National Galleries of Scotland

Four sites across Edinburgh house the national collections. Among the permanent highlights are work by Titian, Rembrandt and the great surrealists.
www.nationalgalleries.org

Gallery of Modern Art

A grand neo-classical building in the middle of Glasgow, housing the city’s art collections and hosting exhibitions by local, national and international artists, as well as an art and social justice biennial.
www.glasgowlife.org.uk

Dundee Contemporary Arts

Forward-thinking contemporary art gallery, with a busy programme of arthouse cinema, plus print studio. DCA curated the first major solo shows by Martin Boyce and Ruth Ewan.
www.dca.org.uk

Fruitmarket Gallery

This independent venue for large-scale contemporary art has hosted career-defining shows by Lucy Skaer, Toby Paterson, Nathan Coley and more in an airy central Edinburgh space.
www.fruitmarket.co.uk

The Lighthouse

The national centre for architecture and design is housed in a building by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, later adapted by Gareth Hoskins Architects. It has a display on Mack himself and a digital fabrication facility.
www.thelighthouse.co.uk

Tramway

Described by Peter Brook, the director who precipitated its transformation from a transport museum, as ‘an industrial cathedral that connects art with humanity’, this cavernous Glasgow venue houses large-scale art.
www.tramway.org

Mount Stuart

This idiosyncratic Gothic mansion on the Isle of Bute houses 128 classical portraits. But it’s the annual summer exhibition – which has featured Moyna Flannigan, Lee Mingwei and Katja Strunz – that makes it stand out.
www.mountstuart.com

Trongate 103

A warehouse conversion in Glasgow’s Merchant City, housing organisations including Street Level Photoworks, Project Ability, Glasgow Print Studio, Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre and a Russian café-gallery.
www.trongate103.com

V&A at Dundee

It’s not been built yet (Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and Scottish practice Cre8architecture are in charge of that), but the V&A is sure to be an asset to Dundee’s already lively waterfront area.
www.vandaatdundee.com

Duff House

A William Adam masterpiece of 1735 in the Aberdeenshire countryside, this outpost of the National Galleries of Scotland has shown works by El Greco, Gainsborough and Raeburn and one special ‘masterpiece’ loan a year.
www.duffhouse.org.uk