This is a fascinating museum in an even more fascinating building. Originally, multiple houses, the buildings were connected in the 16th century. From counting the rooms on the museum map, the public rooms appear to encompass about 50 of the original rooms. We talked with one of the staff and learned about how the building had been connected and then extended over the years, and later rented out to many individuals. At one point in the 19th century over 300 people lived in the building. The museum collection tells the story of the growth of Edinburgh including the designing of the New City. Great experience!

We spent a lovely hour wandering around this beautiful old building and museum. The staff gave us such a warm welcome and explained the exhibits and the layout to us very well. We particularly enjoyed the sections on the old and new town of Edinburgh with lots of detailed information cards explaining the city planning. If you’re in the area, would highly recommend stopping by for a look around. Thanks so much!

The exterior of the museum is unassuming. There are MANY different rooms, each with a specific topic. The organization allows you to linger in rooms of interest and quickly scan rooms of lesser interest. It is likely that you will find enough content interesting to justify your visit.

We spent a fabulous couple of hours at this wonderful Museum - so many treasures to see and the building itself is a wonder. The museum staff member Ianoa had terrific knowledge of everything about the museum, the items on display and the building itself. Thank you so much for a really memorable experience.

I found this museum while touring Outlander places on the Royal Mile. When I came in, I had to ask if they were open because the staff were chatting with each other and no one greeted me. It has fascinating rooms with great history, nothing overwhelming. B +. Great place to spend 30 minutes to an hour of your day.

My daughter and I had a brilliant time here and could have spent much more time here than we had! Lots of interesting things to see, with clear explanations, and a lovely craft / interactive area for children. Definitely worth a visit, we would go back to see some of things we didn’t have time to see. Staff were really friendly and helpful.

The museum was right across the street from the bus stop. It's bright yellow color is hard to miss. If you are mobility challenged, know there is a flight of circular stone stairs that must be navigated both entering and exiting the museum. Most of the floors are fairly level with only a couple of steps. There is seating in most areas. There are a lot of stairs to the courtyard and we could not find a way of exiting without re-climbing them. There is quite a variety of objects in the museum and a lot of it seemed disjointed to me. Note that right across the street is The People's Story which is also small, free, and has a lift.

Planned to visit as part of the Hop on & off sightseeing bus tours. Interesting historical account of Edinburgh from the old town to decline & development of 'new' Town. Would recommend especially if it is a first visit to the City. Room guides friendly. Museum is free but donations accepted.

We loved this almost as much as the much hyped castle . The building itself was interesting with all the original features . Displays , although rather haphazardly organised were fascinating , and far better than what we had expected . All free ! So happy to spend in the reasonably priced gift shop after our visit .

A free museum in central Edinburgh. We didn’t expect it to be as good as it turned out to be! Very interesting and laid out in a slightly haphazard fashion but we learned a lot about the history of this beautiful city. Takes around an hour to cover pretty much all the exhibits. There’s a special room for children too with lots of activities for them, always a bonus! Centrally located on the Royal Mile.