Scottish National Portrait Gallery

There are two good reasons to visit the NPG: one is for the faintly kitsch café with its no–nonsense dark wood panelling and constant clink of spoon on china. The other is for its hilariously grandiose presentation of relatively minor works of art. It can't boast the sheer range and quality of its cousins, the GMA and the NGS; instead, it limply offers up some pretty bad pictures, like an ungifted child showing a new potato–print. For a true history of Edinburgh, visit the museum and walk the city itself; the NPG is a strangely out–of–touch place, but worth visiting if only for a glimpse of how old Scotland sees itself. The cakes are really quite good though, what what.

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