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

Maori craftsmanship and museum conservation bring to life one of our most unusual and intriguing objects.

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

From newborn animals on the farm to Easter activities, music and storytelling, each day will be different.

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

Visitors met the most feared and revered of all dinosaurs in this cutting-edge exhibition, that brought the latest discoveries in palaeontology to life and challenging preconceptions about these ferocious predators.

Objects from the National Museums Scotland collection can be found at museums throughout the UK and internationally.

Delve into our animated adventures and explore the world around us from unique perspectives.

This small display highlighted a selection of the recent acquisitions at National Museums Scotland.

One of the aims of the Scotland Creates project was to encourage young people to use technology to connect, collaborate and get creative. So we asked our volunteers to create short films to promote their museums to other young people.

Why should a 19th century Scottish woman feature on a contemporary African cloth? Discover the story of Mary Slessor: missionary, magistrate and champion of women's rights.

The Luxury of Time displayed a collection of rare and significant historical timepieces telling the story of a golden age of innovation in British watch and clockmaking.

Mode brings the museum's wardrobe to life with a selection of 30 objects from the world of fashion.

This form is to request a schools visit to the National Museum of Flight (East Lothian). All visits must be booked in advance

This collaborative project combines research on one of the founding collections of the National Museums Scotland and fieldwork with contemporary makers in Polynesia to investigate the history, changing nature and present-day significance of barkcloths, many of which date back to the first European exploratory voyages in the Pacific region.

Portable steam engines were in common use in industrialised countries from the early 19th century to the mid-20th century as power sources for machinery on farms and in rural factories.

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.

A weaving loom collected by David Livingstone among the Mang’anja people in Mozambique or Malawi reveals fascinating links between past and present.

See our shearer at work with our Scottish Blackface sheep and enjoy wool-themed family crafts and activities.

Ancient Egyptian temples served as homes for the gods, where they were looked after by priests. Most people were not allowed inside temples and only a few priests could enter the presence of the god’s statue.

Explore the Pacific collection at National Museums Scotland in more detail.

Discover more about the history of collecting Tibetan objects at National Museums Scotland, peaking during 1890-1930 with the Younghusband Expedition.

Pay once, visit all year with the amazing Annual Pass.

Join curator Anna Groundwater for a guided virtual tour of life in Renaissance Scotland at the National Museum of Scotland.

On 28 November 2018, colleagues from our Advisory Board met at the National Museum of World Cultures in Leiden to discuss how the project has progressed since our last meeting.

Meet the 12 metre-long, spectacular life-sized skeleton cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the star attractions at the National Museum of Scotland.

This has been an exceptional year for National Museums Scotland. Across our museums we have welcomed over 2.7 million visitors, 1.84 million of these to the National Museum of Scotland making it the most popular museum outside of London and the most visited attraction in Scotland.

Discover the story of the people who designed, built and operated Scotland's lighthouses through the objects which brought their role to life.

There are over 20,000 wood engraving blocks in the W. & R. Chambers Collection at National Museums Scotland. Over 7,000 of these blocks were created to print the illustrations in Chambers’s Encyclopaedia, which was first published in 1859.

Meet a very special Neolithic dog.

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.

Two detailed funerary papyri tell the stories of the high official Montsuef and his wife Tanuat, whose intact Roman-era family burial was excavated by Alexander Henry Rhind.

Casualty of War: A Portrait of Maharaja Duleep Singh is by renowned British Sikh artists, The Singh Twins.

If the first four-legged animals had never emerged from water onto land, our world today would not exist. Yet how did this great step happen? The mystery is finally being solved – and fossils discovered in Scotland lie at the heart of the story.

In 1907 the builder William Willett wrote a pamphlet called The Waste of Daylight, campaigning for Daylight Saving in the UK. 9 years later, in 1916, this came into effect in UK law and effectively changed how we experience the passing seasons. Read on to find out more about Daylight Saving is and why Willett wanted it implemented...

Discover the life of the National Bard through the collections of National Museums Scotland.

Visitors to the Scotland Transformed gallery at National Museum of Scotland cannot miss the mighty Newcomen engine.

We are always working with other Scottish museums on partnership projects that can raise the profile of long-term preservation and engagement with collections nationally.

Find out more about working with our Publishing, Retail and Hospitality & Events teams within National Museums Scotland Enterprises Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Museums Scotland that supports our work.

Robert I, also known as Robert Bruce, was king of Scots from 1306 to 1329. Follow his journey from coronation to grave through objects associated with this famous warrior.

This touring exhibition explored how life on earth moved from water onto land 360-345 million years ago. The tour has now ended.

Step back in time and experience life in wartime Britain to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

New publication celebrates the life of Scottish fossil collector Stan Wood and his remarkable discoveries.

Uncover the history of this iconic Celtic trumpet, and find out how it has been reconstructed to bring the music of the past to life.

Heddle was a larger than life character, a renowned academic and one of Scotland's most famous mineralogists.

Investigate different aspects of life on Earth, through fascinating fossils, tools for turning the soil and pieces of art reflecting the devastating effects of pollution on our planet.