Scottish National Gallery - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

The Mound is an artificial steep hill that connects the Edinburgh New Town and Old Town in the city centre. It was formed by dumping around 1,501,000 cartloads of earth excavated from the foundations of the New Town into Nor Loch which was drained in 1765 and forms today's Princes Street Gardens. Some of Edinburgh's most notable buildings and institutions have their premises on the Mound, including the National Gallery of Scotland, the Royal Scottish Academy, the spires of New College and so mor

The Royal Scottish Academy is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the Royal Scottish Academy on being granted a royal charter in 1838. Based within the Royal Scottish Academy building, the RSA runs a year-round programme of exhibitions, artist opportunities and related educational talks and events which support artists at all stages o

Princes Street is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km from Lothian Road in the west, to Leith Street in the east. The street has few buildings on the south side and looks over Princes Street Gardens allowing panoramic views of the Old Town, Edinburgh Castle, as well as the valley between. Most of the street is limited to trams, buses and taxis wi

The Writers’ Museum, housed in Lady Stair's House at the Lawnmarket, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, presents the lives of three of the foremost Scottish writers: Robert Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Run by the City of Edinburgh Council, the collection includes portraits, works and personal objects. Beside the museum lies the Makars' Court, the country's emerging national literary monument.

The Museum on the Mound focuses on the history of the Bank of Scotland as well as the history of numismatics, which is the study of physical money. The permanent collection includes artefacts tracing the history of the Bank of Scotland since its foundation in 1695, paintings and architectural models of the Head Office building on the Mound, and the history of banking and building societies in Britain. It has more than 50,000 visitors per year.

Gladstone's Land is a surviving 17th-century high-tenement house situated in the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has been restored and furnished by the National Trust for Scotland, and is operated as a popular tourist attraction. it is now a house-museum that explores in detail how the city’s residents lived in the Old Town over 400 years ago. Currently, six of its rooms are open to the public and all include original items from the 1600s, antiques and period decoration.