Receive a warm welcome to Edinburgh on a private tour that will kick off your time in the city in the best way possible! In only 90 minutes, a local guide will get you acquainted with Edinburgh to help you enjoy the rest of your stay to the fullest. Discover where to find Edinburgh Castle and St. Giles Cathedral and how to explore them away from the crowds. And what about that unique family owned restaurant or that amazing local hotspot? We got you covered; the local guides are experts in the subject! Forget about touristy traps; on this city kickstart tour, your guide will point you in the right direction. Private City Kickstart Tour: Edinburgh is one of Withlocals' signature tours available in major cities worldwide. We work with passionate local guides who earn a fair fee. We support local economies by only offering local produce and prevent over-tourism with only small non-intrusive groups. Our tours are carbon-neutral and away from the standard tourist routes.
Prices are per person when two book together; a solo traveller pays $175.
Larger groups pay less per person.
Out at sunset: the 3:30 PM departure is under way when the sun sets, around 4:31 PM in the coming weeks.
From the operator’s live schedule on Viator, checked Oct 20.
St. Giles Cathedral is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh.
The edifice known as Edinburgh Castle was built during the 12th century and sits on an extinct volcano which is called Castle Rock.
Depending on your host and their chosen route for the tour, this stop might also be included in your route.
Reviews collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
Excurgo comparison of 1,246 Viator tours, recalculated daily.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Private City Kickstart Tour: Edinburgh lasts about 1h 30min. The itinerary has 6 stops.
Prices start at $88 per person for this Edinburgh experience, booked through Viator with the price shown before checkout. That is the per-person price when two book together; a solo traveller pays $175. 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, with 21 departures a day between 11:00 AM and 9:00 PM.
Yes. Cancel at least 1 day before the start for a full refund. Later cancellations are non-refundable.
The meeting point is Outside the main entrance Burgers and Beers Grillhouse. Hotel pickup is not part of this experience.
The experience is available in EN.
It is a private experience: only your party takes part. Up to 8 travellers can book together.
Yes, bookings are confirmed instantly.
Travellers rate it 4.9 out of 5 across 58 reviews on Viator and Tripadvisor; it is run by Withlocals.
Reviews collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
Our guide Mark Jackson was fantastic. He asked our teenage boys about their interests and then did a great job of including them in the conversations. He has lots of interesting facts and made the tour fun for all of us, especially by adding humor.
Alec was informative and funny. It was perfect for us since we only had one day. He told some great stories.
Chris is an awesome guide! He's extremely knowledgeable and engaging. He gave me a lot of great tips for my stay as well. Be sure to take this tour as soon as you get to Edinburgh and not at the end.
We booked the quick start tour of Edinburgh. It was great how Laura told us the beautiful story of Edinburgh and guided us through the city. We can 100% recommend Laura
Don’t hesitate if you are thinking of booking the city kickstarter tour. ALEC personalized our tour and it met our needs perfectly. I highly recommend both him and this tour on your arrival to Edinburgh. My granddaughter and myself are thankful to have done this. Thank you again, Alec.
Monica was lovely. Knowledgeable and so personable. We live Viator and this was a great way to see so much of the city quickly, privately and tailored to our needs.
Alec is simply amazing and a real source of information! We really enjoyed our walk along the Royal Mile, looking at lots of details and getting funny and interesting insights about Edinburgh sights. We absolutely would not have missed this and we would book him again immediately for a next time. In fact, we will definitely do that when we come back to visit the Highlands!
We took a 90 minute tour with Alec which was a great introduction to the city Alec has an amazing depth of knowledge relating to the history of the city and he was happy to share this with us. I would highly recommend him and will certainly book him again on my return.
My family and I (6 adults) booked this tour for our first day in Edinburgh to get our bearings and to get ideas for the rest of our trip. Our tour guide, Russell, was fantastic! He was super knowledgeable and funny. He took us to all the major sites while giving us the history and answering any questions we had. His humor kept us engaged, which was necessary as we were all tired from our travels. Following the tour, he gave us recommendations for places to visit both in Edinburgh and outside of town as well as recommendations of where to eat traditional Scottish food. I would absolutely recommend booking this tour!
We only had an hour and a half tour booked with Alec, which he extended an extra 15 minutes......yet the wealth of information that was intriguing, enlightening, and comical in that brief time was so extensive and interesting that I wrote probably my longest ever Facebook post describing our experience. If you have only a short time, Alec will give you a jam packed experience. We were only there for one day as a cruise ship port, but Alec showed us such a taste of Edinburgh's rich history and colored past that it is the one port we want to return to and spend a week....and when we do we'll book Alec again and do a much longer tour!
| Tour | Duration | Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private City Kickstart Tour: Edinburgh | 1h 30min | 4.9 (58) | $88 | |
 The World Famous Underground Ghost Tour | 1h 15min | 4.6 (11,007) | $26 | View |
 Underground Vaults Walking Tour in Edinburgh Old Town | 1 hour | 4.7 (9,553) | $33 | View |
 Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands, Glencoe and Pitlochry Tour | 12h 30min | 4.8 (7,392) | $66 | View |
 Edinburgh Castle: Guided Walking Tour with Entry Ticket | 1h 30min | 4.8 (6,944) | $56 | View |
 Edinburgh: Loch Ness, Glencoe and The Highlands | 12h 30min | 4.9 (6,937) | $61 | View |
 Edinburgh: Glenfinnan Viaduct, Glencoe & Fort William | 12 hours | 4.9 (6,596) | $61 | View |