Old Town Historical and Underground Tour
Recommended by 96% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Edinburgh, Scotland
- 1 hour 30 minutes (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Get an in-depth perspective on Edinburgh on this guided tour that goes deeper than most. Usually led by a guide with a PhD in Scottish history, this tour offers a journey through Edinburgh’s medieval Old Town from the main thoroughfares to the hidden closes (alleyways) and courtyards. Your guide shares tales of dramatic events in the neighborhood's history, as well as those of the writers, philosophers, and inventors who called the area home.
- Led by either the holder of a PhD in Scottish history or a guide with decades of experience
- Relaxed pace: Take the opportunity to ask questions
- Offers an insight into Scottish history glossed over by many tours
- Includes visits to Canongate Kirkyard and the underground vaults
What's Included
- 90 Minute tour of Edinburgh’s Old Town and South Bridge vaults.
- Tour led by a well trained, highly knowledgeable and personable guide.
- Relaxed nature of the tour allows for plenty of questions and further discussion.
- Learn about the extraordinary events which shaped this great city.
- Access to our exclusive section of underground.
- For those who want to learn more about Edinburgh’s past this tour is a must do!
- N/A
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- 124 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1QS, UK
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
1
City of Edinburgh Tours
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 28 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.8
based on 1,928 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Our guide, Morten, was knowledgeable, relatable and friendly. It was an interesting tour that gave a unique perspective on the history and development of t of Edinburgh.
Our guide was excellent and full of interesting information about the underground’s of Edinburgh. My complaint is that the group was too large for the spaces in which she took us. It was difficult to hear (and breathe at times). This tour should be limited to 15 people.
There is alot of walking. Quick pace and steps involved. Bit claustrophobic underground. Interesting stories from our very experienced guide
Tour was insightful and entertaining! Morven went above and beyond with giving a thorough tour of the old parts of Edinburgh.
Great little look underground and giving some of the old town of Edinburgh! I would recommend if you fancied something to do!
This was a great tour. Our guide (French) was very knowledgeable and gave us quite a bit of history and context starting below ground and throughout royal mile. I highly recommend if you are visiting the city. BTW, To meet with the group, look for the little white kiosk outside of Starbucks!
Aurore was amazing. Her depth of knowledge on Scottish history added a lot to the tour by giving important historical context to the sites we saw. Even though it was raining, we enjoyed ourselves.
The guide was very knowledgeable and the tour was interesting. The tour of the vaults was short, just two vaults. Much of the tour was outside on the Royal Mile. The group was too large for the tour guide - she was soft spoken and it was hard to hear at times. I was suprised after checking in, that the guide left without acknowledging we were on her tour.
This was a a wonderful tour filled with information not found in the bus tours. We learned about life in historical Edinburgh from Chihon our incredibly knowledgeable and fun guide. Highly recommend if you want a different perspective on the history.
The meeting place is in front of Starbucks.
Our tour guide was exceptional. She knew her history of Edinburgh in the 16th and 17th centuries. The tunnels under the South bridge were very interesting.
Highly recommend this tour .. with Aurore!!!
Very knowledgeable , personable and engaging. She included the various nationalities of tour members by relevance to Scottish history. Brought history to life !! 👍👍
Very informative & interesting tour. Lots of Edinburgh history. Our guide Morven was great. We would recommend this tour.
Auronz was extremely knowledgeable and informative, making for a very interesting tour, both underground and above ground. She covered a lot of ground and a lot of information. I do feel that the tour would have benefited from use of Vox or Whisper type of headphone system. As it was, traffic and crowd noise was distracting at times and made it difficult to hear everything. Use of these would have also allowed Auronz to cover some of the material as we walked, rather than having to walk VERY fast to each spot and talk VERY fast before moving on.
Saturn was a very entertaining guide and we were thrilled to see the hidden passageways. This tour was an hour and a half and I can say I never would've found the things that Saturn showed us in such a short time. He was a nice knowledgeable guide also. The directions to find the meeting point were very clear. The ticket redemption was very quick and the Guide right there at the redemption point so it was seamless from start to finish.
Morven our guide was so knowledgeable and gave great historical detail. I learned so much even although I was brought up in Edinburgh. She brought the history to life through the stories (without the corny ghost parts). The underground part of the tour was fascinating and even although it's dark and the spaces relatively small, it didn't feel claustrophobic although it might for some people. Cannongate Kirk is also steeped in history and Morven's knowledge of the witch trials was impressive. I thoroughly recommend the tour.
Tour operator: City of Edinburgh Tours
Tour we were on: The Old Town Historical and Underground tour
The tour was marred by how it began, but more on that later. The tour guide was very pleasant with a quiet confidence. While the underground vault was interesting, it's only a small part of the tour.
It was my misfortune to meet the owner on what should have been an enjoyable outing.
- Arrived 5 minutes before the tour began in full view of the tour guide
- The man in the booth scanned our tickets demanding to know where my husband was. I said he would be right with us. He went from 0-60 in his manner and aggressively said “We have other people on this tour you know! We are NOT waiting just for YOU.”
I actually hate confrontation and I was taken aback by his attitude. I gathered myself enough to politely state:
1. That I hadn’t asked the tour to wait
2. That I wouldn’t dream of asking anyone to wait and repeated that my husband would catch us up and that he was a minute away. I then got a tirade of verbal abuse from him that - ironically - prevented me from joining the tour group.
I was so shocked that I walked away from the booth while he was mid-stream of his verbal diarrhoea and then he audibly complained about me to the other employee in the booth. This was in front of the guide and the other four participants on the tour. I had done nothing to warrant this treatment and if we hadn’t paid in advance online, I would have left there and then.
Maybe he had had a really bad day, but his aggression and rudeness came from nowhere and I spent the rest of the tour trying to process what I had experienced. I was genuinely appalled to find out from the tour guide that he was David and he was the owner. The tour guide said she hadn’t had to deal with him much in the past, which suggests he isn’t often customer facing…Now I know why.
At the end of the tour, I was so upset that my husband went back to the booth. David wasn’t there but we got his number and he rang David. My husband is a very level and diplomatic man so he rang to understand why he was so aggressive to me and why he felt that was acceptable behaviour. David refused to budge an inch, refused to admit any wrongdoing and made no effort to make amends or reparations for his actions.
Encountering the owner David was the low point of my entire trip to Edinburgh. The way you speak to people is absolutely unacceptable. You shouldn’t be anywhere near a customer facing role and I’m sorry for the staff who have to work for you.
Conclusion
There are so many other tour operators that offer a similar product and don’t go out of their way to upset customers. Avoid this company at all costs; The owner doesn’t deserve your custom.
Good tour. Guide was very knowledgeable. Only issues are she needs to slow down and talk a little slower.
Really enjoyable and interesting tour inside the underground vaults and also around the City as well. Our guide was Holly and she was very knowledgeable about the history of the vaults and the City. Not a tour for you if you don’t like dark enclosed spaces, but it wasn’t frightening. We would definitely recommend as a way to understand how Edinburgh developed.
Emilie our guide was superb, encylopaedic knowledge put across in a relaxed humorous way. The tour was excellent, thoroughly recommend it.
The guide was very knowledgeable and kept it interesting.
Wear comfortable shoes cause there is some steps, and uneven ground surfaces.
Saturn/Frederick was excellent! Knowledgeable, entertaining and a pleasure to follow around Edinburgh. We heard well rehearsed stories and anecdotes of Scottish history as we walked around the city and saw what was left of the tales. It was a very easy pace so would be accessible for mixed age groups but the shallow winding staircase made it not suitable for those with physical challenges. It's mostly outdoors so dress appropriately! Thoroughly enjoyed it, would recommend!
Great tour with Morven. Really interesting content. Learnt lots and kept my interest. Good balance with more dark & disturbing history, and more light content. Found it all fascinating. Plenty of opportunity for photos of the beautiful architecture, too!
We enjoyed this tour with Sessions. I hadn’t seen the underground vaults before so it was interesting to hear how they were used and how they were discovered under South Bridge. There were lots of great details about the buildings and notables of the Old Town.
Really interesting tour with lots of history about Edinburgh. Holly was excellent and knowledgeable.
Instructive and entertaining journey through Edinburgh's early history. James, our tour guide was superb!
Very good experience, entertaining and informative. Went with my friend and Definitely recommend it!
Our guide was Chichon he was excellent. Very knowledgeable, good fun and made the tour interactive and fun for all.
The tour was very interesting and informative. Our guide was fantastic at explaining the historical context of each place we visited.
Very lively for guide Emily really played the part. It was like a living waking history lesson that was fun.
Tour was taken by Emilie who was in costume and character. A informative lively experience where we learnt a lot.
(Serious, but also good for also involving the younger ones)
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