Museum of Edinburgh

The Museum of Edinburgh is the City’s treasure box - a maze of historic rooms crammed full of iconic objects from the Capital’s past.

Find out about the history of Edinburgh from the earliest times to the present day. Discover more about the city, its people, crafts and trades and the beautiful objects they created.

 
New look helps relaunch Museum of Edinburgh after £800k refit.
 

 
NEW!! Explore the Museum of Edinburgh by following the clues to collect gold, silver or bronze treasure tokens. Click on the appropriate icon below and download the FREE app.

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A view of the Museum of Edinburgh from the street

About

No day out on the Royal Mile is complete without a visit to the Museum of Edinburgh, where the city’s past is brought vividly to life.

Silver on display at the Museum of Edinburgh

Collections

The Museum is packed with collections illustrating the development of the city, from the earliest times to the present day.

Visitors in the Silver galleries of the Museum of Edinburgh

Visitor Information

Find out our opening hours and all of the information you need to find us.

Young visitors enjoy dressing up and learning in the Family Activity area at the Museum of Edinburgh

Events

Details of current and forthcoming events at the Museum can be found here.

Alternatively, download a copy of our summer 2013 events programme. (PDF, 1.6 MB)

Foundation Edinburgh - The story of a city

Exhibitions

The Museum of Edinburgh holds regular exhibitions, and now has a new, permanent attraction, Foundation – the story of a city, which takes you on a unique journey through Edinburgh’s history. Watch the city grow beneath your feet!

A detail of an inscription on the front of the Museum of Edinburgh building

Shop

The Museum of Edinburgh has a shop on the ground floor offering unique gifts for you to take home.

Speaking House

Did you Know?

that this building was called The Speaking House?

Did you Know?

that this building was called The Speaking House?

In 1825 in the ‘Traditions of Edinburgh’ Robert Chambers calls Huntly House (now the Museum of Edinburgh) the ‘Speaking House’ because of the Latin inscriptions on the building’s exterior. The four original inscriptions read ‘Today for me, tomorrow to thee; why therefore takest thou thought?’; ‘As thou art (master) of thy tongue, so am I master of my ears’; ‘Mortal affairs are a shadow to a steadfast heart’; and  ‘There is another hope for life’. A new inscription, added in 1932 ‘I am old, but renew my youth’ marked the completion of the building’s restoration and its new life as a Museum.