Explorer Édimbourg

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery on Queen Street holds Scotland's national collection of portraits, all of Scots though not necessarily by them, and the Scottish National Photography Collection. Its red sandstone Gothic Revival building was designed by Robert Rowand Anderson and built between 1885 and 1890.

The Scottish National Gallery is Scotland's national gallery of fine art, on The Mound between the two halves of Princes Street Gardens. Its neoclassical building by William Henry Playfair opened in 1859 and shows Scottish and European painting and sculpture from the Renaissance to the start of the 20th century.

Camera Obscura and World of Illusions occupies the Outlook Tower on Castlehill, at the top of the Royal Mile near Edinburgh Castle. Maria Theresa Short opened her observatory here in 1853, with a camera obscura in the top room that still projects a live image of the city; below it are floors of optical illusions, a mirror maze and a vortex tunnel.

The National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street covers Scottish history, natural history, science and world cultures. It joins the Victorian Royal Museum of 1866, with its cast-iron Grand Gallery, to the sandstone Museum of Scotland building of 1998. Exhibits include the Lewis chessmen and Dolly the sheep, and a roof terrace looks over the Old Town.

Dynamic Earth is a science centre at the foot of Salisbury Crags in Holyrood, next to the Scottish Parliament. It opened in 1999 in a tent-like building by Michael Hopkins and Partners, with a fabric roof stretched between steel masts. Interactive galleries trace the history of the planet, with an iceberg, a simulated earthquake and a 360° planetarium.

The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art shows art from about 1900 to the present in two buildings facing each other on Belford Road, Modern One and Modern Two. The collection ranges from Matisse, Picasso and the Scottish Colourists to Dada and Surrealism, and the grounds hold outdoor sculpture and Charles Jencks's Landform.

The Royal Yacht Britannia served the British royal family from 1954 to 1997, travelling to more than 600 ports in 135 countries. Since 1998 she has been moored at Ocean Terminal in Leith as a visitor attraction. An audio-guided route leads across five decks, from the state apartments and royal bedrooms to the crew's quarters.