Highland Folk Museum, Open-air museum in Newtonmore, Scotland.
The Highland Folk Museum is an open-air museum spanning roughly 80 acres with 35 historical buildings that represent different periods of Scottish Highland life. The structures range from simple dwellings to farm buildings and come from various decades, creating a walk through time.
The museum was established in 1935 by Dr. Isabel Frances Grant, starting on the island of Iona before moving to Laggan in 1939 and later to Newtonmore. Each relocation allowed the museum to preserve and display buildings that revealed how the Highlands changed across generations.
The museum displays how people lived in the Highlands through reconstructed homes filled with period furniture, farming tools, and everyday items. Walking through these buildings gives you a sense of what daily life actually felt like in this region over the centuries.
The museum is typically open from March to October with varying hours depending on the season, and parking is available on the grounds. You should wear comfortable shoes since it is a large outdoor site requiring considerable walking.
The grounds are home to red squirrels and tree creepers living in their natural habitat, so visitors often spot wildlife while touring the buildings. This blend of history and nature creates a more complete experience of the Highlands than you would find in a typical museum setting.
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