Edinburgh

Museum of Childhood

Concepts and imagery of childhood are ever-changing. See if you can find your (or your grandparents') old toys in the collection, and your place in history.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Free · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible

Gladstone's Land

Thomas Gladstone was a wealthy merchant, and in 1617 he had this house refashioned to accommodate his family and to partly rent out. A "Land" means a tall narrow townhouse from the period when Old Town was cramped and the only space for development was upwards. Typically along the Royal Mile the ground floor was shops and trade, genteel folk lived on the first and second floors, and lower-income residents had to lump up many steps to the upper floors. It's now a museum run by the National Trust for Scotland exhibiting 17th century elite city life, richly furnished and decorated but with no running water. In the 18th century prosperous folk relocated to New Town, where the NTS property at 7 Charlotte Square continues the story.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Adult £10, conc £8.50, child £6, NTS / NT free

Trinity House

Stately neo-classical building of 1818 which is now a maritime museum, but only open for special events. It's built over its predecessor of 1560, which in turn was built over a medieval monastic site. The organisation dates back to 1380, when Leith mariners gained the right to levy duty on goods landed at the port; the funds supported sick or aged mariners or their families. They went on to fund lighthouses and to develop training for mariners, which became Leith Nautical College. They invested in real estate and the neighbourhood of Trinity was originally theirs. Other medieval ports copied these arrangements, such as Trinity House in London Deptford from 1514 which became the governing body for English lighthouses, but the Leith version was senior and distinct. A separate body for Scottish lighthouses was established in 1786, now called the Northern Lighthouse Board.

Built 1818

Modern Two

Opposite side of Belford Rd has a slightly smaller collection, but enough to infuriate about one-in-five reviewers, who rage that their kids' drawings stuck on the fridge door are better. A neon sign in the garden reassures all and sundry that "There will be no miracles".

Mo-Su 10:00-17:00

Central Library

See Edinburgh for how to access. The internet stations are in the Learning Centre, and the building houses Central Lending Library, Central Reference Library, Central Children's Library, Edinburgh and Scottish Collections, Art & Design Library and Music Library. It has a wealth of material for research such as old newspapers and maps, but births, marriages and deaths are filed at East Register House by the bus station in New Town.

Mon-Wed 8AM-10PM, Thu-Sat 10AM-5PM · Wi-Fi

The Edinburgh Dungeon

"Haunted House" experience, where you take a 70 min tour through 11 shows and 2 rides loosely based on Scotland's horrible history: William Wallace, Mary King's Ghost, cannibal Sawney Bean, Burke and Hare and more.

Mon-Thu 11AM-4PM, Fri-S 11AM-5PM · Adult £19, child £15 · Limited wheelchair access

Hendersons

Renowned vegetarian restaurant, run by the family of the original Hendersons in Hanover St which was open from 1962-2020. Michelin gives it an entry in their guide.

Daily noon-10PM · Fully vegetarian

Surgeons' Hall Museums

The permanent exhibitions are the Pathology Museum, the History of Surgery and the Dental Museum. Not suitable for children under 10 as the exhibits include human remains.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Adult £9.50, conc £6 · Wheelchair accessible

Mary King's Close

Mary King (1590-1644) was a clothes merchant and city burgess. She died the year before plague struck and carried off the rest of her family. In 1753 Royal Exchange, now City Chambers, was built over several closes by demolishing their upper storeys, while the lower storeys were used for storage then later blocked off. This means a warren of medieval alleys and low dwellings has been preserved, re-opened in 2003 and visited by guided tour. Almost as weighty as the Exchange is the mass of ghost stories piled on top of the close, woo-ooh! - but the real history is fascinating enough. Book ahead as it often sells out.

Mon-Fri 9AM-5:30PM, Sat Sun 9AM-7:30PM · Adult £21, child £15

King George V Park

Park with a couple of children's play areas and many quiet benches to sit on. A path through an old railway tunnel links the park with Cannonmills Tesco, making this an ideal lunch spot.

National Galleries of Scotland: Modern One

The original modern art gallery, established in 1960, was in the Botanic Gardens. In 1895 it moved into this neoclassical building, originally a refuge for fatherless children, and in 1999 it expanded across the road into the neoclassical orphanage now known as Modern Two. The gardens of Modern One have been sculpted. Both buildings have extensive contemporary collections and most visitors find that seeing one of them is plenty for an afternoon.

Daily 10AM-5PM · Free · Free entry · Wheelchair accessible

Sherlock Holmes

His creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was born nearby at 11 Picardy Place, to a genteel but impoverished Irish Catholic family. His first Sherlock story was published in 1886. The statue was in storage while the plaza was remodelled around the tramlines but restored in June 2023.

Gilbert the Phone Box

An old red phone box has been kitted out with Edwardian memorabilia, and nicknamed for Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960) designer of the box. You can look in the windows anytime, or collect the key for £3 (for Save the Children) from Stewart Christie and Co who run a long established gentleman's outfitter in the shop next to it.

Key available Tue-Sat 10AM-4PM · Donation £3

Edinburgh Zoo

The pandas have returned to China but there's still plenty here. Penguins include gentoo, rockhopper and king, most famously Major General Sir Nils Olav III, Baron of the Bouvet Islands and mascot of the Norwegian King's Guard. Budongo Trail leads through the troupe of 15 chimpanzees. The only koalas in the UK are here, and there are some beautiful tropical birds. The zoo is on the slopes of Corstorphine Hill and some paths are steep but all attractions are wheelchair accessible. Check the website for cheaper online offers, and temporary closures eg in harsh weather or avian flu outbreaks.

Daily Apr-Sep 9AM-6PM, Oct & Mar 9AM-5PM, Nov-Feb 9AM-4PM · Adult £26.70, child £16.80, conc £24.25, parking £3

Harburn Hobbies

Family-run business established in the 1930s. Specialises in model railways, including some items exclusive to this shop. Also die-cast model vehicles, Scalextric slot car racing systems and plastic and wooden model construction kits.

Mon-Sat 10AM-5PM

James Clerk Maxwell's Birthplace

Isaac Newton realised that what caused the apple to fall was the very same force moving the moon, planets and stars. James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) was born in this house, before the family moved to Kirkcudbright. He was intensely curious about how nature worked and made a "great unification" of equal importance to Newton's: that magnetism, electricity, light and heat are all manifestations of the same electromagnetic spectrum. And this spectrum must contain other frequencies beyond human sensing: hence X-rays and radio waves, and the entire science of telecommunications. He made possible Einstein's 20th century unification of gravity, mass and energy, and contributed to many other fields of enquiry. The Foundation has preserved this townhouse with his memorabilia. His statue stands at the east end of George St and a laboratory block is named for him on the Edinburgh University science campus.

By appointment Mon-Fri · Donation

Lauriston Castle

This 1590s tower house was extended in the 1820s and housed a series of prosperous families. It passed into council ownership in 1926 and the interior has been preserved in its last occupants' plush Edwardian style. Visit by pre-booked guided tour. There is free entry to the gardens (daily 8AM-4:30PM), where the centrepiece is the Japanese garden. The castle is also used as an event space.

Sat Sun 11AM-3PM · Tour adult £8, conc £6

Royal Yacht Britannia

This ship was commissioned in 1954 and was the royal transport and residence on overseas tours until 1997. She has a length of 412 ft / 126 m and oil-fired twin turbines; she was also designed to act as a hospital ship in wartime but was never so used. Symbolically her last duty was to bring home the Governor of Hong Kong after the crown colony was handed over to China, and the last scrap of British Empire was ceded to the rising superpower. She was not replaced, in spite of a rearguard action by the flag-waving political right wing. Princess Diana took her honeymoon cruise aboard with Charles and must have experienced utter heart-sink: the average double-glazing millionaire has a better yacht than this. The royal apartments exhibit all the flair and comfort of the parlour of the deputy headmistress of a genteel boarding school. (See the Fingal Hotel, owned by the Britannia Trust and moored nearby, for what design pizzazz and a big budget can achieve.) Almost 270 crew were needed to sail this vessel, which is more military-meets-cruise-ship than a luxury yacht.

Apr-Oct 9:30AM-6PM, Nov-Mar 10AM-5PM. Last admission 2 hrs before closing · Adults £25, students and children 7–21 £17.50. UK taxpayers can Gift Aid their admission

Imaginate Festival

Every May/June, an international festival of children's theatre.

Camera Obscura and World of Illusions

549 Castlehill

Funstation Edinburgh

130 Dundee Street

Scrapheap Golf

12 Blair Street

Fore Play Crazy Golf Edinburgh

14 Picardy Place

Gravity Active Edinburgh

Unit 6, 130 Dundee Street

Volcano Falls

Unit 3, Fountain Park, 130 Dundee St

Gorgie City Farm

Gorgie City Farm, 51 Gorgie Road

Onekind

10 Queensferry Street

The Children's Museum

42 High Street