Edinburgh Tool Library

You won't find this in any traditional tourist guide, and that's rather the point. Edinburgh Tool Library is housed in a working space near Kinghorn where locals and visitors alike can borrow everything from power drills to hand saws without dropping a fortune on kit you'll use once. It's the sort of place that makes proper sense if you're on a longer East Lothian stay and fancy tackling a small DIY project - or if you're just curious about how community spaces actually function beyond Instagram appeal.

The setup is straightforward: membership gets you access to a rotating stock of tools, organised by category and condition. You'll spend fifteen minutes to half an hour browsing what's available, then sign out whatever you need. It's less glitzy than a museum and more useful than most attractions, frankly. Families with older kids who are interested in making or building will find genuine value here rather than yet another look-around-and-move-on experience.

If you're camped at nearby Drummohr Camping & Glamping Site and the weather turns grim - or you've got a tree house to build before you leave - this fills a gap nothing else quite does. Opening hours are weekday afternoons and mornings, closed weekends, so plan accordingly. Check their website for current membership costs and borrowing terms. It's not a rainy-day attraction in the traditional sense, but it's the kind of local institution that genuinely makes a holiday more interesting if you're staying put rather than racing between postcards.