Edinburgh Walking Tours

Edinburgh's Old Town twists uphill from the Royal Mile in a maze of closes and courtyards, while the New Town opens out into wide Georgian streets just a few minutes away. Students will spot the castle from almost everywhere they go, and there's plenty to stop and look at along the route.

Choose from three walking tour options, led by a dedicated local guide: 

2-Hour Private Edinburgh Highlights Tour

• St Giles' Cathedral – Edinburgh's principal church on the Royal Mile
• The Royal Mile – the historic spine of Edinburgh's Old Town
• Old & New Towns – together recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995.
• Mercat Cross – historically the spot where royal proclamations were read out to the city.
• Greyfriars Kirkyard & Greyfriars Bobby – a 17th-century graveyard, known for the loyal Skye Terrier said to have guarded his owner's grave for 14 years.
• Grassmarket – a historic market square
• Site of Witch Burnings – Edinburgh Castle esplanade,
• The original 'Hogwarts' – George Heriot's School, whose towers and turrets are said to have influenced J.K. Rowling.
• William Wallace & the Stone of Destiny – the Stone of Destiny, used in Scottish coronations for centuries, is now kept at Edinburgh Castle.
• Covenanters' Prison – part of Greyfriars Kirkyard where 17th-century religious prisoners were held.
• Martyrs' Memorial – a monument to the Covenanters
• The real Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde 
• Tron Kirk – a former 17th-century church on the Royal Mile, now used as a market space.

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3-Hour Private Edinburgh City Tour

 Covers all of the highlights above plus:

• Edinburgh Castle – a fortress with a history stretching back over 900 years, on an extinct volcanic rock.
• Scott Monument – a Victorian Gothic monument to novelist Sir Walter Scott, completed in 1846.
• Princes Street Gardens – a public park created in the 1820s on the site of a drained loch.
• The Mound – an artificial hill formed from soil excavated during the building of Edinburgh's New Town.
• Burke and Hare, bodysnatchers – the pair murdered 16 people in 1828 to sell their bodies for medical dissection.
• The Scottish Enlightenment – the 18th-century period when Edinburgh produced thinkers including David Hume and Adam Smith.

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2-Hour Private Edinburgh Dark Side Tour

A folklore and social-history route

• Burke and Hare
• Site of the witch burnings
• Edinburgh's real-life cannibals and vampires – local legends and criminal cases explored as part of the city's darker folklore.
• Murder of Mary Queen of Scots' husband – Lord Darnley was killed in Edinburgh in 1567, in a case still debated by historians.
• Bodysnatchers at Canongate Kirkyard and Calton Cemetery – both graveyards still show mortsafes and watchtowers built to deter grave robbers.
• The mystery of the 17 doll coffins at Arthur's Seat – tiny carved coffins found on the hill in 1836 remain one of Edinburgh's unexplained mysteries.

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