Edinburgh Unusual History Walking Tour

If you like your history a little deeper and more unusual, these new walking tours of the Royal Mile may be perfect!
Building on more than 6 years of unbroken five star reviews for his private touring, your guide Dr Moray Grigor will be delighted to welcome you into the rich and strange history of Scotland’s capital, as he brings you traditional tales of the Royal Mile and its historic events and characters.

In this uppermost section of the street (Monday tour) , we’ll hear of drunken judges, crazy clubs, religious fanatics, rebel ladies, fake news, philosophers, sieges, and hear why a pet blackbird was arrested! Annual building works permitting we’ll also enjoy the views from the Castle Esplanade.

Hear the sounds of Scots and Gaelic poetry and song (with translation), and tales that will stir the imagination and bring our history to life.

Experience the care, attention and warm Edinburgh welcome that brought six years of unbroken five stars!

Meeting Point

Statue of Walter Francis Montagu Douglas Scott

Queensberry Memorial to Walter Scott, W Parliament Sq, Edinburgh EH1 1RN, UK

We meet at the west end of the square, opposite the main door of St. Giles' Cathedral - your guide will be clearly liveried in 7 Hills Tours jacket.

What's included:

• Tour guiding services

What to expect:

Duration: 2 hours

Adam Smith Statue

Parliament Square, Edinburgh

We begin the tour by meeting Adam Smith, kingpin of Edinburgh's intellectual golden age; we'll be following his life and career as the tour progresses. What was the unusual medical prescription for his teenage psychological breakdown? All will be revealed!

10 minutes

Deacon Brodie's Tavern

435 Lawnmarket, , Edinburgh, EH1 2NT

We'll pass this historic Tavern, where we'll hear the story of Edinburgh's most infamous criminal, and how he inspired Edinburgh author Robert Louis Stevenson to create one of the most iconic characters in the world of literature.

10 minutes

Lawnmarket

Lawnmarket, Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH1 2NT

Working our way up the street itself and passing through its back courts, we'll be sharing stories of the street's history and the characters who enriched it - Weir the Wizard, the Bowhead Saints, Lady Stair, Lord Newton, Patrick Geddes, and the great Rabbie Burns, to name just a few!

40 minutes

Castlehill

East of the Esplanade and west of Lawnmarket, , Edinburgh

Here in the uppermost section of the Royal Mile, we'll hear stories of the great literary critic Dr Johnson's time in Edinburgh, as well as learning how Edinburgh solved its water crisis in 1674; we'll also pass the former palace of Marie de Guise, mother of iconic Mary, Queen of Scots

30 minutes

Edinburgh Castle Esplanade

Castle Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2NG

Annual construction works permitting, we'll visit the 'top of the town' - a wonderful spacious plaza with magnificent Edinburgh Castle as backdrop. Here we'll look out across the Lothians and Fife, and hear stories of King James VI, Allan Ramsay and Bonnie Prince Charlie; also we'll hear about what Edinburgh youth got up to on Saturday afternoons before sports were invented!

30 minutes