• Private Tour
• Instantly Confirmed
• Carbon Neutral

Curious to know more about Edinburgh’s history? Join a local history expert on an insightful tour that will show you a side of the city that can’t be found in any book. This experience will open your eyes to the past and origins of Edinburgh from a local perspective as you learn about Robert Louis Stevenson.

Destination

Edinburgh, Scotland

Category

City Highlight Tours

Duration

3 hours

Transport mode

Walking tour

Available languages

English

Included

• Private guide
• CO2 Neutral: all tours carbon emissions are offset

What you can expect

Choose your local

Get to know these 4 passionate locals, each bringing unique perspectives and talents. Choose your favorite, check their availability, and book to create an unforgettable adventure tailored to you.

This is the plan

Check out the plan below to see what you'll get up to with your local host. Feel free to personalize this offer with the host of your choice.

1. Meeting point

   Meet at Outside of Leo's Beanery - Edinburgh to start your journey

   View on Maps

2. Itinerary

   This is what our experience could look like, but it’s not set in stone! Once you book, you can chat directly with your host to make small tweaks to suit your preferences.

3. Robert Louis Stevenson

   Your history tour in Edinburgh will focus on Robert Louis Stevenson. Learn the impacts, insights and hear stories related to this historic event from your knowledgeable host. Discover the city as you retrace history and go in-depth on the effects this part of history has on Edinburgh

4. Historical Highlights

   Check out main landmarks related to the theme of your history tour and connect their relevance through fantastic stories and facts from your expert local host

5. Hidden Treasures

   During your tour, you’ll also uncover hidden gems that will show you a different perspective of history as you know it, something you can’t easily find in a history book!

6. Storytelling Journey

   As you discover the historical side of Edinburgh, you’ll be able to go back in time thanks to the amazing stories and storytelling skills of your local host. Feel free to ask any questions and feel as if you are relieving history in the present time

7. Make it yours

   Want to tweak the itinerary? Book directly & chat afterwards with your host to adjust highlights, skip stops, or make small changes to fit your preferences.

   Book risk-free: Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund.

   Need something special? Personalize your experience for more time, alternative locations or a completely tailored plan.

Flexible cancellation policy

• Feel confident booking

  Cancel within 24 hours for a full refund. Even up to 7 days before your experience, you’ll receive a refund, minus the service fee.

• Change of plans?

  Reschedule your experience to a date and time that works best for you.

• Loved by travelers worldwide

  Simple and flexible – your plans, your way.

Reviews from guests

DeEtta G🇺🇸 United States

(About local Monica)

15 August 2024

Such a pleasure to meet Monica and have her be our tour guide! She is professional and knowledgeable about Scotland, as well as personable and entertaining, with fascinating stories about Scotland's history. She is truly a people person, enjoys getting to know you and adapts her guidance to suit your interests. Joyful!

Jana

(About local Alec)

24 April 2024

Marvellous Edinburgh city and its history introduced by highly educated and friendly local Alec - highly recommended! Jana and LukasHistory of Edinburgh

Saskia

(About local Gains)

5 March 2025

Gains waited for us at the hotel lobby in the new city and took us for a two hour walk, through the new city to the old city and the castle for another hour. We experienced an outstanding three hours of historic lecture, learned a lot and heard a lot of fun facts too. Gains knows a great deal about the city and it's history and we probably could have spent another three hours to learn even more about the city. Highly recommended! Very knowledgable sympathetic guide

miranda

(About local Monica)

24 February 2025

Konrad

(About local Alec)

16 February 2025

We definitely recommend a private tour with Alec for the first moment you arrive in Edinburgh. We enjoyed the whole tour from the first moment and it was a great start to our long weekend. It was very informative and interesting. It was lovely to hear all the stories from Alec. Awesome way to know the city

andrewmackay48

(About local Monica)

16 February 2025

I visited for my first time, we took a tour of the castle, stopped in a fantastic little pub, walked through greyfriar etc. Thoroughly enjoyed my trip and Monica was supper friendly and made my trip a memorable one by making a few amendments by request. Including a picture with the grave of he who shall not be named for my daughter. Fantastic experience

Alan🇮🇪 Ireland

(About local Alec)

9 February 2025

Very informative and thought provoking tour with Alec. Lots of history (naturally) laced with plenty of good humour. Real privilege getting to see the Thistle Chapel in St Giles Cathedral.Edinburgh Old Town Tales

Charles🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Alec)

8 February 2025

Exploring the Edinburgh castle with Alec was a wonderful experience and was a highlight of out trip. He is super knowledgable, attentive and has a very warm personality. My wife and I are looking forward coming back to Edinburgh and have Alec show us more of the wonders of the city. The perfect guide

Maria🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Alec)

2 February 2025

We had an absolutely fabulous tour of Edinburgh with Alec. We saw all of the key sights in the old town which is beautiful. Alec was extremely knowledgeable and was full of stories which were enlightening and funny! Alec was a pleasure to spend our afternoon with and we would highly recommend him as a tour guide. Thank you so much.Cannot recommend Alec enough

Johanna

(About local Alec)

1 February 2025

Alec met us in front of the Royal Mile Whiskies right on time and took us on a very interesting and entertaining historic tour through Edinburgh. He was very knowledgeable and a good storyteller, with many details that only locals know. We had three lovely hours with this guide, although our expectation was that we would have a food tour with ten different samples of local food and some culinary explanation. So, a great experience, although not what we expected.History tour

Tania🇨🇦 Canada

(About local Alice)

28 January 2025

We had a wonderful time on The Hidden Gems of Edinburgh Tour with Alice as a family of 4 with 2 school age kiddos. Alice told wonderful and engaging stories for everyone while taking us around to local spots! We would definitely suggest her for a tour.Fun Family Tour

Melonie🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Alec)

12 January 2025

Our time in Edinburgh was really special thanks to Alec. In our short time together, he shared many of Edinburgh’s hidden gems and interesting historical stories. We would never have learned all of the neat things he shared roaming Edinburgh on our own. We can’t say enough great things about Alec and his fun, energetic personality. We will be back to tour with Alec again!Edinburgh with a pro!

cbgs2w9mpg

(About local Alice)

3 January 2025

Alice showed us all the interesting sites while weaving in Scottish history and folklore. She gave us excellent suggestions on things to see, places to eat. Her stories were so theatrical you thought you were watching a play unfold.She was also very kind and lovely.The Deacon Brodie Tour

Mary🇺🇸 United States

(About local Alec)

3 January 2025

Don’t hesitate if you are thinking of booking the city kickstarter tour. ALEC personalized our tour and it met our needs perfectly. I highly recommend both him and this tour on your arrival to Edinburgh. My granddaughter and myself are thankful to have done this. Thank you again, Alec. Local knowledge helps to plan your trip

JILL

(About local Alice)

2 January 2025

Stuart🇺🇸 United States

(About local Alec)

25 December 2024

The tour with Alec was great. In addition to a cutting witty humor, Alec was full of interesting facts only a local would know. His intimate connection and love for his city was evident and made for a lovely tour experience. Absolutely worth it. Excellent Experience

Simon🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Alec)

15 December 2024

We took a 90 minute tour with Alec which was a great introduction to the city Alec has an amazing depth of knowledge relating to the history of the city and he was happy to share this with us. I would highly recommend him and will certainly book him again on my return.Wonderful Edinburgh

Pascal🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Alec)

14 December 2024

Starting off, Alec is simply amazing and a well of information! We had a blast walking the Royal Mile, looking at lots of details and getting funny and interesting insights into things to see in Edinburgh. Would not have wanted to miss it for the world and would him straight away for next time. As a matter of fact - we will for when we get back to visit the Highlands 🤩Alex is a MUST-BOOK when in Edinburgh!!!

Robin🇺🇸 United States

(About local Monica)

12 December 2024

Monica was a fantastic tour guide! Very accommodating to customize our tour so that we could see everything we wanted on our day. I will definitely use her again when I return to the area. Wonderful Tour!

Sonja🇨🇭 Switzerland

(About local Alice)

9 December 2024

Our tour with Alice was fantastic, she explained us the most intresting storys about the history of Edinburgh, all by heart. It was easy to follow her because she has'nt got a strong accent. We totally forgot to freeze in the cold wind, because her speech was so thrilling and it was like a dive into Edinburgh history. I can totally recommend this tour and would definetely book her again. A dive into the history of Edinburgh!

Margaret

(About local Alice)

30 October 2024

Alice was a fun, informative guide. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with her and would definitely choose her again.Fabulous experience

Estelle🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Alice)

27 October 2024

Alice was a fantastic tour guide and very engaging. We very much enjoyed our tour with her and learning about this wonderful city. Her stories were captivating and she has a lovely way about her. Would definitely recommend Alice!A great tour of the lovely Edinburgh

lynda🇺🇸 United States

(About local Alec)

25 October 2024

1

Alec was an amazing historian and story teller. He exposed us to areas and stories we would most definitely have missed. The city tour was diversified and Alec was accommodating, adapting the tour to our mobility concerns. 10+++Fantastic Edinburgh city tour

Mark🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Alec)

25 October 2024

6y5ywzrcby

(About local Monica)

22 October 2024

My husband and I had an amazing tour with Monica in late September. She was very personable and we felt like old friends fairly quickly. Her knowledge of the City and history was perfect. She gave wonderful recommendations for things to do and places to eat/drink for the rest of our stay, and they all turned out to be perfect. One of her pub recommendations was so good that we went there a few times over the course of the week. We’d absolutely recommend Monica for anyone looking for a good walking tour.We had a wonderful tour with Monica!

Rebekah🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

(About local Alice)

19 October 2024

We had a fantastic tour with Alice. She was knowledgeable, funny, and accommodating throughout our tour. We learned so much about Edinburgh and Alice gave great recommendations for places to visit. The amazing stories really made our experience there all the more magical! Thank you, Alice!Amazing storyteller

Gabrielle🇩🇪 Germany

(About local Alice)

16 October 2024

Alice is an exceptional guide and storyteller, truly one of the best we've ever had. Her charming and engaging personality, combined with her impressive knowledge and storytelling abilities, made our tour of Edinburgh an unforgettable experience. Alice's captivating tales of the city's rich history and folklore brought the streets and landmarks to life, leaving us with a profound appreciation for the city. Her witty and humorous delivery kept us entertained throughout the tour, making it an absolute delight. We highly recommend Alice to anyone seeking an authentic and immersive Edinburgh experience. Her passion for the city is contagious, and she has a remarkable talent for making every step feel like a journey through time.Edinburgh's Amazing Guide and Storyteller

Denice

(About local Alice)

15 October 2024

Alice was a funny, engaging, charming guide for my husband and I. We interacted extremely well and loved her storytelling finesse. We peppered her with many questions and she was up to the challenge. We probably kept her from showing us a few things but we didn't mind. You'll love her enthusiasm. Delightful in every way

Birgitta🇩🇪 Germany

(About local Alec)

13 October 2024

My daughter and I had a lovely time with Alec despite the not so welcoming weather (rain and hail). He had answers to all our questions and was pleasant to listen to. He was very knowledgeable with a good sense of humor. We highly recommend him.Fun and knowledgeable tour

Larry

(About local Alec)

12 October 2024

Alec was a friendly and knowledgeable guide. He was flexible when it came to what we were interested in eating. Highly recommend you spend some time with Alec in Edinburgh.Great fun

Liza

(About local Alec)

7 October 2024

We booked Alec for a food tasting tour around Edinburgh old town on a busy Saturday. Alec was extremely friendly, polite, approachable and knowledgable. It was great to hear tales of bygone era as well as from Alec’s own childhood in the town. Many of the historical sites we visited we may have just walked on past and not fully appreciated but Alec really brought the history to life. I wouldn’t recommend eating anything prior to your tour as we were well fed (the Greggs lorne sausage being a highlight). Thanks Alec for sharing your knowledge and for being a top tour guide. A brilliant experience

Erin🇺🇸 United States

(About local Alec)

6 October 2024

Alec was a delight. Witty, professional and knowledgeable- couldn’t ask for anything more from a tour. We had the best time learning about Edinburgh from him. Absolutely book Alec. Exceptional guide & tour!

Mathilde🇳🇱 Netherlands

(About local Alec)

3 October 2024

This was probably the highlight of our weekend in Edinburgh! Alec is a fantastic guide, very knowledgeable about history and his city, it was a real pleasure to discover Edinburgh with him. He also gave us great tips on other things to do and discover in our own time, and recommended some other good food places to try. One thing to clarify, before booking the tour I saw other reviews mentioning the fact that the title of the tour "The 10 tastings of Edinburgh" was misleading as there were less than 10 dishes. This was true in our case, so maybe the title and the description of the tour should be amended to reflect that better. We tried 6 different dishes in total, and those were all delicious and a true discovery! I would definitely recommend the tour to other people, especially if you are lucky enough to get Alec as a guide, but with the caveat that you will most likely not get the 10 dishes as advertised in the title. However, it's still a tour that is 100% worth your time!! Great tour, great food, great guide!!

Jeffrey🇺🇸 United States

(About local Svend-Erik)

30 September 2024

We had a wonderful tour with Svend on the morning of Sept 17. We were staying at the Hilton, so it was less than a 2 minute walk to the start of the tour. We've been to Edinburgh before, but Svend showed us things and told us stories that we had never heard or seen before. We spent 3 days in Edinburgh and based on all the great new information he provided us we need to plan another trip. We walked up most of the Royal mile, stopping off at several of the closes with good stories in each. We then went up to see Bobbie the dog and went into Greyfriars church yard. We ended up at the National Museum where the tour ended at the milleninum clock. The best part was that Svend modified the tour on-the-fly based on our conversations during the tour. I cannot recommend him high enough.Best tour we've ever had

Mona🇺🇸 United States

(About local Alec)

29 September 2024

Alec was a few minutes late but all was forgiven when it was because the King was in town (and last minute road closure) as his procession went right past the meeting point! Alec was a informative, intelligent, articulate and funny- a good time was had by the 3 of us!Excellent time!

Suzanne

(About local Svend-Erik)

28 September 2024

Thanks for all the background history etc on the castle & Mary Queen of Scots. We learned a lot and surprisingly had plenty of time. Suzanne Enough time

Francesca🇨🇭 Switzerland

(About local Monica)

21 September 2024

Wir waren mit Monica unterwegs und haben vieles entdeckt, was uns ansonsten entgangen wäre. Eintauchen in diese mystische Stadt war unglaublich spannend und auch wenn ich schon mehrmals vor Ort war, es war einfach bereichernd. Danke, Monica für diese wunderbare Erfahrung! Versteckte Winkel

Nancy🇺🇸 United States

(About local Alice)

17 September 2024

We were a group of eight who absolutely loved our tour with Alice! She was very lively, had a great grasp of all the history of the area, and knew so many hidden gems to direct us to. Her storytelling was exceptional and vivid, and I would highly recommend her!So informative and entertaining!

Chris🇺🇸 United States

(About local Alec)

11 September 2024

Great walk through Edinburgh with Alec. His knowledge of the city and its history was fantastic and the bites along the way were great. Haggis was top notch. Thanks. History and Food

rilsche🇩🇪 Germany

(About local Alec)

8 September 2024

Alec was such a nice Guide. We had a great time with him. The tour in Edinburgh was very intersting and also funny. Thank you veryGreat time with a great guy

Mavin🇨🇦 Canada

(About local Alice)

7 September 2024

My husband and I booked two walking trips with Alice. First was the 90 minute Kickstarter Tour for the afternoon when we first arrived in Edinburgh. The second was next day’s Edinburgh Castle Tour. Alice was very friendly, informed and entertaining. Alice is a delightful historian, who obviously knows and loves the city very well. She was also able to quickly detour when it began raining and ducked us into the courts, which were of particular interest to us. We would highly recommend Alice to any traveller, who would like to learn more about Edinburgh, hear some interesting stories made even more fascinating by Alice, the storyteller.Alice Makes Edinburgh Come Alive

Kathleen🇦🇺 Australia

(About local Alice)

7 September 2024

Alice was amazing her story telling was so much fun. She was very informative. When next in Edinburgh I would choose Alice again !!Fantastic guide

Mike🇺🇸 United States

(About local Svend-Erik)

7 September 2024

This is definitely the way to tour the castle. Svend-Erik did a great job of telling the story behind each aspect of the castle and then gave us time to check out that part of the castle ourselves. Would definitely recommend it!Thoroughly enjoyable!

Katie🇺🇸 United States

(About local Svend-Erik)

5 September 2024

Terrific experience with Svend-Erik who was super knowledgeable about all things Scotland (at least to us) from a very complicated history with details to keep us all engaged to fun facts about the castle itself. He was very attuned to our interests and adjusted the pace to suit our needs. I'm sure we could have learned much more with extra time but the 2 hrs was really just right--as my brain felt full at that point and I was ready for a rest! Exceptional Scottish history with a flare

Liz🇨🇦 Canada

(About local Alec)

2 September 2024

We only had an hour and a half tour booked with Alec, which he extended an extra 15 minutes......yet the wealth of information that was intriguing, enlightening, and comical in that brief time was so extensive and interesting that I wrote probably my longest ever Facebook post describing our experience. If you have only a short time, Alec will give you a jam packed experience. We were only there for one day as a cruise ship port, but Alec showed us such a taste of Edinburgh's rich history and colored past that it is the one port we want to return to and spend a week....and when we do we'll book Alec again and do a much longer tour!Nonstop stories and oddities...fantastic!

Lissa Barr🇺🇸 United States

(About local Monica)

2 September 2024

Monica and her kindness, insight and wisdom made Edinburgh even more magical!!! She took us to very local places and gave us incredible insight on how to make our stay memorable!!!! She is the ABSOLUTE BEST tour guide we’ve ever had!!! Do yourself a huge favor and book all your tours with Monica!!!! She personized our tour and we were amazed at her knowledge and wisdom!!!Monica is THE BEST! She made it magical!!!

Karen🇬🇧 United Kingdom

(About local Alec)

30 August 2024

Alec met us punctually and in a friendly approachable manner . His walk and tour was engaging and informative with plentiful snippets of things you would have to dig deep into history books to find . Would happily recommend Alec to anyone wishing for a tour in Edinburgh Friendly , informative and engaging

Tara🇺🇸 United States

(About local Alec)

24 August 2024

Alec was a great tour guide! It was the perfect balance of local food tastings mixed with history/information about the city. Would definitely recommend!Amazing tour of Edinburgh!!

Jeff 🇺🇸 United States

(About local Monica)

21 August 2024

We had the privilege of taking a tour of Edinburgh with Monica in July. We enjoyed it very much. She is a very knowledgeable and quick to answer any questions we had about the Edinburgh. We would definitely meet Monica again for a future tour and maybe tour another area of beautiful Edinburgh. Thank you for great recommendations as well! We tried the Cullen Skink it was delicious!!

Nancy🇺🇸 United States

(About local Alice)

18 August 2024

Alice was very nice and did a great job on our tour of Edinburgh Castle. Thank you!Knowledgeable guide with theatrical flair!