Gladstone's Land - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

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.

Victoria Street was built between 1829-34 as part of a series of improvements to the Old Town, with the aim of improving access around the city. Built between 1829 and 1834, this street is the brainchild of architect Thomas Hamilton, the one who masterminded Edinburgh’s network of neo-classical wonders. It was now gently curved and adorned with colourful shopfronts, is indeed a much loved spot for tourist photos, postcards and TV adverts.

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.

Camera Obscura & World of Illusions is a tourist attraction located in Outlook Tower on the Castlehill section of the Royal Mile close to Edinburgh Castle. The original attraction was founded by entrepreneur Maria Theresa Short in 1835 and was exhibited on Calton Hill. Outlook Tower has been a museum since the late 1890s and is currently home to many interactive exhibits, including the original Camera Obscura.

The National Library of Scotland is Scotland's largest library, with over 30 million physical items in our world-class collections. Since 1925, our responsibility has been to record, preserve, and share the memories of Scotland's people and their significant, lasting contributions to the world. To do this, we collect and care for Scotland's knowledge, history, and culture — everything from rare historical documents to leaflets and shopping catalogues.