New galleries popular at National Museum of Scotland

ALMOST 500,000 people have visited the National Museum of Scotland in the two months since it opened its ten new galleries.

National Museum of Scotland

New exhibition spaces for applied art, design, fashion, science and technology opened on July 8 after a £14.1 million revamp.

The number of visitors since then was up 30 per cent on the same period last year.

More than 60,000 have flocked to Celts, which closes on September 25, while Fossil Hunters – which closed on August 14 – was the most popular free exhibition since the museum re-opened in summer 2011.

Gordon Rintoul, director of National Museums Scotland, said: “We have had a terrific summer since opening our ten new galleries. They allow visitors to explore our internationally significant collections like never before, and the response to them has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I am delighted that just two months after unveiling the galleries we have welcomed nearly half a million visitors.”