The best specialized museums Scotland

It was on board the gigantic three-masted ship named RRS Discovery that Captain Robert Falcon Scott went to discover the South Pole in 1901. The mastodon was built in Dundee and was then the first ship to be equipped with 1,800 horsepower in a triple-explosion engine to split the Antarctic ice. Now you can discover her and her crew's exciting adventure at Discovery Point, on the city's docks, and visit the ship from top to bottom. The museum area reveals all the secrets of this great human adventure.

This is a great place to discover whisky. Several tours are available, in 50 min, 90 min and 90 min + dinner. In addition to the guided tour, there are one or more commented tastings. You will learn to savour and identify the contents of your dram, the traditional whisky unit, in a room housing the world's largest private collection. No less than 3,400 different bottles are pampered there and it is a delight to walk through it to contemplate its old labels.

People have been coming here since 1835 to admire Edinburgh through the lorgnette of a periscope whose panoramas are projected onto a large table-screen. This visit is particularly popular with children, who appreciate the fun aspect. On six floors, a maze of attractions and exhibitions also provides a whole world of optical illusions and curiosities based on sounds, lights, mirrors and tunnels, for fans of the genre. At the top, the Outlook Tower also offers beautiful views of the surrounding area, including the castle, which is just across the street.

This lighthouse museum at Kinnaird Head will capture the hearts of lighthouse lovers and absolute neophytes alike. This is Scotland's first lighthouse (built in 1789) and is adjacent to a 450 year old castle. Its location in an exceptional and atypical place, the special life of the keepers whose history has been told here, the engineering developed to save lives, the largest collection of lenses in the world, the tea room in the lighthouse, all play in its favour...

This is the National Aviation Museum in Scotland. It takes place on the former Royal Air Force base in East Fortune. The location is not insignificant, as it was in service for both World Wars and is one of the best preserved in the whole of the United Kingdom. The story of the conquest of the sky is told in the presence of its main witnesses, aircraft of all types and all periods. Several hangars focus on different aspects of the industry with, among others, the famous Spitfire, Meteor, Tornado and Jaguar for the military side; and the Twin Pioneer, Jetstream 31 or Boeing 707 for the civil side. A whole section is also reserved for the famous Concorde, the unfortunate plane of Europe. The museum also explains the mechanisms of flight, construction techniques, the invention of parachutes, and many others. You will also be able to play the role of a jet-setter by discovering the planes in which the stars flew when commercial flights first saw the light of day. Children (and adults alike!) will appreciate the very concrete aspect of the museum, but also its interactive terminals, which invite them to better understand how planes fly, the skills of the pilots, the art of a successful landing... You can even learn how to build an airplane in your house! It's a good opportunity to visit something that is a little different from the heritage of the region and allows you to set foot in a real cockpit.

It is one of the must-see visits for lovers of religion and ancient books. In addition to the history of the house and its famous inhabitants - James Mosmann, royal jeweller, who made the Scottish crown; John Knox, father of the Scottish religion and key figure in history - it tells the story of the Humanities and first impressions. There is a collection of books by great humanists, a bible from 1521 and John Knox's History of the Reformation within the Realme of Scotland. The place also hosts the Scottish Storytelling Association.

This magnificent fortress-like building was built as a prison in 1823, on the site of an old castle destroyed in 1409. Prisoners lived here until it was closed in 1868. Here you can learn about prison life in the 19th century and the history of the convicts who had to endure it. Some claimed that it was the most comfortable penitentiary in Scotland... In its centre, the small historical museum tells the story of the town's past, its people and its traditions.

Moat Brae is the birthplace of Peter Pan... We'd like to write that all is said and done! Opened in 2019, it is the national centre for children's literature and children's stories: a place where imagination is the queen of virtues, where creativity and play are at the heart of everything. The place celebrates Peter Pan and his creator, J.M. Barrie. You will explore Neverland's garden with its pirate ship and Mermaid Lagoon, see the Tinkerbell fairy who inspired the fairy tale. Animations and exhibitions are regularly organised.

Erected in the image of the former bishop's apartments that were in the same place, this establishment has as its subject the main religions throughout the world. The idea is to show their similarities and differences through the study of certain themes and the support of numerous cult objects, thus inviting more open-mindedness. There is a Zen garden, carved Islamic calligraphy, Christian stained glass windows and Hindu statues.

A collection of toys, dolls, costumes and equipment provides a fun and educational insight into the lives of these children from the Victorian era... And the adults' eyes on them! We also talk about school, daily life, sports clubs, leisure and holidays. More recent objects, vintage, also play on the nostalgic fibre of visitors, children in the 1980s or 1990s.

This beautiful columned building dating from 1832 houses Scotland's largest museum of medical science. We owe his emergence to the architect William Playfair, also father of the National Gallery of Scotland, who was a great collector of utensils related to medicine. Surgical instruments, cabinet of curiosities, pathological specimens, odontological exhibition: the immersion in the history of the treatment and exploration of the human body is impressive.

L'info en + Petit Futé: The museum offers a guided walk on the theme "Blood and guts". It is an invitation to discover the history of medicine in Edinburgh on foot. It takes place every Saturday and Sunday at 2pm, departing from the museum. Your guide will introduce you to the medical history of Edinburgh, with its intrigues, rivalries and key discoveries. Walk in the footsteps of anatomists, surgeons and doctors, go where they worked, operated and conducted their medical research. This tour is an opportunity to soak up little-known accounts by iconic writers and frightening stories including chloroform teas, grave robbery and anecdotes about Britain's first serial killers, the infamous Burke and Hare. Visits are in English and, like the museum, are not recommended for sensitive souls.

The Writers' Museum packed its suitcases full of books in Lady Stair's House, a narrow medieval house in the Royal Mile (1622). It traces the lives of three famous Scottish writers: Robert Burns (1759-1796), Robert L. Stevenson (1850-1894), and Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). Through manuscripts, paintings, portraits, personal effects, engravings and photographs, their paths are retraced. The top floor features a superb Ballantyne press, on which Sir Walter Scott's first edition of Waverley was printed.

Located in the Balhousie Castle, this is the museum of the Black Watch Regiment. Weapons, uniforms, medals, paintings, photographs, notebooks: the very complete collection plunges into the history of this military corps. Founded in 1725, it has been involved in every war and conflict since its creation. The visit breaks down into seven major chronological periods and ends with the current deployments of the Black Watch. History buffs will enjoy both the exhibition and its setting.

This museum reconstructs a Victorian-era printing press. It shows the oldest printing presses in the United Kingdom and allows visitors to visit the office of Robert Smail, the printer, which has hardly been modified since 1866. This museum is a rare opportunity to see a press from this period in operation. A must for book lovers and industrial tourism enthusiasts, especially since the museum was awarded in 2017 as "Best Heritage Tourism Experience".

This museum traces the life of Durnoch and, through this local prism, immerses the visitor in the history of Scotland. It looks back over the episodes of the Clearances, crofting, but also the town's airfield, used in the 1930s and still trodden by light aircraft and microlight aircraft, the anti-invasive measures taken to prevent German landings, the presence of the Canadian Forestry Corps during the Second World War... Among other curiosities, you can see a Viking treasure and a bottle of whisky from 1840.

Here are delivered 200 years of history about the "best regiment in the world", in the words of Sir Winston Churchill. The Gordon Highlanders have fought on all fronts of contemporary history, from the Napoleonic Wars to the present day. Interactive maps, reproductions, films, photographs, uniforms and weapons are on hand to bear witness. You have to get out of the city, but the visit is worth the detour, especially if you are passionate about military history.

The Musselburgh Museum changes its exhibitions every year or every two years, on themes related to the city or the Lothian. Its location and access to natural resources have helped to make the city a city of emulation and dynamism, taking an active part in the history of Scotland. In the past, the museum has dealt with war, the Roman Empire, the fishing industry or education. Be careful, it can sometimes close its doors during installation time. The programming is available online.

As its name suggests, the People's Story Museum tells the story of the people of Edinburgh from the 18th century to the present day. It shows the evolution of work, living conditions, but also morals and ideas. Mannequins, objects and descriptions relate the everyday life of the people and their city. Trade, day-to-day subsistence, war, the homosexual community, the alcohol and printing industry, trade unions, fishing, the navy, mining, transport, domesticity: everything is depicted, right up to the punk movements of the 1990s. The exhibition takes place on 3 levels, in a superb historical building from 1591, which was the headquarters of the independent municipality of Canongate. You can also discover the atmosphere of "The Canongate Toolbooth": a prison with the reputation of being one of the worst that the 18th century had known. Amongst the points covered by this museum, the Little Face was fascinated by the links between the riots of the 1780s and 1790s in Edinburgh and their influence on the French Revolution. Born out of opposition to the Catholic Church and anger over rising food prices, they were suppressed in blood and most likely gave impetus to the movement that took place in France. Moreover, as a witness to this link, a replica of a key to the Bastille is on display here. There is also a focus on the birth of the "unions" in the 1800s and the socialist movements.

This museum, which opened in 2006, is a young museum in Edinburgh, as its neighbours have been living there for a long time. He specializes in money, the banking system and the economy. It may not sound very sexy, but its location in the heart of the former Bank of Scotland headquarters and its didactic aspect make the visit very informative. The history of money, the rise of capitalism and insurance, the role of banking over time and real estate after the Industrial Revolution are the main themes discussed.

As its name suggests, this small museum specializes in aviation. It is located on the former Royal Air Force base: RAF Dumfries. In addition to the control tower which exhibits uniforms and objects related to the air force, several real models of planes and engines from different periods can be seen. It has in its collections some impressive aircraft specimens, but also airmen's uniforms from the two world wars and various objects that will make their effect.