Edinburgh: History Lovers Old Town Walking Tour
Description
Discover the history Edinburgh's most historic quarter in a personal small group setting with an expert local guide. On this intimate 2 hour Walking Tour, you’ll find out how Edinburgh has evolved and developed over the past 2000 years. What were the major events that shaped it's development and who were the famous/infamous characters behind these events? We answer these questions and many more! Tours in English language only. You'll see all of Edinburgh's most important landmarks, and some lesser known Old Town locations as well. This tour is perfect for the discerning traveller who wants the real history of the Old town.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Traverse Edinburgh’s historic thoroughfare, see buildings dating back to the 1400s and hear some of the major events which shaped its history. We end the tour here.
Explore Edinburgh’s world famous graveyard, hear how this site inspired renowned authors from Mary Shelley to J.K. Rowling contributed to medical science and the story of a certain very loyal dog.
Edinburgh’s traditional farmers’ market, home to some of the oldest pubs in the city (with connections to hangings and body snatchers) and the best view of the Castle in Edinburgh.
We walk around the cathedral, exploring it's architecture and history
We walk through the Old town, examining the history of the city's most interesting quarter
We start the tour here and explore the bowels of the Old Town, learning gruesome medieval history of Edinburgh.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Wheelchairs and Strollers can be used on this tour, but the Old Town is hilly and has cobblestones
Reviews(248)
This tourwas a joke and I would really like a refund. The guide wasn’t ‘local’ as advertised, he was Bulgarian and got lots of things wrong / confused us with a Harry Potter tour! - Harry Potter/ JK Rowling was mentioned five times on this history tour! Every time it was to repeat a myth about some aspect of Edinburgh supposed to have inspired some tedious element of the books and then say it wasn’t true. So irrelevant and boring. - He said Nelson’s Tower (Battle of Trafalgar 1805) was built to commemorate defeat of the Spanish Armada (Drake 1588)! - He confused the contributions/ legacies / links of the two King David’s who were unrelated and 200 years apart! No mention of David 2nd being son of Bruce or end of House of Stewart. There were loads of other errors and random, boring inputs. This was so poor.
Hi Rory, I'm sorry you never enjoyed the tour. The other group members gave the very same tour 5 stars in their reviews. The guide who was booked in for this tour originally fell sick, and your guide was the last minute replacement. I'm sorry he made some comments that were not as historically accurate as you would like. He was doing his best given he was booked in to deliver the tour 1.5 hours before it started The person who was your guide has lived in Edinburgh for over 6 years, and yes, does not have a UK passport. I'm sorry this displeased you. In Scotland, we welcome people from all over the world, as visitors, guests, and residents. Many an immigrant has become a local here, believe it or not. We would be happy to welcome you back, to give you the 5 star experience we always aim to deliver. Kind regards, Chris Walker
The tour lasted about 2 hours. There are stairs and fairly steep hills involved throughout Edinburgh so persons with mobility issues need to plan accordingly. Zander is a fantastic guide, very knowledgeable about the history of Edinburgh, has great stories about history.
Madge was a fantastic guide for our Old City tour. Her clever opening grabbed us right away, and she’s just an incredible storyteller. Instead of a dry history lesson, she mixed in thoughtful quips and cultural references, and we learned a ton about the Fringe festival. (Madge, if you’re reading this—I still really want to see those photos of the Unic in the 2025 Fest) Highly recommend booking with her if you want a witty and engaging tour.
Very informative and enjoyed it!
Excellent tour to get to see a bit of Edinburgh city center! Would highly recommend this to anyone traveling to Edinburgh!
The tour was great! Shanna was very knowledgeable, and made the tour very interesting. Highly recommend
Zander was great! Lots of good stories, the pacing was smooth, and I came out of the tour with a much better sense of place.
Our guide Zander was obviously new to this. His stories were a bit long winded. He would take off from one point to another without tending to the older, slower people on tour leaving them in the dust….he would have awkward pauses during he dissertations and stories. He would keep the group in the blazing sun and not move into comfortable shade during these ramblings…..I think he has great potential and should really make some changes ….
Loved this tour. Highly recommended it. Lots of interesting places and information. Tour guide did really well on gathering everyone together before telling about the area.
Attention: we booked a guide for a town trip in French: the guide spoke only English, and the group included both English-speaking and French-speaking clients: we had to cancel the service: very disappointed with Viator. However, we were refunded. But we were unable to enjoy the expected service.
Hello, I'm sorry you booked the tour in English. We don't offer tours in French, and we do say in the content for this tour that it only occurs in English. I spoke to you on the phone to help give you a full refund and help fix the problem. I'm sorry you still feel like this is our fault. I as I said on the phone, we only offer tours in English and we do state this on Viator. I think your review is very unfair for the above reasons.
