Category guide
Museums in Scotland
Museums and galleries with hands-on exhibits, from major city collections to small local ones.
Scotland's national museums are free, which makes this one of the easiest categories to fill a week with, especially on a day when the weather rules out anything outdoors.
The smaller, local museums here tend to be quieter and more specific — a fishing heritage centre or a local history collection — good for a shorter visit or a stop on the way somewhere else.
Read our guide: The best rainy day activities in Scotland
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Glasgow And Clyde Valley
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Large free museum in Glasgow with natural history, art collections, and interactive exhibits for families.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
Riverside Museum
Award-winning transport museum on the River Clyde with historic vehicles, trains and interactive displays.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
Glasgow Science Centre
Interactive science exhibits, IMAX cinema, planetarium, and live shows suitable for kids and adults.
Edinburgh And Lothians
National Museum of Scotland
Interactive galleries covering history, science, technology, and natural world, with family trails.
Angus And Dundee
V&A Dundee
Scotland's design museum located on Dundee's waterfront with family exhibits and workshops.
Angus And Dundee
Broughty Castle Museum
Historic castle with exhibitions about local history and wildlife.
Aberdeen And Aberdeenshire
Satrosphere Science Centre
Hands-on exhibits, science shows, and workshops for families and school groups.
Edinburgh And Lothians
Edinburgh Science Centre
Hands-on science exhibits, planetarium shows, and interactive workshops for all ages.
Edinburgh And Lothians
Dynamic Earth
Interactive science centre exploring the story of planet Earth with immersive exhibits and shows.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
The Riverside Museum
Transport and technology museum with interactive exhibits and hands-on activities for kids.
Edinburgh And Lothians
National Museum of Flight
Historic aircraft exhibits, flight simulators, and hands-on experiences for children.
Scottish Borders
Scottish Seabird Centre
Interactive marine and seabird exhibits, live cameras, and educational activities for families.
Angus And Dundee
Discovery Point and RRS Discovery
Museum telling the story of Antarctic exploration aboard Captain Scott's ship RRS Discovery.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
Glasgow Museums Resource Centre
Large museum storage facility offering behind-the-scenes tours of Glasgow's collections.
Edinburgh And Lothians
Scottish Parliament Building
Modern parliamentary building in Edinburgh offering free tours and educational exhibitions.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
St Mungo's Museum of Religious Life and Art
Museum exploring religion and culture located beside Glasgow Cathedral.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
New Lanark World Heritage Site
Historic mill village and UNESCO site with visitor centre, museum and scenic river walks.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
The Hunterian Museum
Museum within the University of Glasgow featuring natural history, science and archaeology exhibits.
Ayrshire And Arran
Arran Heritage Museum
Small museum showcasing island history with traditional buildings and heritage displays.
Ayrshire And Arran
Museum of the Cumbraes
Local museum showcasing island history, archaeology and maritime heritage.
Skye
Skye Museum of Island Life
Group of restored thatched cottages near Kilmuir showing traditional island life.
Aberdeen And Aberdeenshire
Museum of Scottish Lighthouses
Museum at Kinnaird Head in Fraserburgh telling the story of Scotland's lighthouses, with tower tours.
Aberdeen And Aberdeenshire
Aberdeen Maritime Museum
Free museum on the harbour telling Aberdeen's shipbuilding and oil industry story.
Argyll And The Isles
Auchindrain Township
Open-air museum preserving an original West Highland farming township.
Shetland
Shetland Museum and Archives
Free waterfront museum in Lerwick covering Shetland's history, boats and culture.
Outer Hebrides
Lews Castle and Museum
Free castle grounds and museum overlooking Stornoway harbour.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life
Free open-air industrial museum in Coatbridge with a working tram ride and reconstructed miners' cottages.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
David Livingstone Birthplace
National Trust for Scotland museum in Blantyre telling the story of the explorer's life and travels in Africa.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
Motherwell Heritage Centre
Free local history museum tracing Motherwell's steel and industrial heritage.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
Low Parks Museum
Family-friendly Hamilton museum tracing South Lanarkshire's history, housed in a former almshouse.
Ayrshire And Arran
Robert Burns Birthplace Museum
National Trust for Scotland museum in Alloway telling the story of Scotland's national poet, linked to Burns Cottage by the Poet's Path.
Ayrshire And Arran
Scottish Maritime Museum, Irvine
Harbourside museum of historic Scottish vessels, housed in a Victorian engine shed.
Ayrshire And Arran
Stumpy Tower, Girvan
Girvan's old town prison, now a small museum in the heart of the town.
Ayrshire And Arran
Dick Institute
Free museum, art gallery and library in Kilmarnock, a VisitScotland four-star attraction.
Ayrshire And Arran
Dalgarven Mill
Working watermill near Kilwinning housing a museum of Ayrshire country life and costume.
Dumfries And Galloway
Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura
Free local museum with hands-on exhibits, topped by Scotland's oldest working camera obscura.
Dumfries And Galloway
Robert Burns House
The house in Dumfries where Robert Burns spent his final years, kept much as it was in his lifetime.
Dumfries And Galloway
Devil's Porridge Museum
Museum at Eastriggs telling the story of the vast WWI munitions factory that once stood on the Solway coast.
Scottish Borders
Jim Clark Motorsport Museum
Duns museum celebrating the double Formula 1 champion, with race cars and a driving simulator.
Scottish Borders
Robert Smail's Printing Works
Working Victorian letterpress print shop in Innerleithen, preserved as it was over a century ago.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
The Burrell Collection
World-class free museum in Pollok Park, housing Sir William Burrell's remarkable collection of art and artefacts.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
Coats Observatory
Free Victorian observatory and museum in Paisley, with telescopes, weather instruments and space exhibits.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
The Hunterian Art Gallery
Free art gallery within the University of Glasgow, with works by Whistler and the Mackintosh House recreation.
Edinburgh And Lothians
Museum of Childhood
Free museum on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, packed with historic toys, games and childhood memorabilia.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
People's Palace and Winter Gardens
Free museum on Glasgow Green telling the story of the city, attached to a tropical Winter Gardens glasshouse.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
Gallery of Modern Art
Free contemporary art gallery in the centre of Glasgow, best known for the traffic-coned Duke of Wellington statue outside.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
The Lighthouse
Free design and architecture centre in a Charles Rennie Mackintosh building, with a viewing gallery over Glasgow.
Glasgow And Clyde Valley
Scottish Football Museum
Museum inside Hampden Park telling the story of Scottish football, with the chance to combine it with a stadium tour.
Cairngorms
Highland Folk Museum
Free open-air museum in Newtonmore recreating Highland life across the centuries, with a reconstructed 1700s township.
Dumfries And Galloway
David Coulthard Museum
Small motorsport museum in Kirkcudbright celebrating the career of Formula 1 driver David Coulthard.