Our third day in Edinburgh was spend wandering the National Museum of Scotland. This was an incredible place, one of the coolest museums I’ve been to – which is saying a lot. The place was huge too, with a vast and diverse collection; we couldn’t even finish it one day, we had to go back the following day to see the rest. It was an exhausting, but well-spent day.
In Edinburgh, much like in London, the majority of the museums are free to enter, so there’s no excuse not to go and visit at least a few of them! And if you’re only going to see one museum the whole time you’re in Edinburgh (heck, if you’re only going to see one museum your entire life) then I definitely recommend the National Museum of Scotland.
There’s a great animal section, with fossils, skeletons, and displays galore.
There’s a science and technology section, with lots of interactive and fun things, like a robot that can spell your name and a game to test your reflexes. You can launch rocket power or play with hot air balloons.
And all kinds of other cool things – giant crystals, vintage dresses, old relics, history galore.
Like I said the place was huge. In the main portion of the museum, it was three levels, divided into the left section, the middle sections, and the right section. We spent the majority of our first day at the museum going through this part. Then we reached the section of the museum dedicated to Scottish history, from the earliest humans up to modern times. That was seven levels. By the time we got there it was four o’clock. We were exhausted. The museum was closing in an hour, and to our dismay, we realised by the time we got to the second level of this section, this was the stuff we really wanted to be seeing. So we decided to call it quits, and come back the next day to finish it off. That way we could see what we really wanted to be seeing with fresh eyes, rested feet and brains, and not feel rushed by a museum that would be closing in an hour.
Worth it, totally worth it. The National Museum of Scotland is a must-see attraction. Most people don’t wander into the part dedicated specifically to Scottish history, so definitely make sure you see that stuff too, because it is incredible. I’m so glad we went back.
violetsams 