Highland Games and Piping Championships
Highlights of Scotland’s summer programme of traditional events.
New beginnings
Scotland's national museum is set to re-open its doors in summer 2011 following a three year revamp.
The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh has been undergoing its biggest refurbishment since it was built in 1886.
The £46 million transformation will see the venue become one of the UK's largest museums with 20,000 objects spread across 36 galleries.
When the museum re-opens on July 29, visitors will be able to explore 16 new galleries containing 8,000 objects from a giant T. rex skeleton to Alexander Fleming's Nobel Prize Gold medal for penicillin, and specimens collected by Charles Darwin to 3,000 year old mummies.
Take a virtual tour of the new Museum of Scotland
Sir Angus Grossart, Chairman of National Museums Scotland, said the museum will be a must-see destination.
He said:
"We are confident that this great transformation will underline that the museum will be a key destination, which will inspire, as well as inform, visitors and generations to come."
The museum, which is free to enter, also allows visitors to find out about the story of Scotland's place in the world and the impact of Scots.
The National Museum of Scotland isn't the only museum to re-open this year following major refurbishment.
Scotttish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, also in Edinburgh, will re-open in November 2011 following renovation.
The museum, the world's first purpose-built national portrait gallery, will have double the amount of gallery space and a range of special exhibitions.
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Riverside Museum, Glasgow
Glasgow's new iconic transport museum is due to open on June 21 with over 3,000 objects and interactive displays.
The new purpose-built structure on the banks of the River Clyde has been designed by the internationally acclaimed architect, Zaha Hadid.
Star exhibits will include a 74 feet long Glasgow-built steam engine; a 1950 Daimler car once owned by King George VI; a historic bicycle collection including the oldest bike in the world - and a car wall display.
The Palace Project, Stirling Castle, Stirling
From June 2011, visitors will be able to step back into the sumptous world of Stirling Castle's royal palace and see how it looked in the 16th century.
They will be able to see what life was like for Mary of Guise, the widow of James V, and their infant daughter Mary Queen of Scots - just two of the famous and fascinating people who lived at the palace.
Years of research have been carried out by archaeologists, historians and other scholars to ensure that every detail – from the magnificent four-poster beds to the heraldic decorations on the walls and ceilings – will be as authentic as possible.
A special weekend of celebrations will take place on the weekend on June 4 and 5, with normal opening from June 6.
Hunterian Museum, Glasgow
The Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, Scotland's oldest public museum, will re-open in September 2011 following renovation.
Visitors can witness the works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Rembrandt and Whistler at the museum.
There will also be a new Roman Frontier Galler, which illustrates the story of how the people of Scotland interacted with the occupying Roman army, with a series of displays of the internationally acclaimed collection of artefacts from 2000 years ago.
Mareel, Shetland
Mareel will be the UK's most northerly music, cinema and cultural centre when it opens in late 2011.
Mareel will provide a year round programme of film, live music and other performance events.
Robert Burns Birthplace Museum
The Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, which opened in January 2011, is Scotland's first modern museum dedicated to its national poet.
The museum, in Alloway, Ayrshire, comprises the famous Burns Cottage where the poet was born, the historic landmarks where he set his greatest work, the elegant monument and gardens created in his honour and a modern museum housing the world’s most important collection of his life and works.
Robert Burns Birthplace Museum
Interested in visiting Scotland?
Find out more at VisitScotland
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Did you know...
The first recorded mention of the plaid was by Lughaidh writing about how the Highlanders fighting under Red Hugh O'Donnell in 1594 could be distinguished from the Irish: "... their exterior dress was mottled cloaks of many colors... their belts were over their loins outside their cloaks."