108 Museums to Explore in Scotland

The Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum is a biographical museum in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, dedicated to the life of Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, "one of the great Scots of the 19th century.". The museum is operated by the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust and is housed in a category B listed building. The museum site includes the original 18th-century weavers cottage in which Andrew Carnegie was born and a memorial hall added by James Shearer in 1928.

This family friendly Annan museum houses a permanent exhibition on the history of Annan and the surrounding area.A beautiful museum housing a permanent exhibition on the history of Annan and the surrounding area. A fascinating journey through time takes visitors from the prehistoric period up to the era of nuclear fission.

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum traces over 200 years of one of Scotland’s elite military regiments - The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. The Museum traces the history of the 91st Argyllshire Highlanders and the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders up to the time of their amalgamation in 1881 when they became the 1st and 2nd Battalions of The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regiment and thereafter to the present day.

The Isle of Arran Heritage Museum, founded in 1976 on the beautiful Island of Arran, Scotland. This museum of local history includes a restored blacksmith's shop, a milk house, a late 19th-century cottage, plus an exhibition area of displays of local history and archaeology. There is a footpath to Brodick Castle from the museum.

Bathgate's well established Bennie Museum is currently running a fascinating 'Museum of Childhood' exhibition, which depicts and shows aspects of life from the perspective of Bathgate's children from years gone by. This includes vintage toys, books and games. It wasopened in 1989 as a museum of Bathgate’s history and life.

One of the first gasworks in Scotland and one of the last to close. Biggar Gasworks operated from 1839-1973 and has been preserved exactly as it was when it closed its doors for the last time. Come on a Steam Day and see the historic equipment at work.

Blairs Museum is home of the Scottish Catholic Heritage Collection. Located in Aberdeen, Blairs Museum provides an insight into Scotland’s Catholic heritage, with collections spanning over 500 years. See paintings, church textiles, Jacobite memorabilia, and the stunning Mary Queen of Scots Memorial Portrait. It was one of the iconic attractions in this area.

Brechin Town House Museum is located within a historic municipal building, constructed around 1789-90, in the centre of the Cathedral City of Brechin.It gives visitors the chance to explore the history of the city and its people, with a rich collection of objects, photographs, archival material and ephemera.

The Bressay Heritage Centre, situated at the Bressay ferry terminal, is a local exhibition space, which shows Bressay life and history, as well as information about the mysterious Bronze Age mound that has been relocated alongside. Current displays include information and photographs documenting Bressay’s role in WW1, photographs of Bressay’s flora and a lovely ‘ben end’, a 1960’s living room – Bressay style.

Broughty Castle Museum houses fascinating displays on the life and times of Broughty Ferry, its people, the environment and the wildlife that live close by. It was completed around 1495, although the site was earlier fortified in 1454 when George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus received permission to build on the site. His son Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus was coerced into ceding the castle to the crown. The main tower house forming the centre of the castle with four floors was built by Andrew

A wonderful small museum in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. It has a lot of interesting exhibits, covering local wildlife, architecture and social history, documents etc. Bute Museum's collections are mainly concerned with recording and preserving the Island's past and showing examples of the wildlife which might be seen there today.

Castle House Museum is amajestic historic building set in gardens opposite Dunoon Pier. The Castle House itself was built by Lord Provost James Ewing of Glasgow in 1822. Exhibits, models and photographs tell the story of Dunoon from the Neolithic to the present day. Find out about the Clyde steamers, yacht building, Cowal during the war and more. It was now one of the iconic attractions in this area and attracts a lot of tourists.

A majestic museum which was opened in 1980 in Clydebank Town Hall. It has a vast collection of Local, social and industrial history collections including shipbuilding and engineering. It was originally operated by volunteers drawn from the local communities that had lobbied for its creation

Corrigall Farm Museum is a traditional ‘but and ben’ laid out as a typical Orkney farmhouse and steading in Victorian/late 19th century period, although it was still lived in like this until the last inhabitants left in the mid-20th century. It's a fascinating place to visit, and it provides a particularly interesting counterpoint to the Kirbuster Museum, which is around five miles north west as the crow flies, though slightly further by car.

Shetland Museum and Archives is a five star VisitScotland rated Visitor Attraction, which welcomes an average of 86,000 visitors per year.The restored buildings that form this museum include not only the immediate steading with its house, byre and barn but also a typical corn mill, and the whole complex allows a fascinating insight into rural life in Shetland a hundred years ago. The furniture and fittings are mostly original to the house.

The D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum is a museum of zoology at the University of Dundee in Scotland. It houses many fascinating specimens from around the world. The museum has a collection of birds, fish, insects, mammals, and reptiles from around the world, together with many of D'Arcy Thompson's original models and teaching aids, including Glass Sea Creatures by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka and model and fluid preparations by Vaclav Fric.

A majestic 4 star attraction, which houses the largest museum and gallery spaces in Ayrshire and East Ayrshire’s central library. It has been described by the Glasgow Herald as ‘Scotland’s finest municipal gallery’ through hosting an ambitious range of temporary exhibitions and is regularly the only Scottish venue for significant shows.

Conquer the unique and historically significant industrial steam and diesel locomotives are restored and can be seen working in an authentic setting. The centre owns a number of standard gauge steam locomotives and diesel locomotives as well as some narrow gauge items and an extensive collection of photographs.

The Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum is a volunteer-operated aviation museum located in and around the World War II-era watch tower at the former RAF Dumfries, located two miles north east of the centre of Dumfries, Scotland, which was in service from June 1940 until 1957, when it closed. The Museum's main exhibits are not roped off, which allows visitors the freedom of gettting close to the aircrafts which includes - the F-100 Super Sabre, Lockheed T33, De Haviland Vampire T11, The Britis