The Writers' Museum, Edinburgh, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Writers' Museum is a small museum on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, dedicated to three giants of Scottish literature: Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. It is housed in Lady Stair's House, a tall seventeenth-century townhouse tucked into a close just off the Lawnmarket, and it is one of the easiest ways to meet Edinburgh's literary side in under an hour.

The story behind it

The house dates from 1622 and stands in what was then the crowded heart of the Old Town. It takes its popular name from Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Stair, who lived here in the early eighteenth century. After years of change and decline, the building was rescued and restored, and it opened as a museum in the early twentieth century.

Today the collections gather personal objects, portraits, manuscripts and first editions linked to Burns, Scott and Stevenson. Seeing their belongings in a real old Edinburgh house, rather than a modern gallery, is much of the appeal. It also fits the city, which was named the world's first UNESCO City of Literature.

What to look for

• The narrow entrance of Lady Stair's Close, where a tight stone passage opens into a quiet courtyard just off the busy Royal Mile.
• The tall, turreted look of the house itself, a good example of how Old Town residents built upwards when space was short.
• Personal belongings of the three writers inside, such as portraits, desks and keepsakes, which make each author feel like a real neighbour rather than a name on a book.
• Makars' Court, the paved area beside the museum, where quotations from Scottish writers are set into the ground for you to read as you walk.

Tips for your visit

• Allow about an hour inside, a little longer if you like reading every label. It is a compact museum, so it suits a short stop.
• Check current opening hours and entry details before you go, as these can change through the year.
• Visit earlier in the day if you can, since the Royal Mile fills up by midday and the stairs and small rooms feel calmer with fewer people.
• It sits close to Edinburgh Castle, St Giles' Cathedral and the Scotch Whisky Experience, so it combines easily with a walk along the Royal Mile.

Explore it on a quest

The streets around the Writers' Museum are full of closes, stairways and stories that are easy to miss when you walk past. Discover the area on foot with one of Questo's self-guided quests in Edinburgh: the app leads you from place to place, tells you about each stop as you arrive and sets a puzzle in what is in front of you. Start whenever you like, with no guide and no group to join.