Edinburgh Castle Guided Walking Tour in English

Badge of ExcellenceEdinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh Castle Walking Tour Complete With Skip The Line Entry

1 hour 30 minutes
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Skip the line on your visit to one of Scotland's most popular attractions on this Edinburgh Castle walking tour. Walk up the Royal Mile toward to the castle with your guide while they share insight into the significance of the fortification in Scottish history and introduce you to some of the key characters associated with it. Once inside, explore the main buildings as your guide provides further details about such elements as the one o'clock gun, the Argyle Battery, and the castle dungeons.

1.5-hour guided tour of Edinburgh Castle
Get in-depth insight into the history of Edinburgh Castle from your guide
Approach the castle with a walk up the Royal Mile, just as the ancient royals did

What's Included

Local guide
Entry Fees

Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

192 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1RW, UK
Tour departs from outside Café Nero on the Royal Mile besides the statue of Adam Smith. Just look for our green and white umbrellas.

End point

Edinburgh Castle
Castlehill, Edinburgh EH1 2NG, UK

What To Expect

Meet your guide and group at a centrally located spot on the Royal Mile. Walk together toward Edinburgh Castle while your guide shares stories about the castle’s history and some of the key characters associated with it.

Upon arrival at Edinburgh Castle, bypass the long line to enter with your skip-the-line admission ticket. Your guide leads you around the sprawling grounds and provides more details about such notable features as the castle dungeons and Crown Jewels, as well as what to look out for inside.

Then, your guide leaves you alone to explore the castle buildings at your own pace.

Edinburgh Castle

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately.
Although much of the tour is done inside the castle complex, this will not be under cover.
Bags over 30L in volume are not permitted inside the castle and the castle does not provide a locker system for the storage of luggage.
Service animals allowed

Tour DOES NOT MEET AT THE CASTLE, the tour begins from our start point at 192 High Street, by the statue of Adam Smith
Near public transportation
Travelers 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
Edinburgh Castle is built on top of the core of an old volcano, the ground is often uneven and at times steep. Be prepared to be on your feet for the full duration of the tour. People with mobility issues may not get the most from this tour.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

2,766 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 2,766 reviews

Edingburg castle at it’s best!

Carmen_C, May 2024

Our guide, Euen, was a super guide who knew his topic well. He kept the tour funny and light with plenty laughs in between. The history of the castle was very educational, especially that most of it had been destroyed and rebuilt. Awesome!

Georgia, enthusiastic guide to make our visit memorable

Laurie_R, May 2024

Our guide, Georgia, was very personable, knowledgeable and most enthusiastic with the history and tales of the Edinburgh Castle. She made the trip enjoyable and gave us recommendations on where to spend more time. Thank you! Laurie and Tom

Graham was the BEST tour guide! :)

Kaitlyn_K, May 2024

Graham was the best tour guide! He was incredibly knowledgeable and his passion for Edinburgh Castle and its amazing history made the tour for us! Would definitely recommend this tour to all!

Really informative and...

Lee_C, May 2024

Really informative and fun tour of Edinburgh Castle. Our tour guide Euan was very knowledgeable and friendly. Would definitely recommend it. Just remember to wrap up warm as most of it is outside!

Go see the castle

Angela_H, May 2024

Angus was an excellent guide. We love the stories and history. Our group was 16 people, I believe, and he was really great at making sure we all had time to see what we wanted to see. Lovely personality. Thank you

Informative and fun

Pamela_D, May 2024

Jules our guide was great! She is a great story teller making the history of the castle come alive! We heard the 1 pm gun go off at the castle which was exciting. Would highly recommend this tour.

Ben was a terrific and knowledgeable tour guide

Tom_H, May 2024

Tour started promptly at the appointed time and we then walked up the hill to the castle. Ben, though acknowledging he was from England, had a fantastic amount of history about the castle and area. He pointed out several points of interest we might wish to visit in the castle that were not conducive for larger groups to visit at one time. Definitely a five star tour. Thank you, Ben.

Excellent guide Angus

Jonas_i, May 2024

Tour was very good. The guide Angus was expert of what he was doing. Me and my wife liked this experience.

Great Castle Tour!

Omar_S, May 2024

Really nice and interesting tour lead by Naomi! She has a lot of knowledge in Edimburgh’s history. I definitely recommend this tour.

Fun, informative tour

April_S, May 2024

Fun tour with Naomi of Little Fish tour company. We enjoyed her delivery of the castle's history along with a bit of Scottish background. Her candid enthusiastic delivery were well received by the group. Well worth it!

Highly recommend!

Hannah_S, May 2024

Had a great time on the tour with Jule. I love the story telling and learning more about the history. Jule did an amazing job telling the stories in an entertaining way. I was impressed by her knowledge.

Great tour

Patti_P, May 2024

Benjamin was a great guide! Informative and funny. He gave us a lot of good information about the history of the city and Scotland.

Great tour, Naomi was the bomb!

Kelly_F, May 2024

Our tour guide, Naomi was fabulous. She was funny, engaging, professional and chock full of fascinating information. I highly recommend this tour, so worth it!

👍Angus

LeeAnn_L, May 2024

Angus was amazing and I loved his singing! He brought the Castel to life with his stories. Thank you!

Don't miss this Castle!

Elizabeth_W, May 2024

English Ben was my guide and he was extremely knowledgable, entertaining and easy on the eyes. Our weather was windy and rainy but the tour was still invaluable. The journey begins down on the Royal Mile and the group, as a whole, walks up to the Edinburgh Castle with stories along the way. Once inside the gates, the tales from the past continue. After about an hour and a half of information, the tour ends and you're left to meander around the grounds on your own. The sites from inside the castle walls were beautiful and this guided tour was well worth the time and money.

Great day

Dave_S, May 2024

Our guide, Naomi was wonderful - very knowledgeable of the site, the history and what museums to venture into. 100% recommend. Views are amazing but be prepared for wind. Wear good walking shoes as the walk, once inside the castle area, is quite steep in spots and the cobblestones are uneven. Plenty of spots to sit and rest, lots of bathrooms (toilets) and the cafe was quite nice.

Wonderful despite the weather

Alice_G, May 2024

Know before you go: The whole tour is outside (none of the tour companies are allowed to bring groups into the buildings). We ended up in a fairly rainy/windy situation, but our tour guide Steph still made this a fabulous tour. Her storytelling and wit made it so much fun! It’s a lot of uphill walking but she did a great job of stopping to talk at various points and I never felt like it was work. I learned a ton and wandered into various buildings after the tour. Definitely recommend!

Edinburgh castle walking tour

vincent_o, May 2024

It was well worth the trip our guide Sonia was brilliant if I go back to Edinburgh I'm going on the tour again

Amazing experience

Simona_M, May 2024

This tour was amazing, we loved the castle and it’s history. Our tour guide Graeme was so lovely, welcoming and knowledgeable. Being our first day in Scotland, he made it truly memorable. We would strongly recommend this tour.

Great experience

Robert_C, May 2024

Great experience, Naomi (our guide) was wonderful. We were blessed with nice weather. A trip to Edinburgh without going to the castle would be a mistake.

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