Edinburgh Castle: Guided Walking Tour with Entry Ticket

Discover the rich history of Edinburgh Castle on a walking tour. Explore the fortress, learn about Scotland’s monarchs, and visit museums and historic sites. Entrance included.

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Edinburgh Castle - Explore one the most important fortresses in the history of Scotland. Walk inside the castle for 1 hour and 10 minutes to enjoy the wonderful royal palace, where Mary Queen of Scots once lived, and admire the Great Hall of the 16th century where parties and feast took place.

After the exploration with a guide, you can spend a free time inside the castle until closing time

What's Included
  • Entrance ticket & Edinburgh Castle Guided Tour
  • Entrance fees
What's Not Included
  • Pet Not allowed. Only guide dog.
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

Scotland’s second-most-popular tourist attraction as you learn about the bloody history including stories of the kings and queens who lived in this castle.

There is evidence of a fort here for almost 3000 years, and it has been a royal castle since at least King David I’s reign in the 12th century. The Scottish monarchs continued to use it until 1633, and even saw the birth of King James VI within its walls.

Your tour will begin on the Royal Mile, then take you to the castle, where you will hear your guide talking about the origins of the castle and its sieges.

Once inside the castle walls, the guide will take you through the different parts of the fortress and tell you its fascinating history. Inside the complex, you will find three museums, two prisons, a canine cemetery, the Chapel of Saint Margaret, the National Monument to the fallen of Scotland, the Great Hall, and a Royal Palace.(ENTIRE TOUR WILL REMAIN OUTDOORS; buildings are not accessible during the tour.)

  • Please note in poor weather conditions the tour will remain outdoors as access to the castle buildings is not available for tour groups
  • Tour will be inside the castle walls, but outdoors, with free time after the tour to to explore the castle an to go inside every building (Museums, Royal Palace, prisons, and much more). We can not access those buildings during the tour, but the tour will still be carried out within the castle grounds.
  • The castle is a complex of buildings, not a single building.
  • On this tour you will be guided around Edinburgh castle, with specific stops assigned by the castle authorities.
  • Bags over 30L in volume are not allawed inside the castle.
Location
361 High St
High Street
Meet in front of the entrance to Advocates Close, opposite (St. Giles’ Cathedral) . Look for the black umbrella with the tour provider's yellow logo.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(3310 Ratings)
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Amit_g
Aug 1, 2024
Met expectations - A knowledgeable guide who was very pleasant and patient. I recommend the tour for folks who want to gain insight to the history of the Castle.
Review provided by Viator
Evelyn_l
Jul 31, 2024
Great tour - Our tour guide Jen was awesome, she was knowledgeable, and also brought the fun to the tour. Make sure you wear good shoes.
Review provided by Viator
826nayas
Jul 31, 2024
Castle of Edinburgh: a lovely experience with Valeria - We booked a tour for the castle of Edinburgh. Valeria, our tour guide, was amazing! She guided us throughout the entire outdoors space providing us with details about every building. She answered to all our questions. She was very knowledgeable and helpful.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Richardjt8184ic
Jul 31, 2024
Great experience great guide recommend to everyone - I had been to Edinburgh a few times and had never gone through the castle. This was one of the best tours and tour guides that I’d had in all of the tours I have taken while I was there. I manage a horseback riding company and we do tours in Jackson Hole Wyoming, some of the things that she did I incorporated with my guides here in Jackson Hole. This was a wonderful experience and would definitely do it again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Seyedhosseinn2022
Jul 31, 2024
Wonderful and funny tour - It's really fun and educational, and the penguin strategy really helped us hear the tour guid lady. She was really funny and her accent was really clear.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jennifer_g
Jul 30, 2024
We loved our tour guide.... - We loved our tour guide. She was so knowledgeable and fun. I feel bad I forgot her name but she speaks 5 languages and was Spanish.
Review provided by Viator
Cornelia_l
Jul 30, 2024
Enjoyable and educational - Sonia is a great guide. She made a fabulous presentation with a lot of jokes, interactive questions and recommendations . She made us enjoy the castle visit. We recommend the tour and Sonia.
Review provided by Viator
Roving42593935936
Jul 29, 2024
Made Edinburgh Great Again! - I’m a local of Edinburgh and by nature a little jaded with tours because I’ve been on several and they were mediocre. This being said, I was pleasantly surprised. Australian David was clearly very passionate and seemed to enjoy being a tour guide. He seemed to welcome questions and gauge our needs as individuals and as a group. I was very impressed. Thank you David!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marnie_b
Jul 30, 2024
Storytelling tour of castle - Guide was an excellent storyteller. Learned some history of Scotland and the castle. Perfect amount of time.
Review provided by Viator
Monica_b
Jul 29, 2024
Lots of information. - The guide Raj was very knowledgeable about Scottish history and the castle It was also great to skip the line.
Review provided by Viator
Select Date and Tickets
up to 10 guests
1 Adult
September 2024
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