National Galleries Scotland: Modern One

National Galleries Scotland: Modern One

National Galleries Scotland: Modern One
4
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Write a review
About
One site, two sculpture parks, two galleries and lots for you to discover. Take a leap forward at the Modern. You will find the many artworks on display to be playful, thought provoking and compelling. Weave your way through two exciting gallery spaces featuring leading artists' works which define the Modern era. Brace yourself for a sensory rollercoaster. Modern One Home to all things contemporary. Discover displays, shows and installations from the leading artists of today. Get ready for captivating, light-hearted and all-encompassing experiences. On arrival at Modern One you will be in awe of the striking land feature in front of the gallery designed by landscape architect Charles Jencks. Explore the grounds and discover further sculptural works by other major artists. Once you are done delving into the art on display both outdoors and in, you can re-energise at the wonderful Cafe Modern One, famous for its legendary scones.
Suggested duration
< 1 hour
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.

Top ways to experience National Galleries Scotland: Modern One and nearby attractions

The area
Address
Neighborhood: Stockbridge & Dean Village
Just downhill of New Town and attractively straddling a river near the elegant Royal Botanic Garden, it’s small wonder that Stockbridge became one of the city’s first hip neighborhoods. It’s now one of Edinburgh’s most desirable, though many bohemian touches have fallen away as its residents have matured and the area has gentrified. Some second-hand shops cling on, but mostly residents display refined tastes in basement bistros, gastropubs, coffee and antique shops, boutiques and delis and at the Sunday farmers' market. A pleasant ten-minute walk away, along a leafy riverside path beside the gurgling Water of Leith, lies Dean Village. This sleepy neighborhood of medieval half-timbered houses still retains much of the village feel it had when watermills plied their trade here. Beyond, the wooded riverside path feels even more remote as it climbs to the sculpture gardens of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
See what other travelers are saying
  • Mark
    Cardiff, United Kingdom32 contributions
    Design of exhibitions = Top notch
    The exhibition by Katie Paterson is exciting and well decorated just like any other modern art gallery, with very well written explanations about each part, as well as the paintings upstairs. As much as I understand during these difficult times, I feel the restriction of just 1 hour in the building is a bit overdone, and also I was told not to keep my backpack on my back but either at the front or holding it (not sure if this is another restriction). Whilst doing this I felt quite uncomfortable, as I needed to be fast and take the strains of the backpack respectively. Overall = worth a visit
    Visited September 2020
    Written September 24, 2020
  • Angus Burnett Ewart
    Kirriemuir, United Kingdom1,919 contributions
    Always Interesting, Always Relevant.
    Did not have a great deal of time this Sunday to enjoy the new installations at this, one of my favoured stops in the city. However, I did catch the long corridor stuffed wearily with "How to Illustrate Children's Books" ... walked slowly through three of the large rooms with three notable installation-style works by Messrs Katie Paterson, Darren Almond, Shona McNaughton and Lucy Raven who collectively aesthetically 'snowed' on me, regaled me with soothing classical piano music and the instrument itself, a lecture and a weird-ish collage of pictorial protestations ... by which by and large, strangely, I enjoyed and understood their messages to me, and maybe to each of the other sparse complement of attendees ... but never to myriads who might encounter all this fashionable, 'now' stuff. I Might have said more here had I had much more time, but alas, I think I just might have said enough.
    Thank you for the review. We've been thrilled by the positive response to this final instalment of 'NOW' and we're glad it has had such an impact. We hope to welcome you back again soon, National Galleries of Scotland
    Written February 28, 2020
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited February 2020
    Traveled solo
    Written February 10, 2020
  • Carla F
    10 contributions
    Lunch in the grounds and visited the gallery.
    We booked online but never received an email confirmation, and when we arrived we were told we couldn’t go in. However after persevering a bit and asking for help staff found another family had double booked so we were allowed in! Well worth it as there were some real gems inside, highlights included Giacometti, Magritte, Gabo. Big thanks to the Modern One entrance staff for helping us out, we had a great time in the end.
    Visited July 2021
    Traveled with family
    Written July 30, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions

4.0
433 reviews
Excellent
214
Very good
139
Average
43
Poor
24
Terrible
13

Amanda M
Shrewsbury, UK28 contributions
Feb 2020 • Family
Firstly parking was great value £2 for the day. We visited with our 2 older teenage kids, one an art foundation student, we all really enjoyed the exhibitions and in fact there was something to interest us and inspire us all, from the sculptures outside to the Now exhibition, Dada and the children's illustrators exhibition. Great.
Plus the cafe was great for a coffee. Will definitely visit again. Thank you
Written February 20, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for the great review! We're so glad to hear you enjoyed your visit and can't wait to welcome you back again soon. All the best, National Galleries of Scotland
Written March 4, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Tomedin
San Francisco, CA71 contributions
Dec 2021
My go too gallery in Edinburgh... the art is amazing with the Scottish Colorists always on view, the surprises such as Warhol and Saville, and the Eardley exhibition. Edinburgh is lucky to have such a gem. The usual break in the café.... this is a must for a lunchtime meet up.
Written January 11, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks so much! Please come back soon
Written January 12, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Pompey_Sunseekers
Cosham, UK194 contributions
Sep 2021 • Couples
Really enjoyed our visit to the gallery, loved finding the surprise Anthony Gormley statues, didn’t know they were there. A great variety of quality works, diverse and exciting especially some famous and less famous artists. Super works in the grounds too. The cafe was really nice and it was a sunny day so we were able to sit outside in lovely garden area.
Written September 23, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
It sounds like you had a lovely day to visit and made some new discoveries too. Thanks very much for taking the time to share your experience and hope to see you agan soon.
Written September 28, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Anne A
Edinburgh, UK61 contributions
Aug 2023 • Couples
Came here for a light lunch as a friend kept raving on about it. My partner enjoyed the soup but I had to hunt for the prosciutto in my roll. A bit average all in all.

The q was very long and it took far too long to get served - only two girls at the counter

Price for our lunch was reasonable though and I might return for coffee and cake and to hope the service is speedier.
Written August 30, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Philip S
Arnold, UK48 contributions
Aug 2021 • Couples
It's a bit of a trek out to the Modern Art Gallery but it's worth the 30 minute walk. Fantastic collection with a balanced mix of Scottish artists and more well known artists. The Surrealism collection is particularly strong.

We really enjoyed the collection.
Written August 8, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

neilrenton01
Edinburgh, UK389 contributions
Oct 2021 • Family
My youngest daughter and I visited here for the Ray Harryhausen exhibition and we loved it.

For one I didn’t know this place existed. It’s reachable from the centre of Edinburgh but it’s off the beaten track. It’s in stunning surroundings which make you forget you’re in the middle of a city.

With both of us being fans of movies and in particular special effect films we went along to the exhibition.

The staff were brilliant and made us feel welcome and safe within the current guidelines.

There was about six rooms of items and displays from the special effects wizard and everything was spaced out with the current regulations.

It was amazing to see props from my childhood so up close.

We spent about forty minutes there. I’d rerun again for another exhibition- especially now I know about it!
Written October 22, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks so much for your lovely review! Really pleased you had an enjoyable visit. Please come back for our free exhibition 'New Arrivals', opening Sat 27 Nov 2021. See you soon!
Written October 26, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

David R
London, UK13 contributions
Aug 2021
Really enjoyed this and not only because I managed to go here on my own and not my restless wife and kids, but because the staff were super helpful and knowledgeable. I knew little of Scottish art and artists and left much the wider. Not a huge gallery but one I thoroughly enjoyed.
Written August 12, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

MYDOGISFINN
Emsworth, UK866 contributions
Sep 2023 • Couples
Most cities would be content to have one Modern Art gallery but Edinburgh has two. The other one is on the other side of the road. Give your self a full day to do both galleries and try to fit in a walk to Dean Village as well.
Exceptional art and a beautiful building and it is free. Good cafe and shop.
Written September 17, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Stef
2 contributions
Jan 2020 • Couples
This review is about the internal "restaurant" Paolozzi Kitchen. We waited 50 minutes before to get a soup and salad. Also we ordered water and it never arrived. We had been told to wait 20 minutes which was ok, but we actually waited 50 mins. We gave feedback to the person who served us, she didn't apologise at all which was very rude.
Absolutely avoid this place.
Written January 11, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you very much for your comments. We were very disappointed to read your feedback after your visit on 11th January. Your experience is not to up to our usual standard and we can only apologise for the lack of quality of service you experienced on your visit. Waiting 50 minutes for soup and a salad is totally unacceptable, as is the lack of an apology. I would like to assure you that we will be conducting staff training to ensure this does not happen again. Please accept my sincerest apologies once again. Kind regards, Sarah Fisher, Cafe Manager
Written January 15, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Leah_M_12821
Inverness, UK52 contributions
Dec 2021 • Couples
Lovely walk up to the building through the gardens. This is free to enter however you can book tickets in advance as well. Beautiful building full of lovely art works. Staff friendly. Have visited twice recently and will be back.
Written January 1, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you so much - see you soon!
Written January 12, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

…
Showing results 1-10 of 355
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

National Galleries Scotland: Modern One - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

Frequently Asked Questions about National Galleries Scotland: Modern One

National Galleries Scotland: Modern One is open:
  • Sun - Sat 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Buy tickets in advance on Tripadvisor. If you book with Tripadvisor, you can cancel at least 24 hours before the start date of your tour for a full refund.

We recommend booking National Galleries Scotland: Modern One tours ahead of time to secure your spot. If you book with Tripadvisor, you can cancel up to 24 hours before your tour starts for a full refund. See all 3 National Galleries Scotland: Modern One tours on Tripadvisor


Restaurants near National Galleries Scotland: Modern One: View all restaurants near National Galleries Scotland: Modern One on Tripadvisor

National Galleries Scotland: Modern One Information

Excellent Reviews

214

Very Good Reviews

139

National Galleries Scotland: Modern One Photos

352