Edinburgh Castle: Guided Walking Tour with Entry Ticket
- 1h 30m
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- 5 languages
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
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.)
Inclusions
What's included
- Admission ticket to Edinburgh Castle
- Guided tour of Edinburgh Castle
What's not
- Pet Not allowed. Only guide dog.
- Gratuities
Itinerary
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
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Reviews
4.8
- 56,096
- 4375
- 3155
- 267
- 195
Ratings come from 6,788 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.
Showing reviews written in English.
5Great tour and guide
Excellent tour with lots of facts and history delivered in an interesting and informative way by Raj. Very good value and lots of time to explore the Castle buildings too.
5Castle tour with Catherine
Catherine was a really great guide - good historic detail with a dry comedy slant - made sure we stopped in areas we could get away from the crowds - lots of good pointers on what to see on our own in the castle and Edinburgh
5Enjoyed the trour
Gavin was very knowledgeable and entertaining. We enjoyed the tour very much. It would have been nice to have the whisper headsets though, to make it easier to hear
5Castle tour with Kristal
Kristal was fabulous, a lot of guides are facts and info. She was funny and friendly, had the bestest stories about the castle. Great time, so would recommend this tour. With her, make sure you get her.
5Edinburgh Castle Tour Mucho Awesom-o
Tour was awesome because RAJ is like Royalty… please give him a raise immediately! TRUELY great job!
2One way to get a castle ticket.
We booked this tour because we couldn't get entry tickets through the he castle website.The company books a lot of people per time slot. It appeared you could arrive at the meeting point at least 30 minutes ahead. As soon as you arrive and check in, they create a group and set off. We had a 12:15 tour time and arrived at 12. A group was just leaving. Our actual castle ticket entry time was 12:00-12:30. We were past that going in but it wasn't a problem. Our tour guide walked very quickly through street crowd making it difficult to keep up. Later on it was like a stroll. She gave very little background on the castle, instead asking the group to make up silly ways to storm the castle (throw a water bottle, etc). She finally told the group to proceed and meet inside. We separated from the group and did our own thing.
Know before you go
- Meeting point
- 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.
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Group size
- Up to 30 travellers
- Operated by
- Scotland City Tours - Somos Escocia
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- 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.
How it compares in Edinburgh
- Its from-price is 80% below the median of the 1253 experiences we list in Edinburgh.
- It is shorter than most of them.
- By number of reviews it ranks 4 of 1253.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About Edinburgh
Edinburgh, Scotland's capital, rises on volcanic hills, with a castle on a crag, a medieval Old Town and an elegant Georgian New Town.
Edinburgh Castle crowns Castle Rock and keeps the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish crown jewels. From there, the Royal Mile runs downhill through the Old Town, past St Giles' Cathedral and a warren of narrow closes, to the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Scottish Parliament. Arthur's Seat, an ancient volcano, rises above the palace with sweeping views.
Top-ranked sights in Edinburgh: Royal Mile, Edinburgh Old Town, Edinburgh Castle.
Special offers in Edinburgh
Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.
