This Private Tour is perfect for anyone who's just arrived in Edinburgh and wants an overview of the city's history and things to do/places to eat. We walk through the medieval Old Town, giving you a great overview of Edinburgh's most famous landmarks, but also the city's most intriguing hidden streets and alleyways. By the end of the tour, you'll know more about the history of Edinburgh than the average Scot! We adapt each tour to the group, so let us know your interests, e.g history, Harry Potter, Outlander filming locations and we'll give you a really customised experience.
From the operator’s live schedule on Viator, checked Oct 18.
See one of Scotland's most impressive castles
Explore the hidden closes and alleyways that you would easily miss on your own
Learn about the important people of Edinburgh buried inside this really cool graveyard. Also see some tombstones that inspired Harry Potter
Learn about the public executions that used to take place here, and the stories behind some of Edinburgh's most famous pubs
Some hotels are located in areas with lower elevation than the Old Town and require a good 10-20min walk to the Old Town. With pickup at certain hotels, we will advise you how strenuous the walk to the Old town from your hotel will be. Based on your preferences, we may then suggest re-arranging the meeting point, to make the walking tour manageable for all group members in the private group.
Reviews collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
Excurgo comparison of 1,246 Viator tours, recalculated daily.
All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.
Bespoke Edinburgh Old Town Walk with a Local Guide lasts about 2h 30min. The itinerary has 4 stops.
Prices start at $129 per person for this Edinburgh experience, booked through Viator with the price shown before checkout. There is 1 booking option, so the final price depends on the option you choose.
According to the operator’s current schedule, it runs every day.
Children aged 4–12 pay from $27, adults from $129. Infants go free.
All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.
Yes, pickup is offered. Some hotels are located in areas with lower elevation than the Old Town and require a good 10-20min walk to the Old Town. With pickup at certain hotels, we will advise you how strenuous the walk to the Old town from your hotel will be. Based on your preferences, we may then suggest re-arranging the meeting point, to make the walking tour manageable for all group members in the private group. Pickup points include Kimpton Charlotte Square by IHG, The Inn on the Mile.
The experience is available in DE, EN, IT, FR, DA, ES.
It is a private experience: only your party takes part. Up to 15 travellers can book together.
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Wheelchair accessible Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
Confirmation is sent by the operator within 24 hours of booking.
Reviews collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
We had an amazing walking tour of Old Town, New Town, and Calton Hill. Chris was an excellent guide, sharing local knowledge, history, and current day Scotland. He was great at answering our questions and flexible to go to the best spots for first-time visitors and breathtaking photos. Thank you Chris!
Absolutely fantastic guided walks. We started the morning with our tour guide Wag for the Old Town tour and loved it so much we joined Wag for his afternoon walk around the Dean’s Village. Wag is incredibly knowledgeable about the city, its long and varied history and is so generous in sharing his knowledge. This is probably one of the best walking tours we’ve been on - anywhere. Thanks Wag and Chris. PS Book directly through Local Eyes. They are easy to find on the web.
We booked through the Fringe website and found it easy to locate the meeting point, which is conveniently located near some public restrooms. You should use them if there’s a chance you’ll need to go, as a chunk of the tour takes place a distance away from public and restaurant restrooms. Our tour guide, Stewart (or Stuart?) was exceptional. He was very informative and passionate about the city. The pace allowed us to admire the beauty of each stop. We never felt too rushed to pause and take photos. Please note that parts of the tour involves going up and down steps, so take that into consideration if you have mobility concerns.
Amazing experience with Wag! Would definitely recommend
Wally was great! Very informative
We had a fairly large group, and it included a 15 month old, 4 year old and a couple of teenagers. The guide was wonderful in keeping us all engaged! They paid special attention to making sure we had some places to let the kids play, for all of us to take a quick break when needed, and shared some fascinating facts that caught the teenagers attention, too! We arrived at not quite the right place for our meet up, and thankfully they came and found us and got us rolling into the tour without a hitch. We would definitely recommend them!
Chris gave us a wonderful tour of the Old Town! He was engaging with my teenager (not the easiest tour) and kept the history interesting.
Our family of 4 (including 2 teens) had a wonderful private walking tour of Old Town. Zander was our guide, and he had a wealth of knowledge & history to share. We were in Edinburgh for less than 48 hours and we wanted to make the most of our time. I love the fact that Local Eyes was so accommodating as to work with our schedule to make that happen! Very enjoyable tour... we all learned so much about the history of the city and the significance of many of the buildings and places we passed- and some of the people who shaped the city and the country of Scotland. The walking tour provided context to make our time in Edinburgh much richer than exploring on our own. Zander was friendly & engaging with my teens... and with hubby & I. Also, Zander had done his homework... there were certain aspects and periods of history we were specifically interested in. And he took the time to do a little extra research before our meeting to accommodate our request. It was much appreciated. I am so glad we booked this private tour through Local Eyes... and I highly recommend it to others.
We had a fantastic day on our Old Town tour today. David W. , our guide, was knowledgeable and informative and one of the best guides we have had over many decades of travel. His breadth and depth of historical knowledge was outstanding. He answered each of our many questions without hesitation, and went at our pace without rushing us. Thank you for arranging such a wonderful guide to orient us on our first day in Edinburgh. It’s not easy to digest 800 years of European history in 3 hours, but David enabled us to do so. We felt we received a superb and thorough introduction to the Old Town with tips and suggestions on follow up activities. Well done! Thank you, David!
Outstanding introduction to Edinburgh! We had 2 teens with us and the entire family was engaged and learned so much from David. He was an excellent ambassador for the city and set the tone for our trip!
| Tour | Duration | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bespoke Edinburgh Old Town Walk with a Local Guide | 2h 30min | 5.0 (17) | $129 | |
 Private Walk: Edinburgh Old Town and New Town | 3–4 hours | 5.0 (84) | $312 | View |
 Edinburgh: Old Town early morning walk with a Scottish guide | 1h 30min | — | $26 | View |
 Private Old Edinburgh Tour - Walk in the footsteps of Royals and Rogues! | 2 hours | 5.0 (243) | $115 | View |
 Edinburgh Royal Mile and Old Town Small Group Walking Tour | 3 hours | 4.9 (1,655) | $47 | View |
 Edinburgh City Walking Tour, Discover Old Town, Royal Mile with a Local Expert! | 2 hours | 5.0 (29) | $65 | View |
 Edinburgh: History Lovers Old Town Walking Tour | 2 hours | 4.9 (261) | $24 | View |