Plan the perfect trip to the National Museum of Rural Life

With over 3.1 million visits across all our museums, and nearly 2.2 million visitors to the National Museum of Scotland, we have enhanced our position as one of the most popular museum groups in the world.

Discover the process of designing Samoan siapo textiles and paint your own siapo design to take home. No previous training required, all material provided.

On 31 October 2014, Dr Chris Lee presented Margaret’s Wardrobe at the National Museum of Scotland, as part of Luminate: Scotland’s Festival of Creative Ageing. This illustrated talk showed how personal collections can help preserve self-identity, and how our museum collections continue to stimulate memories and discussion.

Make the most of your visit with our museum highlights. Your rural adventure starts here!

Here we examine a decorated wooden box in the collections of the Highlanders Museum that was purchased as a souvenir from Afghanistan in 1880.

Explore how missionaries made a significant impact on gathering the materials featured within the Tibetan collections at the National Museum of Scotland, with their materials peaking between 1890-1904.

East Fortune Airfield is the UK's best-preserved Second World War airfield. Discover its history from its beginnings in the First World War to its transformation to a national museum.

Here's what critics have been saying about Celts.

Find out what to see and do as you plan your visit to the National Museum of Scotland.

Travel around the old and new Wonders of the World, recreated in half a million LEGO® bricks by brick artist Warren Elsmore and his team.

Discover a wonderful collection of design which was amassed during second half of the 20th century by collectors with an inspiring passion for Modernism.

Explore a range of activities suitable for pupils working at Third and Fourth Levels and Senior Phase including the First World War, Parasites and Fashion.

Explore a range of activities suitable for pupils working at Early, First and Second Levels including: - Mandarin - Writing a story - Maths and numeracy

A variety of objects relating to the life of Scotland's bard can be found in National Museums Scotland's collections.

Wherever you are, there are lots of ways to explore and learn about our amazing collections online.

Discover the facts about a large ocean sunfish that stranded off Scotland’s coast in 2020 and hear what we can learn from studying this strange fish.

What is it like to hold your own brain? John Scott, a Lothian Birth Cohort participant, was lucky enough to find out

This unique water basin, shaped like a citadel, was made by Moroccan potters, probably as a diplomatic gift, in the 19th century.

These medieval chess pieces from the Scottish island of Lewis are among our most popular collections. They give us fascinating insights into the international connections of western Scotland and the growing popularity of chess in medieval Europe.

It's over 40 years since Scotland's Concorde took to the skies in the first BA Concorde fleet commercial passenger flight. Don't miss the chance to get up close to G-BOAA.

Our beautiful Clydesdale horses are one of the star attractions at the National Museum of Rural Life

Learn how to say colours in Mandarin, explore the museum collections virtually and create your own Chinese object card.

During the lockdown due to COVID-19, school children were asked how we could build towards a more Circular Economy, inspired by the Making Circles project.

Discover the story of Scotland at war within the walls of Edinburgh Castle.

Textile designer and artist Bernat Klein put Scottish fashion on the map during the 1960s. Discover his colourful mohairs and tweeds, inspired by the landscape around his Scottish Borders studio.

Your journey of discovery starts here...

Explore our online learning resources covering topics within Social Studies, Languages and STEM.

The wealth of objects in the national collection represent everything from Scottish and international archaeology to applied arts and design, from world cultures and social history to science, technology and the natural world.

What inspires you in our museums? Get creative and join our month-long online art challenge at National Museums Scotland!

These beautiful hangings were worked around 1900 by May Morris, the daughter of the designer, William Morris, the father of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Discover what this historic tool can tell us about the story of machinery and industry in Scotland.

Discover the classic Ruston steam excavator, and find out how our conservation team restored it to its former glory.

This splendid sword was a gift to celebrate a historic military victory over the ‘Tiger of Mysore’.

Explore a range of incredible insect activities.

Make a beetle or butterfly out of recycled materials. You can be even more environmentally (and insect) friendly by not using glue, so your bug can be taken apart and reused or recycled again.You could even turn your litter bug into a bug hotel!

Thursday 25 June 2020 marks the 65th anniversary of the first flight of the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer. We mark this occasion with a look back at how commercial aviation has changed.

The Wester Kittochside Farm at National Museum of Rural Life was owned and run by the Reid family for more than 400 years. Find out how the tenth laird and his family celebrated Christmas and New Year on the farm.

From intricate firelighting tools to rocket-powered aircraft and a fire alarm with a difference, our collections feature intriguing links to the element fire.

Discover the history of a 17th-century stone carving which reflects changing tastes in interior design through the years.

This iconic Red Arrows Hawk T.1A was flown by the Royal Air Force (RAF) Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows.

During and directly after the Second World War, the Reid family at Wester Kittochside, East Kilbride employed both Italian and German prisoners of war.

Discover how air has been used in modes of transport from airships to hot air balloons and how different species make use of air to travel through flight and gliding.

Discover how these amazing glass models have been educating and inspiring visitors for almost 150 years.

See the Soyuz spacecraft used for European Space Agency Astronaut Tim Peake’s Principia Mission to the International Space Station and accompanying virtual reality adventure.

The Scottish Life Archive is open to everyone. It aims to collect, record and preserve documentary and illustrative evidence of Scotland's material culture and social history.

Resources and ideas to support wellbeing

The design of this elegant modernist dining suite was once admired by the Queen Mother. Now extremely rare, it makes a significant new addition to the national collection.

Named for the fine blue line that runs along the edges of the light grey faience, and received the inaugural Danish Industrial Design Prize (ID) in 1965.

This lantern was said to have been carried by Lady Grisell Baillie, Scottish songwriter, on her nightly visits to her Covenanter father during his concealment in 1684.