Scotland’s art scene on a budget

The best ways to access art and culture without breaking the bank

In a world of declining “third spaces” - defined by the sociologists Ramon Oldenburg and Dennis Brissett in 1982 as necessary community spaces for interaction and integration - when even the cost of meeting friends for a cup of coffee becomes more expensive every day, museums offer a cheap, and occasionally free space for interaction and conversation, whilst providing visitors with the chance to delve into rich and vital artistic and cultural worlds.

 However, museums are too often dismissed as the antiquated resting grounds of outdated objects, or due to expensive admission fees, viewed as over-priced days out to see a handful of samey nature paintings. The art world is often tied up in ideas of wealth and prestige. This article aims to challenge these preconceptions by collating cheap and worthwhile exhibitions to explore Scotland’s rich art scene with the hope of broadening our ‘third spaces’ list, even if it’s just to save us all from another £6 iced latte.

Across the whole of Scotland, there are 190 free museums to discover. In Glasgow alone it is possible to visit Salvador Dali’s iconic Resurrection of Christ to the Haggis Sculpture and onto the Sarcophagus of Pa-Ba-Sa, alongside a host of Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.  All at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery.  If you’re lucky you might even hear an organ recital in the main foyer from 1-2pm.  There is something for everyone to enjoy at this beautiful building. 

Meanwhile, on the city’s outskirts, The Burrell Collection has a Cézanne, a Manet, Rodin’s sculpture The Kiss and a Rembrandt, all interspersed with Scottish furniture and sculpture.

Or maybe you’ve been missing the old Glasgow Subway carriages, alongside recreated cobbled streets and old car models, a ‘clockwork orange’ subway carriage has now found a new home in The Riverside Museum. 

Further afield, from Edinburgh’s Scottish National Portrait Gallery and The National Museum of Scotland all the way to the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, where Highland heritage and art are celebrated, there are a range of free museums and artworks to discover across Scotland.

Perhaps you also have a penchant for discovering Scotland’s historical past? Many of Scotland’s medieval castles, national trust sites, and historical environmental sites are available to Young Scots card holders for just £1- so that’s free bus transport and cheap entry sorted in one.  The gilded rooms of Edinburgh Castle, Drummond Castle, and Culzean Castle, are but a few of the places you can visit at this price.  All of which are steeped in Scotland’s historical past and are home to many beautiful works of art. Take, for example, the intricate hand-weaved tapestries depicting Scotland’s national animal the unicorn in The Hunt of the Unicorn. These were recreated from the original 1500s art that hung on the walls of Stirling Castle, walls that were also the home to a young Mary Queen of Scots. Walls that you can see for just £1. And if you still have a craving for that iced coffee, don’t worry, you can pop into the Unicorn Café.    

Aside from viewing art in museums for pleasure, to evoke emotion, to engage with culture collectively, and to escape from the bustle of everyday life, art has traditionally been used as a means for spreading political awareness and inspiring change, with museums being key sites for active learning. In our current global political climate, this is of paramount importance. 

Edinburgh’s Palestine Museum has become Europe’s first contemporary Palestinian art museum showcasing the rich Palestinian culture and the ongoing oppression faced by Palestinians in a way that only art can, whilst foregrounding personal stories and raw emotion with the aim of humanising Palestinians in a world that has too often dismissed their culture and people.  As a free museum, this is a highly worthwhile and essential place to visit.

Pablo Picasso once said, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” It is a medium through which our emotions (Berenice- Scottish National Gallery), our favourite places (Glen Massan- Kelvingrove Art Museum), our favourite stories (Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus- Scottish National Gallery), and our political messages (Domestic Bliss- Gallery of Modern Art)  are translated and celebrated. I think it is time that museums became our new essential “third spaces”- a world of art, conversation, and interaction is waiting for all of us just beyond their doors. And by the way, in museum cafes, your coffee of choice is never far away either.

Published 22 July 2025