Surgeons' Hall Museums — Attraction in City of Edinburgh

A serious museum for pathology, anatomy, and medical students and researchers. Not for gore seekers and other weirdos looking for a cheap creep thrill or way to entertain children.

I'm sure laypeople can be very interested in some of it, but probably won't have the patience to fully engage with the pathology level to the degree possible, especially. It is a whole floor of body parts in jars, with a few skeletons sprinkled in for variety.

I've been to many museums of this kind, and studied human biology, and this is the most bland museum I have been to that is branded as an experience for the general public. Sure, you can learn a little bit, and most people will probably do the majority of their learning on the history floor and the robotics interactive floor. It gets very, very redundant for people who aren't deeply into pathology and human specimens. Even as someone who is, many of the specimens seemed somewhat redundant unless you have medical expertise with precisely what you're looking at. Almost as if they included so many just to fill the shelves.

A major issue I had with the ability to fully engage with the pathology exhibit was the lack of photography as they have very interesting kiosks where you can look up the case studies (each specimen is labelled) but without being able to take photos of the specimens, it makes it incredibly difficult to cross-reference. You'd have to run back and forth from the kiosks to the specimen. I don't know how any student would actually use this for study purposes. Cumbersome and illogical. What are they supposed to do, draw the specimens?

There is very little air flow. A woman passed out while I was there due to it being so hot and stuffy.

I think the museum needs to decide whether it's a museum for the general public or for medical researchers/historians. It doesn't work as both. The main history section is the most like a regular history museum for anybody. But the future of surgery/robotics section is weirdly juvenile in contrast to the pathology floor. The interactive exhibits seem oversimplified and already outdated... if they even work. Half were out of service.

The price is too high for what you get. The Scottish National Museum is free and is 100x the size and complexity with much more engaging exhibits and placards. For a dedicated pathology student, sure, it's probably awesome. For anybody else, I'm not sure but maybe...

Surgeons’ Hall Museum is a real gem, owned and run but the Royal College of Surgeons’ Edinburgh whose site it is on. It is relatively small but an extraordinary catalogue of medical and dental history. It charts the history of medicine generally and surgery specially in Scotland including the role of Edinburgh university and the controversial practices and criminal activity involved in collecting bodies for dissection for the hugely influential University of Edinburgh. There is also a dental collection, an exhibition on robotics and the potential for future surgical capabilities as well as an extensive pathology museum. Temporary exhibitions vary and included women in surgery when we visited (June 2025).

Staff are hopeful in guiding you through. Tickets are purchased from the main exhibition are on the third floor (where the tiny but fun gift shop is also situated). Toilets and lifts are available to help navigate the split levels of the museum which is splayed out over five floors.

There is a beautiful garden outside as you enter the compound with impressive bronze statues representing the diversity of surgeons in Scotland. Picnic benches are available and although there’s no coffee shop there are plenty of places within a stones through of the museum to buy drinks, snacks or food.

It is best to track by public transport since city centre parking is expensive and traffic slow. Bus and train links are excellent (see the museum website or use the excellent Edinburgh public transport app).

If you do need to park, the mosque in Nicolson square offers the closest parking but NCP car parks are also available. Beware of the low emissions zone in Edinburgh city centre of you’re driving a diesel car - there is an outright ban with automatic fines in place.

Definitely recommended whether or not you have a professional interest - it is a fascinating insight into a part of history that affects all of us and well worth an hour or two...

As an aspiring osteologist, and being otherwise interested in medical history and anatomy, I would say this is of my favourite museums in the UK! There's not many places where you can see such an abundance of human remains (skeletal or otherwise), organs, and so on. It's not for the faint-hearted, and may seem overly macabre to some, but may thrill any anatomist - aspiring or otherwise.

Some of the provided information is less accessible to those without some medical/anatomical understanding, but this is easily rectified by a quick Google search.

When visiting most recently, I was there for roughly 2 hours, but could have happily stayed much longer! There's so much to see!

The museum also provides manual wheelchairs, free of charge, for those who need them. Each floor is accessible by lift. Some areas are more narrow than others, so may not be suitable for wider wheelchairs. There are also areas that are bumpy, including some of the thresholds, which may cause discomfort for any wheelchair users. Unfortunately, the provided wheelchairs are not self-propelled, so you will need someone else to push you.

I do wish the provided maps/leaflet gave more information on each room (even just a sentence or two). In fact, despite using the website prior to my visit, I had no idea what the Body Voyager gallery (about more modern/future surgery) was! The website itself isn't the most user friendly (at least on my phone), but don't let that discourage you from going!

I also wish that there was more information on who some of the remains were and how they may have died, especially relating to the children's remains. Yet, I do understand that this information may be unknown, may have been lost, or otherwise. However, where possible, this information could enhance the respect shown for...