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Art & Literature

Edinburgh Museums and Galleries

A day trip

  • Start the day with a visit to the Writers' Museum located on Lady Stair's Close just off the Royal Mile. This treasure house of portraits, relics and manuscripts celebrates Scotland's three great writers - Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.
    Visit Time - 1 Hour

  • A short walk up the Lawnmarket, will take you to the Ensign Ewart, part of the Milnes Court building where there has been a pub situated since it was built in 1690.
    Visit Time - 30 Mins

  • Turning left down The Mound and further down the Playfair steps will take you to the National Gallery Of Scotland and the Royal Scottish Academy, which has recently been re-developed to include a subterranean link between the two galleries, and saw the introduction of the Galleries Restaurant, offering stunning views out across East Princes Street Gardens.
    Visit Time - 2 Hours

  • Skirting east along Princes Street past the 200 foot spire of the Scott Monument, built in tribute to the novelist Sir Walter Scott, turn left down Leith Street and marvel at the statue of Sherlock Holmes, whose creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, studied medicine at Edinburgh University. Turn left along York Place to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery where you can view portraits of famous Scots from the 16th century to the present day.
    Visit Time - 1.5 Hours

  • Not far from here on 17 Heriot Row is the birthplace of Robert Louis Stevenson. You will see a plaque on the wall.

  • Westward bound along Queen Street, Queensferry Street and Belford Road, take in some modern art at the Scottish National Gallery Of Modern Art and its sister, the Dean Gallery, which houses a permanent collection of work by the Scottish sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi, born in Leith, of Italian descent.
    Visit Time - 2 Hours

    Alternatively:

  • From the mound, take a walk down Market Street to Edinburgh's City Art Centre which contains six exhibition galleries and is home to the city's own art collection.
    Visit Time - 1 Hour

    Or try:

  • Hanover Fine Arts
  • The Talbot Rice Gallery at The University of Edinburgh on Old College, South Bridge.

    Evening

  • Round off the day by following in the footsteps of Scotland's literary heroes to the famous and infamous pubs of the city on the Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour.

    • Back to City & Area Guide.