Following the recent Scottish Government guidelines, the National Museum of Scotland is closed from 4.30pm on 24 December. All ticket holders will be contacted.

Book online in advance

Free timed entry has been introduced to ensure that we can manage numbers and maintain physical distancing. Please book a timed entry ticket online in advance of your visit. This includes National Museums Scotland Members.

Please only book tickets for yourself and your household, to help us comply with NHS Scotland's Test and Protect.

New opening hours

The National Museum of Scotland will have new opening hours of 10:30–16:30 each day. This is to allow our large staff team to enter the museum and implement their health and safety checks of the building safely.

Visiting safely

A range of new safety measures have been put in place in line with Scottish Government guidelines. This includes pre-booked timed entry, face coverings, enhanced cleaning, sneeze screens, hand sanitising stations and one-way routes in certain areas of the museum where physical distancing is not possible.

We want you to have a safe and enjoyable visit. During your visit, we ask you to:

• Please keep your distance from others (2m).
• Use the hand sanitiser provided.
• Wash your hands often.
• Follow the directional signage.
• Please note card payments only.
• Face coverings must be worn by visitors over 5 in our indoor spaces and our shops.

Please do not visit the museum if you or anyone in your household has any symptoms of Coronavirus.

We also need to collect your name, contact number and the date and time of your visit to support the NHS Scotland’s Test & Protect service and we may share this information with the service up to 21 days following your visit. For more information please see our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice.

Face coverings

In line with Scottish Government guidelines, all visitors over the age of 5 must wear a face covering in our indoor spaces and shops.

What’s open?

Please note: not all areas of the museum are currently open. Please visit our website for information on which areas will be open during your visit.

We have also developed a new visitor map to show which parts of the site will be open, along with a number of visitor trails to help you make the most of your visit.

Spaces with a high number of interactive displays and high-touch areas are temporarily closed for your safety.

Food and drink

Some of our cafés are open, serving drinks, sandwiches and light snacks. We are accepting card payments only.

Please note: our lunch space is temporarily closed.

Shops

The museum shop is be open, accepting card payments only.

National Museums Scotland Members receive a 10% discount on all shop purchases.

Planning your visit and FAQs

For more information about how visiting will be different, please refer to the plan your visit and FAQ pages on our website.

National Museums Scotland Membership

Help to protect Scotland’s remarkable objects and the stories they hold.

Join as a Member from just £43 and enjoy fantastic savings, with free access to all our museums and exhibitions, special Member experiences and much more.

Members also have access to an exclusive allocation of tickets every day, for each of our museums, using their Membership number.

Join today.

If you are a member, click here to book your tickets

We're Good to Go

We have acquired Visit Britain’s “Good to Go” accreditation. This Industry Standard mark means that National Museums Scotland has followed government and industry Covid-19 guidelines, has a Risk Assessment in place and a process to maintain cleanliness and aid physical distancing.