Visit the fascinating new National Museum of Scotland and discover the world!

A world of discovery awaits you in Edinburgh’s historic Old Town this summer. Following a three year, £46.4 million redevelopment, the doors of the National Museum of Scotland’s magnificent Victorian building were thrown open on the morning of 29 July, unveiling 16 awe-inspiring new galleries and 8,000 objects newly on display.

The new galleries display an internationally significant collection of dramatic treasures from dinosaurs to designer chairs, and mummies to motor cars.

Entering from the new street level Entrance Hall, ascend by stairs or glass lift to the glorious Grand Gallery. This soaring, light-filled atrium is a wonderful example of Victorian architecture and it’s here that you’ll find the spectacular Window on the World featuring over 800 objects rising over four floors, giving a tantalising taster of the museum’s collections. The Grand Gallery will feature eight large objects at floor level and a fascinating display of sculpture on the top floor.

Greeting visitors to the Natural World galleries is a full-scale skeleton of a mighty Tyrannosaurus-rex. Housed in six new galleries, the range and scope of the Natural World collections are showcased in displays of wildlife, astronomy, geology and fossils, including the spectacular Wildlife Panorama, which features a hippo, a giant albatross and a great white shark.

The new Discoveries gallery explores the stories behind some of the museum’s most treasured objects, linked to Scots' achievements in leadership, inventiveness and military prowess across the world and throughout the centuries. Famous names include John Logie Baird, John Muir and Sir Alexander Fleming.

The fascinating World Cultures galleries explore how people across the globe live their lives and express themselves through music, art and performance. An 11 m totem pole, a Tibetan prayer wheel house and a Maori canoe sit alongside items linked to the Hudson’s Bay company, Captain Cook and Robert Louis Stevenson, as well as a host of contemporary commissions.

Younger visitors will love the Imagine gallery where they’ll encounter a whole world of hands-on exhibits inspired by objects from the World Cultures galleries. Don’t miss Adventure Planet - a new family-focused interactive gallery which allows youngsters to become natural explorers and engage with fascinating specimens from the Natural World collections.

As well as the addition of these fascinating new galleries, the re-development project includes the opening of refreshed galleries containing a further wealth of exhibits. The Egyptian gallery  re-opened with its fascinating collection of mummies and other artefacts providing a unique insight into life and death in ancient Egypt. Also re-opened is the Looking East gallery of East Asian art, which explores the art of China, Japan and Korea, Art and Industry, including fascinating displays of science and technology and European Style, looking at art and collecting in Scotland and Europe.

In addition to these new and refreshed galleries, the newer building continues to tell the story of Scotland, from prehistoric times right up to the present day. Exhibits range include a set of jewellery which belonged to Mary Queen of Scots, the iconic 12th Century Lewis Chessmen, the Cramond Lioness from Roman times and more modern objects including Jackie Stewart’s world championship winning Formula 1 racing car.

In total, the National Museum of Scotland will show 20,000 objects across 36 galleries, telling the story of Scotland and the world, with surprises around every corner!