cities
13 helpful votes 13 helpful votes
“Great value experience”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed January 23, 2013

An awesome experience that is great value and really opens your eyes to how medicine has moved on over the years.

Visited January 2013
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See 10 more reviews by MrsKnight123 for Edinburgh
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2 reviews
“Excellent experience”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed January 23, 2013 via mobile

This is a secret treasure of Edinburgh I believe. The staff were wonderful friendly mad I recommend visiting. You will learn so much

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Ask Amber A about Surgeons' Hall
This review is the subjective opinion of an individual traveler and not of TripAdvisor LLC nor of its partners.
Reviewer
4 reviews 4 reviews
Reviews in 3 cities Reviews in 3 cities
“Fascinating and gruesome”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed January 15, 2013 via mobile

I think it should be free as it is a museum, but I can't complain as £3 for the sights I saw is great. Some amazing reads and seeing real tanned human skin from over 100 years ago is just a bit surreal! Not for the very empathetic and screamish as the stories of no anaesthetic and all the child skeletons could be a bit much for some!

Overall though it was great and really interesting. Also makes you soo grateful for the breakthroughs we have in medicine today!

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