City Art Centre

About the museum

The City Art Centre is the gallery of the City of Edinburgh Council and part of its museums and galleries service. It stands on Market Street, just across from Waverley station and a couple of minutes' walk from Princes Street, the Royal Mile and North Bridge. The building is a gallery for exhibitions rather than a museum with fixed displays: works from the city's collection are shown on a rotating basis, and a changing programme brings in historic and modern Scottish painting and photography as well as contemporary art and craft.

The City of Edinburgh's art collection is among the finest in Scotland. It holds more than 4,500 items, including paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and sculpture, and ranges from civic portraiture to contemporary abstraction. It takes in work by many of the most important Scottish artists from the seventeenth century to the present day. The collection is nationally Recognised, and it continues to grow with the help of a generous bequest left to the city in the 1960s, which allows the gallery to concentrate on contemporary acquisitions while closing historic gaps.

An escalator and a lift connect all floors. The ground floor houses a gift shop and Mimi's Bakehouse, a cafe that serves drinks, cake and scones along with an all-day brunch menu. Visitors can borrow family sensory packs, and a British Sign Language guide to the gallery is available online.

Highlights

• Nationally Recognised collection of the City of Edinburgh with over 4,500 works
• Scottish painting, drawing, print, photography and sculpture from the 17th century to today
• Changing exhibitions of historic and contemporary Scottish art and craft
• Mimi's Bakehouse cafe on the ground floor

Operated by

City of Edinburgh Council (Culture Edinburgh)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission to the galleries is generally free; charges apply for some temporary exhibitions. Organised educational groups can visit free of charge if they book in advance.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The main entrance is step-free, and a lift reaches the galleries, the information desk, the gift shop, the Fergusson Room on the fifth floor and the accessible toilet on the ground floor. Some areas have low lighting. A British Sign Language guide to the gallery is available online, and sensory packs can be borrowed by neurodivergent visitors or people with additional support needs. Carers accompanying visitors with disabilities get free entry to ticketed exhibitions when they hold a valid carer's card or agency letter.

Kids & families

Family sensory packs can be borrowed by anyone who is neurodivergent or has additional support needs. Free entry to ticketed exhibitions applies to children and young people up to the age of 17.

Getting there & parking

The gallery is between the Old Town and the New Town, close to the airport bus stop on Waverley Bridge.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

Mimi's Bakehouse is on the ground floor, and the gift shop is next to it.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent

The City Art Centre is listed among the venues that Culture Edinburgh offers for hire.

Plan your visit