National Museum of Scotland

Broad, elegant Chambers St is dominated by the long facade of the National Museum of Scotland. Its extensive collections are spread between two buildings, one modern, one Victorian.

The golden stone and striking modern architecture of the museum building, opened in 1998, is one of the city’s most distinctive landmarks. The five floors of the museum trace the history of Scotland from geological beginnings to the 1990s, with many imaginative and stimulating exhibits – audio guides are available in several languages. Highlights include the Monymusk Reliquary, a tiny silver casket dating from AD 750, which is said to have been carried into battle with Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn in 1314, and some of the Lewis chessmen, a set of charming 12th-century chess pieces made from walrus ivory. Don’t forget to take the lift to the roof terrace for a fantastic view of the castle.

The Museum of Scotland connects with the Victorian Royal Museum building, dating from 1861, the stolid, grey exterior of which gives way to a bright and airy, glass-roofed hall. The museum houses an eclectic collection covering natural history, archaeology, scientific and industrial technology, and the decorative arts of ancient Egypt, Islam, China, Japan, Korea and the West. (The Royal Museum was undergoing a major rebuild at the time of research; it is due to reopen in mid-2011.)