National Museum of Scotland

The grand building before you holds the story of Scotland — and much of the world besides. The National Museum of Scotland combines a stunning Victorian glass-roofed Grand Gallery, opened in 1866, with a modern sandstone wing devoted to Scottish history from geological deep time to the present day. The collections are wonderfully eclectic: the Lewis Chessmen, walrus-ivory chess pieces carved in the 12th century; the Monymusk Reliquary, a tiny casket associated with St Columba; Bonnie Prince Charlie's travelling canteen; and Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell, created at the nearby Roslin Institute in 1996 — now preserved and on display. There's also a rooftop terrace with a fine view over the Old Town skyline, which many visitors miss. Best of all, like Scotland's other national museums, entry is completely free. Even half an hour inside repays the visit. From here we head north. Follow George IV Bridge, cross the Royal Mile you walked earlier today, and carry on down Bank Street and The Mound until you come out at Princes Street. Allow ten minutes, and most of it is downhill.