Old Town Walking Tour History and Tales in Edinburgh
Recommended by 97% of travellers
Edinburgh, Scotland
- 2 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
This walking tour of Edinburgh is a great choice for first-time visitors who want to get their bearings of the city and learn more about its history. By exploring the city with a guide, you’ll be able to stop looking at a map and focus on enjoying the sites around you. Your guide will teach you about secret places locals love, as well as the Old Town’s most famous sites. Highlights include St. Giles’ Cathedral, the Mercat Cross, Edinburgh Castle, and much more.
- The perfect overview tour for first-time visitors to Edinburgh
- Visit many sites in the UNESCO-listed Old Town in one day
- Exploring Edinburgh with a guide means you won’t get lost
- A walking tour takes you to areas that can’t be accessed by car
What's Included
- Professional guide
- Gratuity
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Loch Ness Discovery Centre, 192 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1RW, UK
192 High Street, next to Adam Smith Statue, outside Caffe Nero. Please look out for the White and Green Umbrella - Little Fish Tours logo
End point
- Edinburgh Old Town, Edinburgh, UK
The tour will end within a 5min walk of the Royal Mile.
Itinerary
1
Edinburgh Old Town
2 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- 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.
- Pushchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- 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
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveller Photos
Reviews
4.9
based on 2,229 reviews
Brad_A, May 2026
This was an excellent tour led by Max of Little Fish Tours. He did an excellent job telling us about the history of Old Town Edinburgh, keeping us entertained while also being honest and vulnerable about the pro’s and con’s of the stories he told us - keeping it real! Thanks, Max for an educational experience along with a good sense of humor!
shaun_s, May 2026
The tour guide was very knowledgeable, charismatic and had a great way of delivering the Scottish history
Hugh_T, May 2026
Informative and sometimes amusing. Learned a lot of history and saw quite a bit of Edinburgh. Minimum words in reviews are annoying
Matt_L, May 2026
Great tour, learned a lot of Edinburgh and Scottish history about a variety of topics and time periods. Koffe was a great guide, entertaining and knowledgeable.
Martha_P, May 2026
Jess has a passion for her town's history. This was a fabulous, friendly, fun tour. I wish my history teacher expressed as much knowledge and fun stories during class. I would have learned a lot more! Highly recommend this tour. We walked through alleys and around the Royal Mile. We got recommendations for future shops, restaurants, and museums. We had a great tour.
Debbie_S, Apr 2026
Luca was a fabulous guide. I loved the history and the stories. Great way to start my time in Edinburgh
Stephanie_S, Apr 2026
Grame was welcoming and so knowledgeable about Edinburgh‘s history. We fell in love with the city of Edinburgh on this walking tour.
Deborah_B, Apr 2026
Wonderful and great historical background to all the spots we walked around. Super interesting and also fun!
JULIANA_D, Apr 2026
Fun and interesting visit. The guide is excelent! We discovered places and stories we would never find out by ourselves.
Dolores_T, Apr 2026
Max made the history fascinating. Very interesting and informative and fun. We are time visitors and learned a lot.
Peter_D, Apr 2026
Very informative and entertaining as well thanks to Greg. We saw a small area of the Old Town but taking in a great deal of interesting local and national history which has enhanced our enjoyment of the rest of our stay.
Daniel_H, Apr 2026
Tour was really fun and informative! Kaffe knew a lot about the history of the city, the buildings and what happened at each location. Some things funny, some things not so funny. Even the rain couldnt dampen his spirit as he proceeded to guide us with a smile. 10/10 would recommend!
Georgie_B, Apr 2026
An amazing way to get your bearings of Edinburgh’s place in history. The guide was a fantastic storyteller and really captured our imagination
andrew_l, Apr 2026
Max was a personable and knowledgeable tour guide. It’s safe to say Max had Maximum knowledge! haha. He kept us entertained while telling us everything there is to know about Edinburg. I highly recommend this tour, my family and I loved it.
Julie_J, Mar 2026
Long walk on cobbled streets up hills. Fine for us but bear in mind fitness levels . Very interesting walk
Neville_B, Mar 2026
Ben was knowledgable, humorous and really engaging. His depth of knowledge was superb. Such a balanced and nuanced history teller.
Cristina_B, Mar 2026
We were so lucky to have the best guide we could have hoped for! As a history graduate from Bristol, they are extremely passionate and knowledgeable. They are also a gifted storyteller and speaker, sharing fascinating stories that kept us on the edge of our seats for two hours.
We are deeply grateful to our guide. It was an afternoon well spent, and we recommend this to anyone who wants to understand Scotland better and appreciate a highly entertaining, expert guide!
Florine_R, Feb 2026
Nice small tour of the old town. Really interesting to know more about edinburgh history. I was lucky to be in a small group
Scott_B, Feb 2026
Easy to find starting point. Our guide was Ben C, he was very knowledgable and entertaining. He presented a good pace and gave just the right amount of information. There were children on the tour and he engaged brilliantly with them, he encouraged questions and chat amongst the group. He kindly looked after the group and ensured their safety on a busy day in Edinburgh. Basically, can’t recommend this trip enough.
Peter_S, Feb 2026
Max is a superb communicator making some very dry history interesting and even amusing. His knowledge of the subject was comprehensive and his love of everything Scottish and Edinburgh in particular obvious. He gave us some good recommendations among which was Oink, surely the most delicious fast food available anywhere in town. We’ll be back in the summer for the Fringe, another guided tour and another hog roast roll. Peter and Margaret Southerden
Dylan_S, Feb 2026
Great tour, and definitely worth doing if you’re in Edinburgh for a short time. There wasn’t much walking involved, but we still managed to see different parts of the old town that we would have otherwise missed, and hear about the related stories.
YekaterinaH, Jan 2026
I took my 16 year old to Edinburgh for a birthday weekend and we loved this tour when we went in January despite the weather.
Not much walking really and the guide was great.
Small_A, Jan 2026
Very fascinating history so interesting . So much to know and appreciate more the places if how much it contributes to the city to make it one of the best in history . My tour guide he makes the stories alive he is brilliant . Highly recommend 5 star . Thank you
Thomas_T, Jan 2026
excellent guide. we made it through a bitter cold day and late afternoon. Looking forward to a return - in warm weather!!
Jacqlen_r, Dec 2025
Greg was a knowledgeable tour guide, a great storyteller and lots of humour. Made us curious to want to learn more about Edinburgh. We‘ll be back.
Henry_S, Dec 2025
Jule was a great story teller and showed lots of places of interest! Its been a great experience and would have given a 5-star rating if she was Scottish, speaking Scottish. Its a personal thing and not against Jule, again I think she did great and derserves 5 stars! When signing up it would help setting the expectation if the tour guide is a Scottish native or not.
Jane_A, Dec 2025
We took the Historic Edinburgh tour on 06 12 25. Euan was our guide and he was excellent. Very knowledgeable and interesting with a dry sense of humour. Euan interacted well with the whole group and everyone appeared to feel included. There was a very pleasant, friendly atmosphere. At the end of the tour, the four us (husband and friends) all thought that we had a good overview of Edinburgh's history even if we southerners weren't entirely convinced that the English Civil War started in Edinburgh due to an ecclesiastical dispute with Charles I although we did admire Euan's patriotism and love of his home town.
Ilayda_A, Dec 2025
A very nice Edinburgh Old Town tour. I learned a lot, and Max guided us in a clear and engaging manner.
Jackie_G, Dec 2025
Excellent tour, interesting and informative.Georgia was very good, very engaging. Tour was just the right length with well timed stop for hot drinks. Thank
You
Molly_R, Nov 2025
This was a great introduction to Edinburgh and Max was a very knowledgeable guide. I did the tour with my mother who was a little nervous about the hilliness of the city but it was very accessible for her.
From USD 24.59
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Old Town Walking Tour History and Tales in Edinburgh
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