Edinburgh walking tour suggestions.

When we arrived for first visit to Edinburgh we didn’t consider walking tours but then we bought a lovely little book at Waterstones on Princes Street; that book was great for self guided walks. (I don’t have the title unfortunately because the book is currently back in Edinburgh in use by a friend...read on.)

For self guided walks we used the audio guided walk from RS (which was challenging on a busy noisy Royal Mile), Rick’s pdf guide on phone, and the Lonely Planet’s fantastic tiny Edinburgh book.

Paid guided tours abound in this city. There are several websites with tours available that can be booked in advanced. These guides have a variety of options. Friends of ours highly recommend the ones staffed by local University students. Don’t be afraid to call or email these companies to ask questions in advanced to booking.

We also supplemented our first acclimating to the city by booking the Rabbies 2 hour van tour of Edinburgh. This really helped us to get the local feel and history from a local guide.

Hope this helps! Would love to hear your feedback after your visit!

Visit youtube to locate The Broonfords’ channel. Local fellow has assembled dozens of walking tour clips.

Use the youtube search function to find dozens of clips documenting walking trips of all lengths and stripes.

You’d find the Rick Steves Edinburgh book very helpful but there are four or five similar tour guides on the shelves at Barnes & Noble. Lonely Planet’s is honest and funny and while Fodor’s is extensive and full of maps. The Real Mary’s King Close Tour. Seems the best ghost tours are booked online.

Cityofthedeadtours.com
Mercattours.com
Rebustours.com
Witcherytours.com

I’ve read them all and I’ve watched them all in preparation for a trip in April, 2019. Seems like I could even provide other visitors with directions to half of the major attractions.

Addendum:
Bogisan has GREAT advice!

I forgot to add above:
Go rummaging through past posts here...this topic has already been addressed fairly comprehensively with some fabulous advice from others (with much more experience than me!).

Also, suggest signing up for “This is Edinburgh” newsletter. They post interesting topics a month in advanced. Some past topics include tours. We use this resource frequently.

This is a great tour to do in an evening.
http://www.edinburghliterarypubtour.co.uk/

Hi, Bill,

If you fancy an excellent guided walking tour, or going a little farther afield around the town via public transportation, check out Bill Hill at Edinburgh Tour Guides. He's one of the funniest, and most knowledgeable guides you'll ever want to meet.

Check out Bill's reviews on Trip Advisor. Contact telephone is 011 44 131 259 9275 from the U.S.; or 0131 259 9275 from within Scotland. Mobile (cell phone) number is 011 44 7983 023753 from the U.S., or 07983 023753 from within Scotland.

Have a great time, and stay warm!

Mike (Auchterless)

p.s.: Ask Bill about his days with the Caern Folk Trio.

Thank you very much to all of you for very helpful info. Can’t wait to start investigating all of the options.

The Real Mary King's Close tour is apparently very highly rated by school groups. We didn't have time to do it, but would be interested if we every got a chance to return to Edinburgh.

You could also look at the descriptions, prices, and ratings of the tours listed on this TripAdvisor page https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g186525-Activities-c42-t183-Edinburgh_Scotland.html