Top Five Things to Discover at Perth Museum

Offering an engaging experience for visitors of all ages through rotating exhibitions, educational programmes, and family-friendly events, the museum connects the local with the global, offering insights into how Perthshire helped shape Scotland’s story.

Combining interactive exhibits with nationally significant collections, it showcases stories that span millennia, from the ancient Picts and medieval royalty to Perth’s role in Scotland’s political and cultural evolution. Most notably of these is the iconic Stone of Destiny, a powerful symbol of Scotland’s monarchy and identity.

The museum acts as both a community hub and an attraction of national importance and such has been the impact of Perth Museum in its first year, that it was one of five finalists for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2025, the world’s largest museum prize.

Whether you're a history enthusiast, a curious traveller, or a local resident, Perth Museum invites you to explore the past, reflect on the present, and imagine the future in a truly inspiring setting. 

Here are our top five must-see artifacts.

At the heart of Perth Museum is the Stone of Destiny, also known as the Stone of Scone, one of Scotland and the UK’s most significant objects. The Stone is used in the crownings of all Scottish and British monarchs, including most recently King Charles III in 2023.  The Stone was returned to Perth for the first time in over 700 years in 2024.

Excavated from the River Tay in 2006, the Carpow Logboat is over 3,000 years old and one of the oldest surviving boats in Scotland. The boat is the largest object on display at Perth Museum and could have been used for a range of purposes, from a cargo craft, fishing vessel, or maybe it was even used as a ferry for up to 14 people

On display in the vennel of Perth Museum is a sword from the Jacobite era which may have belonged to Bonnie Price Charlie. The solid-silver hilted broadsword was made by Perth craftsman James Brown, and it was believed to have been given to him in 1739 by James Drummond, the 3rd Duke of Perth. The sword would have been an important symbol of Charles Edward Stuart’s claim to the Scottish throne whilst the Jacobite court was in exile in Rome in 1739.

The kākāpō cloak in Perth Museum, estimated to be around 200 years old, is the only known full kākāpō feather cloak in existence. Kākāpō are flightless parrots who nest on the ground in New Zealand and are a critically endangered species; in June 2020 there were only 210 left. The kākāpō cloak was painstakingly restored as part of a wider collaborative display of Māori taonga (treasures) between partners in Aotearoa New Zealand and Perth Museum.

The Museum is home to the heaviest British rod-caught salmon. Caught in 1922 by Georgina Ballantine, it is a record that is likely never to be beaten. Miss Ballantine, a former World War One nurse, was fishing with her father as she reeled in the fish, which weighed 64lbs. The salmon was taken to P.D. Malloch’s who created the cast on display in the museum, and the fish was then gifted to Perth Royal Infirmary to be eaten by staff and patients.