This tour covers both the Old Town and the New Town, and includes a wide breadth of history about Edinburgh. I highly recommend it for people both old and new to the town. If you’re new, it will make this city feel like home, and you’ll get a better idea of what you want to get done while you’re here. If you’ve been here for a while, you’ll definitely learn a new thing or two that you didn’t know before.
A great overview of the city – in many ways the tour is an excellent sampler of all that there is to see and do in Edinburgh
The tour is given by Peter Hamilton as a part of Saints & Sinners Walking Tours, and he does an excellent job as a tour guide. He is both engaging and knowledgable, funny at times, and was a great storyteller. He shows you around cemeteries, the Grassmarket, the Royal Mile, the Princes Street Gardens, and parts of the New Town. As a whole, his coverage of the Old Town is the more interesting portion – however this is probably just because there’s less to see and do in the New Town. This is not to say that Hamilton’s coverage of the New Town is bad. He comes across incredibly knowledgeable about this history of the area, and he visits more than a few cool spots.
Overall, this tour would be excellent for someone visiting Edinburgh. Hamilton gives a great overview of the city – in many ways the tour is an excellent sampler of all that there is to see and do in Edinburgh – and would be the perfect start to a visit. At the same time, he’s also incredibly knowledgeable about anything seen in passing, deftly answering every question thrown at him, so if you’re looking to learn more about a city you’ve lived in for a while, this would still be an excellent experience. Peter is a great tour guide, and I highly recommend that you join him for A Tale of Two Towns.
