National Museum of Scotland

National Museum of Scotland

National Museum of Scotland
4.5
Speciality Museums • Natural History Museums
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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
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About
Explore the diversity of the natural world, world cultures, science and technology, art, design and fashion, and Scottish history, all under one roof.
Suggested duration
More than 3 hours
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  • Jemma E
    Edinburgh, United Kingdom30 contributions
    Lovely day out to see some cool stuff
    What a wonderful venue, and the perfect escape from the cold Scottish winter weather! We visited as a family of 4, with two young children. Additional to all the main exhibits, there are two distinct younger children’s areas. We visited both and our toddler really enjoyed both spaces. The upstairs area has an excavation interactive display that she had a lot of fun with, digging for Dino bones! The down stairs was better for the baby as had more baby sensory things. We really enjoyed the floor piano and making shadow puppets! The main exhibits themselves are brilliant and it would many days of visits to make your way around everything! We stayed for lunch in the bistro and as a family of 4, we felt it was a bit over priced and the service was slow- which can be tricky with hungry toddlers in tow. I’d highly recommend bringing a pack lunch if visiting with children!! There’s even a pack lunch room! Plenty of space to run around here, and also very buggy friendly. Our personal highlight - visiting the top floor/roof to look out of the observation deck- amazing views, and it feels like an urban oasis!
    Visited February 2020
    Traveled with family
    Written March 6, 2020
  • Mireille S
    London, United Kingdom66 contributions
    We saw Dolly the Sheep!
    Entrance to the museum is free but you must book in advance due to covid-19 restrictions. Also due to the pandemic, much of the museum is still closed to the public but don’t let that put you off. There is still a lot to see, much of which is very interesting. Masks are required at all times and there is a one way system in place, but in all honesty the one way system was probably a good way of ensuring you also get to see each exhibition without missing out on anything! The highlight of course was Dolly the Sheep (& the rest of the natural history/animals section), they also have a wonderful fashion exhibition showing the evolution of fashion over time.
    Visited August 2020
    Traveled with friends
    Written August 28, 2020
  • Feepee22
    Motherwell, United Kingdom26 contributions
    Absolutely brilliant
    I visited the museum with my husband and 2 children (9 and 4 years old) and I have to say it was incredible. A lot of the exhibits are very interactive which is great for children and there is even a small soft play area for toddlers - perfect for letting them run around while you have a seat for a while! There are so many things to see and do in the museum that an afternoon just wasn’t long enough for us. You could easily spend a full day here. The main hall is somewhere really beautiful to sit and watch people and there is also a small cafe there. There is also a cafe at the entrance to the museum where we had lunch. It is slightly pricey but the food was really delicious and the children’s food was freshly cooked and tasty. The layout of the museum is really easy to understand and there are lifts so all levels are accessible to everyone. I can not recommend this place enough. It is absolutely fantastic and we will definitely be going back.
    Visited January 2020
    Traveled with family
    Written January 12, 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.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
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Ian L
Perth, Australia532 contributions
Jul 2023 • Family
Compact, easy to navigate and explore. Lots of variety for all ages and interests. Connections to Scotland's past as well. Good fun.
Written August 11, 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.

DunelmArts
Aberdeen, UK1,094 contributions
Jul 2023 • Solo
My main reason for visiting the museum was the "Beyond the Little Black Dress" exhibition, which was excellent. This exhibition had an admission charge, but the rest of the museum is free, although donations are welcomed. Pick up a floor plan at the entrance which wil help you navigate the various collections. The areas with the interactive exhibits for children can get quite crowded, but other parts of the museum are relatively quiet.
Written August 10, 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.

Mel D
Cambridge, UK2 contributions
Aug 2023
Many interesting exhibitions around the museum from natural history to history of technology. You could easily spend all day here and we will be back hopefully sometime soon. Its also very interactive for those with children.
Written August 9, 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.

Annette19m
Pontefract, UK74 contributions
Aug 2023 • Friends
Stunning building with so much to see. Room after room of interesting things.
Animals, the earth, Egypt, Scottish history, science, travel etcetera etcetera. Fantastic.
Written August 8, 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.

ryanprint
Green Bay, WI207 contributions
Apr 2023
Don't overlook this National Museum of Scotland. There are a lot of very interesting exhibits whether you're a social sciences, physical sciences, art, or just scotish nostalgia fan. Everything is well organized, and feels like you've got like 8 museums alll in one - i could've probably spent days in here. The lower levels, which had everything from Rocket demos to Dolly the Sheep, to an exhibit of old F1 cars was probably my favorite.
Written August 5, 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.

Michał K
8 contributions
Aug 2023 • Family
The biggest museum in the city. An impressive number of exibitions from all around the World. For smaller visitors there is a number of interactive attractions. Be aware of the crowds of turists during the high season.
Written August 4, 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.

PingSwe
Gothenburg61 contributions
Aug 2023
Very good museum, that cover a wide range of topics. Everything from old dinosaur, vehicle, inventions, citilizations, design.

I did a unplanned visit just to beat of some time before my flight. But it turned out way more intresting than I thought. I spent in total 2 hours there but could easily spent 4hours there if I was not in rush to catch a flight. Even if your not intrested in ANY of the topics I think you could easily spend 40-60min there just to see everything.

You walk around kind of like a maze and each section cover different topics. Amazingly the museum has free entry, but you can make a voluntarily donation with card or cash around the ground floor.
Written August 4, 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.

Jason E
193 contributions
Aug 2023 • Family
Fantastic place to visit for all ages. The museum itself is massive and has multiple floors with multiple genres of displays. You could easily spend most of the day here looking at everything. Plenty of interactive displays to keep kids interested. The only issue we had as a family was trying to work out the layout of the building and trying to make sure we didn’t miss out on anything. On the whole well recommended.
Written August 1, 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.

Mallorne
Edmonton, Canada66 contributions
Jul 2023
The discovery hall sadly shows an almost complete absence of Scottish physicists! The exhibit on electrical engineering fails to mention the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell, arguably the third most important physicist of all time after Newton and Einstein, who unified electricity and magnetism into a single set of equations that bear his name and is regarded as the founder of the field electrical engineering which the exhibit is mainly about!

Similarly, Lord Kelvin, a professor at the University of Glasgow, who made major contibutions to the field of thermodynamics is not mentioned when talking about discoveries in this area. There are also some inaccuracies in the displays, for example one showing an undersea data cable from 2014 states that it "transmits thousands of bits of information". Modern cables transmit _trillions_ of bits of information _per second_.

While there are interesting exhibits many of the signs lack any details hugely reducing the educational value so that even when Scottish contributions are mentioned, such as Watt, no details at all are given as to what he did.

I was left with the distinct impression that the science and discovery hall was put together by people who have little to no understanding of the fields of the exhibits. Scotland has a proud history of major contributions to physics and engineering (and I say that as a non-Scot) and this museum does not do it justice at all and misses out so much detail that the educational value of a visit is hugely diminished.
Written July 31, 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.

Sarah A
1 contribution
Jul 2023 • Family
Great day out for all ages. Lots to see and do and coffee shop for snacks. Learn about the history of Scotland and technology through the ages.
Written July 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.

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National Museum of Scotland (Edinburgh) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

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National Museum of Scotland is open:
  • Sun - Sat 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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