Old Town Walking Tour History and Tales in Edinburgh
5
Old Town Walking Tour History and Tales in Edinburgh
By Little Fish Tours
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
About
Lowest price guaranteeReserve now & pay laterFree cancellation
Ages 5-99, max of 30 per group
Duration: 2h
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
Live guide: English
More
- Professional guide
What's not included- Gratuity
- Start:
- 15 Jeffrey St, Edinburgh EH1 1DR, UKTour departs from inside "Hot Toddy" just off the Royal Mile. Speak to cafe/bar staff when you arrive to check-in. Cafe is open before tour, feel free to come early for food/drink to fuel up for the tour! Full address - Hot Toddy, 15-19 Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1DR
End:- Edinburgh Old Town, Edinburgh, UKThe tour will end within a 5min walk of the Royal Mile.
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Pushchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 69714P7- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- These tours run all the year round so please wear clothing that is appropriate for the Scottish climate and come in footwear that you are comfortable in for a two hour walking tour on the historic streets of Edinburgh.
- Travellers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Please Note - Children, aged 15 and under, will not be able to join the tour unless accompanied by a responsible adult
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travellers
- For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
- If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 69714P7
From
€17.24
per adult
Select date and travellers
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Similar experiences
Itinerary
- 15 Jeffrey St, Edinburgh EH1 1DR, UKTour departs from inside "Hot Toddy" just off the Royal Mile. Speak to cafe/bar staff when you arrive to check-in. Cafe is open before tour, feel free to come early for food/drink to fuel up for the tour! Full address - Hot Toddy, 15-19 Jeffrey Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1DR
- 1The walking tour will take you up and down the network of cobbled streets and back alleys that make up the historic heart of the Old Town of Edinburgh. The tour runs for around two hours and you can expect to see sights such as St Giles Cathedral, the Mercat Cross, the George Heriot School and Edinburgh Castle (from the outside). Every guide who works with us is strongly encouraged to develop their own tour route to help ensure that they are passionate about the stories and history that they deliver on their tour. We believe this tour will give you a good understanding of Edinburgh and is a great basis for the other tours that we offer.
- Edinburgh Old Town, Edinburgh, UKThe tour will end within a 5min walk of the Royal Mile.
About the operator
Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator:
- W4216YJroser0 contributionsSteph castle tour reviewSteph was absolutely amazing!! She brought the history of the castle to life, was super engaging with everyone on the tour and made us laugh all the way through whilst still being hugely informative.Written 10 December 2024
- tannergatlin0 contributionsRecommended tour and guide!Excellent guide and tour. Wonderful experience learning all about Edinburgh and the castle history. I would very much recommend this tour.Written 10 December 2024
- Rebecca F0 contributionsWould 100% recommendOur guide, Georgia, was really great! She walked at a pace that was good for the group, shared a lot of interesting history, and pointed out a good mix of highlights and facts from her own research. The meeting spot was a bit confusing to find, but keep an eye out for the bright green umbrellas that the guides carry. You'll also want to plan for free time after the tour ends to roam the castle where there is public access, but the guides are not allowed to take groups. We timed our visit such that we ate lunch at the café, which gave us a close, warm view of the 1300 gun shot.Written 9 December 2024
- Shivers870 contributionsGrand TourA great tour of the castle and a history lesson along the way with some great facts from English Ben. Highly recommend!!!Written 9 December 2024
- Bexy3330 contributionsHighlight of my trip!The whiskeys were delicious, and he was happy to swap for beer/wine/whisky cream if you needed to or got a bit sick of whisky! The stories were fantastic, he was funny and interesting and brought it all to life. I'll be doing this again when I next visit, and I plan to bring people along with me!Written 8 December 2024
- Resort012987891120 contributionsGreat tour of amazing castle!Amazing tour with best view of Edinburgh. The guide was funny and very informative. You could tell she loved her job! Edinburgh Castle is a must see!Written 7 December 2024
- 174laurenzl0 contributionsAbsolute blastAbsolutely fantastic - great drinks and two hours flew by laughing and learning. Ben did an amazing job! Will be back for sure!Written 5 December 2024
- akQ5562TX0 contributionsCastle walking tourYuen was great! It wasn’t a boring history lecture, it was a super fun and interactive tour and I highly recommend. If you can ask for Yuen get him!Written 28 November 2024
- patriciadP5957ZH0 contributionsA highlight of our Edinburgh trip!Max was an amazing storyteller - we learned so much from his telling of Edinburgh and whisky history. The choices of whisky offered at this tour were also excellent. We have gone on other whisky tours before, and this tops them all. Cozy atmosphere, great selection of whisky, and captivating storytelling, 5 stars all around.Written 27 November 2024
- sapelo25250 contributionsBest Whisky tour ever!🥃Max was a fabulous Storyteller! The whisky tasting from four different regions were each very different. I learned so many things that were very helpful for me going forward. Thank you so much for your amazing stories!🏴Written 25 November 2024
- N8133QOpaula0 contributionsGreat guide, awesome placeOur guide Max was knowledgeable and entertaining. A great way to see the castle - bringing it to life! Great stories of the past.Written 25 November 2024
- JulesCT0 contributionsInteresting Scottish stories combined with whiskey tasting - a great combination!We loved this experience with Jule. Her storytelling skills are engaging and entertaining. It was wonderful to learn more about whiskey distilling and the history of it as well as other interesting Scottish tales. Just wish there could be a story about a female Scots as all stories involved male characters. I highly recommend this. The venue is lovely and intimate!Written 23 November 2024
- Gabrielamcfok0 contributionsPerfect little escape for a single malt tasting afternoon!Amazing experience. Had a wonderful time. Loved the stories and a great selection of single malts. The location was perfect.Written 20 November 2024
- susanbstl0 contributionsFun and InformativeOut guide Steph was amazing! She gave us lots of great information. Not only did she provide historical background but she also is quite an accomplished storyteller.Written 19 November 2024
- rajatha20240 contributionsUnderstand more about Whiskeys and Scottish history & association with it in a fun and engaging sessionGreat storytelling and an engaging session. Max (guide) knew in depth about whiskeys and their history and presented it in amazing way. If you have a beginner to intermediate level familiarity with whiskeys till now, this'll be perfect. Even if u don't like whiskeys much, I'd suggest giving it a go, since the experience is worth it. Gets to know more about Scotland's history as well.Written 18 November 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinions of Tripadvisor members and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
5.0
1,257 reviews
Excellent
1,190
Very good
42
Average
10
Poor
6
Terrible
9
Merlin A
4 contributions
Sept 2020
A perfect mixture of history, culture and geography, with some of the myths thrown in to lighten the tone. Our guide had a deep knowledge of all these subjects and it was so much better than the skin-deep city tours that are typical. Even though we had done many of the other sites already, I would recommend this tour because it added so much more colour to our stay in Edinburgh.
Written 16 September 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
colin_coulter
London, UK31 contributions
Jun 2021 • Couples
We really enjoyed this 2 hour walking tour of Edinburgh that took in some great sights. Our tour guide Ben gave a light-hearted and informative review of Edinburgh’s long history taking in Edinburgh castle, St Giles’ Cathedral, Greyfriar’s Kirkyard, and pointing out lots of fascinating exterior parts of the city and recounting interesting facts about Edinburgh’s rich history and grand figures. I recommend you do this trip early on in your visit to Edinburgh because it will structure the things you want to do over the next few days!
Written 27 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Matt J
3 contributions
Aug 2021 • Family
Top Drawer!
We booked the Edinburgh Old Town and Tales tour with Little Fish and had John as our guide - he was, in a word, superb!
Genuinely enthusiastic about his subject, clearly knowledgeable about the City's history and, rare as it may be for a tour guide, a native Scot to boot!
Although this wasn't one of the many free tours available with other companies or independent guides, John's tour was fun, engaging and funny. An excellent mix of history, contrasting cultures, modern influences and humour - the 2 hours zipped by and I'd have happily paid for another tour had time allowed.
A great way to start your time in Edinburgh and with many insights of offer into local food, drink, entertainment and wider sights of the city.
Would absolutely book this again.
We booked the Edinburgh Old Town and Tales tour with Little Fish and had John as our guide - he was, in a word, superb!
Genuinely enthusiastic about his subject, clearly knowledgeable about the City's history and, rare as it may be for a tour guide, a native Scot to boot!
Although this wasn't one of the many free tours available with other companies or independent guides, John's tour was fun, engaging and funny. An excellent mix of history, contrasting cultures, modern influences and humour - the 2 hours zipped by and I'd have happily paid for another tour had time allowed.
A great way to start your time in Edinburgh and with many insights of offer into local food, drink, entertainment and wider sights of the city.
Would absolutely book this again.
Written 17 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hanna
1 contribution
Feb 2020
We had a really good tour around Edinburgh with our tour guide Edgar. Even though it was snowing and freezing, he made the trip worth the while. His passion and excitement about the facts and stories regarding the city made it entertaining and fascinating to follow. We would always recommend a tour with Edgar!
Written 11 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ruby R
6 contributions
Aug 2020
We turned up on the off chance of a tour and ended up with the most wonderful experience, Luca brought Edinburgh and Scotland’s rich history and culture to life. He engaged us (Scottish enlightenment and religious reform and politics) and our 10 year olds (fabulous stories) and answered all our obscure questions. He was particularly good with the constant stream of questions from our children! We have experienced tours all over Europe and this is the best we have had. It is not a superficial list of interesting facts. Luca really knows his history. Thoroughly recommended
Written 30 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
carolearoden
Stoke-on-Trent, UK4 contributions
Oct 2021 • Couples
This is definitely a must do tour on your first visit to Edinburgh and it's best to take this tour at the beginning of your stay as you're given so much information and so many useful tips. John, our tour guide for the morning, was a great story teller, giving us so much information, in an amusing and entertaining way, that the 2 hours just sped by. Highly recommended.
Written 24 October 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Yifat H
Vienna, Austria6 contributions
As adults we enjoyed the engaging and funny stories about the history of Edinburgh.
So far so good- it is an interesting tour for adults only.
Now to the less good part - especially if you are a family with young children: contrary to what is advertised it is not a tour suitable for children, adolescents maybe.
Our 6 years old was not interested at all and it didn’t seem fair to bring her along or be charged fee for her to join.
It would also not be a suitable tour for tourists whose English is their second language. The speed of talk would not be easy to follow, also for people who are not used to a local dialect. The majority of our group seemed like local tourists ( e.g. English, Scottish, Welsh). As a foreigner living in the UK for many years I was able to follow the stories, but I can’t imagine people just visiting from abroad being able to follow.
So far so good- it is an interesting tour for adults only.
Now to the less good part - especially if you are a family with young children: contrary to what is advertised it is not a tour suitable for children, adolescents maybe.
Our 6 years old was not interested at all and it didn’t seem fair to bring her along or be charged fee for her to join.
It would also not be a suitable tour for tourists whose English is their second language. The speed of talk would not be easy to follow, also for people who are not used to a local dialect. The majority of our group seemed like local tourists ( e.g. English, Scottish, Welsh). As a foreigner living in the UK for many years I was able to follow the stories, but I can’t imagine people just visiting from abroad being able to follow.
Written 4 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rachel C
4 contributions
Sept 2021 • Couples
If you want to support a small local business, look no further! Ben was a wonderful guide who clearly has a passion for the city of Edinburgh and enjoys sharing this with others. Although quite punny, this is forgiven by Ben’s great depth of knowledge and ever present twinkle in his eye. We learned so much in such a short amount of time and feel well oriented to the history and present day essence of the city. Highly recommend to others!
Written 23 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mary Kay M
5 contributions
Sept 2023 • Friends
Our tour with Sabela was among my very favorite things we did on our 8-day trip to Scotland. We took this tour on our first morning in Edinburgh, and I'm so glad we did. Sabela was incredibly knowledgeable of all the Old Town attractions, and she told us about the sites in a way that was both informative and wry--plus, she explained how the sites linked with each other, too. I would recommend this tour for anyone visiting Edinburgh because this city is so full of history that one can easily walk right past its elements without realizing it. Plus, every time we passed one of the sites on the remainder of our stay, we recognized it and could appreciate it more. It's a great value for the price.
Written 21 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Yishai W
1 contribution
Jul 2021 • Couples
Our guide Luca was so entertaining and knowledgeable about the city and its history . He started the tour by telling us how he has worked all over the world but of all the cities he is an expert in, he chose to live in Edinburgh. That love for the city really shines through in his passionate storytelling, which dances through every topic you can imagine to develop an understanding of how this unique city came to be. My favourite parts were the terrible jokes (obviously), as well as his descriptions of the religious history and the Reformations which were really enlightening.
Going on this tour was the first thing we did after getting off the train from London and I'm so glad it was, as it gave us a great introduction to the history of this beautiful place. If you are visiting Edinburgh, this is an essential part of your trip.
Going on this tour was the first thing we did after getting off the train from London and I'm so glad it was, as it gave us a great introduction to the history of this beautiful place. If you are visiting Edinburgh, this is an essential part of your trip.
Written 28 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Check their website for up-to-date information. When I did it in May it was 10.30 am.
Written 1 August 2022
Hi, we will be there during the week of August 8-12. We are a group of 9, which includes two kids who are 12 and 9. In the reviews I have read, one of the guides (John) was good at keeping the kids interested. Is there any way of assuring that we can get a tour with John?
Written 12 July 2022
Our guide was Fiona and our 11 year old daughter found (and 15 year old son) - as well as the adults - found her to be completely engaging.
Written 16 July 2022
Our tour guide mentioned she does tours year round and that when she does castle tours in winter there are always a few people who don’t realize how windy it is and come out looking quite cold (so yes to January, yes a great guide, yes, dress warmly)
Written 10 July 2022
Does this include the Royal Mile?
Written 16 June 2022
Does this tour include the Royal Mile?
Written 16 June 2022
Buenas tardes queria consultar sobre el tour en español los horarios disponibles para el 15.7. Gracias
Written 5 June 2022
Showing results 1-10 of 25
Buy it with
Top rated
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.