This private walking tour explores Edinburgh's Old Town to show how the city grew from a medieval burgh into an international hub. The guide tells stories of kings, queens, battles and sieges, talks about the Scottish Reformation and looks at the city's cultural scene, from its writers and books to the Fringe Festival.
The tour starts at the Castle Esplanade, with views over the city and the place where the Edinburgh Military Tattoo takes place, and heads downhill along Victoria Street, the most picturesque and colorful street in Edinburgh, to the Grassmarket, a large square famous for its pubs and its dark past. Along Candlemaker Row you reach the statue of Greyfriars Bobby, the city's most famous dog, just outside the entrance to Greyfriars Kirkyard. In this historic graveyard, the guide explains what mortsafes are and the connection between the Scottish Covenanters and the George Mackenzie Mausoleum.
You then enter the National Museum of Scotland to walk through the Grand Gallery and see some of its highlights, including the Viking chess pieces and Pictish carved stones, with time for a coffee and a rest. After that, you head along Cowgate to the Royal Mile, where the guide explains where its name comes from and talks about St. Giles' Cathedral, its architecture and the history of the Presbyterian religion, as well as West Parliament Square and the Act of Union. Behind the cathedral is the Mercat Cross, once the site of public announcements and punishments. Further along, you explore some of the closes, the narrow, dark alleyways of the Royal Mile, and hear the stories of those who once lived there, and you stop outside John Knox House.
As this is a private tour, the visit is exclusively for your group.