Edinburgh Castle Tour: History and Mystery

1,235 Ratings

Edinburgh

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Discover Edinburgh’s secrets on a 2-hour Royal Mile walking tour. Explore hidden gems, historic sites, and optional Edinburgh Castle visit.

Duration: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

St Giles’ Cathedral - Admire the exterior and listen to its history.
Parliament House - Observe the exterior.
Edinburgh Old Town - Discover on foot and learn its history from your guide.
Royal Mile - Walk with your guide who will share captivating stories.
John Knox House Museum - See the exterior and learn its history with…

What's Included

Exclusive multi-sensory experience with master Storyteller guides
Enhanced, hand-picked sounds of Edinburgh through TourTalk audio devices
Small group experience
Fast track, skip the line entry into Edinburgh Castle

Additional Information

This walking tour offers an ideal introduction to the capital of Scotland. The first secret revealed? You can bypass the queue at Edinburgh Castle!
Delve into Edinburgh’s hidden gems and uncover the essence of Scotland’s capital, away from the typical tour buses and guidebooks. This magnificent city, rich in captivating history, remains beautifully…

Location

Mercat Cross

High Street

Mercat Cross, High St, Edinburgh EH1 1RF. Look for the 8 sided monument with white Unicorn on top. You will find a member of our visitor services team waiting here to check you in. They will be dressed in black, holding an iPad, wearing an orange lanyard & holding a black & orange umbrella.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.8

(1235 Ratings)

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Stevecj3769bu

Jun 13, 2025

The view is worth the walk. - The old city is amazing. The guide was knowledgeable and answered all kinds of questions and provided levity at the right times. The trek up the mile is not for the faint of heart, so wear some comfortable clothes, shoes, and take some water.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Tnmomonvacay

Jun 13, 2025

Great into to Edinburgh! - Marina was a wonderful and entertaining guide on this tour! We learned so much history and what life was like for the citizens of Edinburgh from poor to royal. Marina is funny as well as a wealth of knowledge. We enjoyed the beautiful tour of the old town and the castle! Highly recommend, especially for an introduction to Edinburgh!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Tarynb445

Jun 13, 2025

Teen Approved - Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. Even my preteen and teenager enjoyed the entire tour. A perfect mix of stops and history. Craig was an Outstanding guide.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

225clayw

Jun 12, 2025

Great way to see the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle. - This is a very good company providing a really good walking tour of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and its Castle. We got to the starting point for the tour 20-30 minutes early and were met at Mercat Cross by Rory, who confirmed we were in the right place and that our guide, Nicola, would be there shortly. Nicola arrived as promised and outfitted everyone with a headset and receiver - which really helped on the tour, letting us hear everything that Nicola said. Nicola told us a lot about the Royal Mile, the Castle and Scotland’s history, all presented in a manner that was entertaining as well as informative. A very educational and enjoyable walk.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Climber29459837713

Jun 9, 2025

Guide knew local history - Our guide, Craig, was a font of info on the history of the area. He was competent and efficient, which we truly appreciated. Highly recommend.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Dana

Jun 9, 2025

Great tour of The Royal Mile - Our guide, Nicola, was VERY entertaining and knowledgeable. She explained everything and kept us laughing with her wry jokes. Part of tour was uphill and she paced it beautifully for young and old. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Harry_a

Jun 9, 2025

Cool tour of the mile and the castle - Marina was terrific, funny and extremely knowledgeable. She also does the Ghost tours which i guess are really good too. I definetly recommend this tour tour if you want to learn about the royal Mile and the castle

Review provided by Viator

Travelerborealis

Jun 8, 2025

Great tour into Edinburgh history - I really enjoyed my Mercat tour of Old Town. I was hoping to learn more details about the lives of citizens throughout the years, and this tour delivered. It told the story of Edinburgh's history through the architecture and lives of local characters. The walking was easy, and brought us to some out of the way areas just off the Royal Mile. My tour guide was great and I regret not sticking around for the castle tour as well.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Alex_e

Jun 8, 2025

The Secrets of the Royal... - The Secrets of the Royal mile was both educational and entertaining. Our guide Marina was brilliant and weaved the tale of Edinburgh in an engaging way. I highly recommend this tour.

Review provided by Viator

Nils

Jun 8, 2025

Very good - Professional and nice guide Marina! Suitable pace through the city and nice information is considered. Suitable group size and good technical equipment

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Check Availability

From $68

up to 6 guests

1 - Adult