Detailed review by jipp05
I went to school in Dumfries and Robert Burns was always a big part of our education and I remember having to learn all about him and memorise his poems. Now that I am an adult I have come to appreciate his language and his poems are some of my all time favourites. Although I have lived in the area for the majority of my life I had never actually visited The Robert Burns House so when my mum suggested we went one afternoon when we were bored it seemed like a great idea.
The museum is located on Burns street close to the town centre and it is quite easy to find as it is signposted well.
The house itself is where Robert Burns spent the last years of his life before dying in 1796 aged just 37 and inside it has been well preserved to show what life would have been like for Burns whilst living here. The building itself is quite nice and is made of sandstone and although not exactly impossing it is certainly beautiful and it has been extremely well kept by the local council.
Entry into the house was free which was a nice surprise and although there isn't really all that much to see and do it is still worth a visit especially for fans of the great Scottish bard.
Burn's study is the highlight of the house and here you can view the chair and desk on which he wrote many of his most famous peoms.
There are also some original manuscripts which were nice to see even though ou couldn't get close to them in case of damaging them.
For me I enjoyed just looking around the house due to it's fantastically preserved eighteenth century characer and I really got a feel of how he must have lived.
There is a small gift shop selling some Burns memorabilia and again not extensive there are a few nice items for fans and people new to his work. I did buy something small because I appreciated the work that has gone into making sure the house is preserved for future generations and I felt like I was somehow contributing to it's upkeep.
Personally I would highly reccommend the Robert Burns House to people to see how the great man lived and died in Dumfries. As long as you go in knowing that you aren't going to find out anything particularaly new about his life then I don't think you will be dissapointed.
Opening hours are: April-September Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 2pm-5pm
October-March Tuesday-Saturday 10am-1pm, 2pm-5pm
Robert Burns House8
