The Royal Mile and its Secrets with a local experienced guide.

Your Guru: Julie
Questions?

Edinburgh
Available in English, Spanish
2 hours and 15 minutes

About the Guru

Edinburgh is my home city, however, I lived in Spain for 23 years, 2 in Madrid and 20 in Rioja and I am a fluent Spanish speaker. I returned home and fell in love with Edinburgh seeing it in a new light. I trained as an Edinburgh Guide in 2012 and have been leading walking tours, including food tours in Edinburgh since 2013. I write and during lockdown I had my first poems p... More

About the Tour

The Royal Mile, Alleys, and The Fishbone Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, the principal street of the medieval old town, is one of the most famous streets in the world.
Named because it is approximately one mile from the Royal residence of the iconic Castle at the top and the Royal Residence of the Palace at the bottom. Leading from West to East, it is divided into five sections and one of its principal features are the many narrow alleyways, called “closes” that lead off the Mile, to both north and south. This creates an unusual visual feature, captured on early maps and confirmed by aerial photography that the Royal Mile looks like a fish skeleton.
Some places we will see:

Makars Court celebrating Scottish Writers
St Giles Cathedral
Tweedale Court home of Scottish Publishing
Bakehouse Close location used in Outlander
Canongate Church
The official church of the Royal Family in Edinburgh
Dunbar Court Garden

and many more.

Useful information:

- Endpoint outside of Scottish Parliament.
- Edinburgh is a city with a lot of hills but this is the downward route please wear comfortable shoes.
Come and join me, I'm local and love my home city, and a trained guide on this tour to weave in and out of the bones, to explore in-depth the layout and hear about the history and the many stories of the closes that join the backbone of the Royal Mile

Meeting point: Open in Google Maps

How to find me: I will be outside the Festival Hub 348 350 Castlehill Edinburgh EH1 2NE I will be wearing a black rain hat with white Polka Dots

Tour Schedule

Thu, 29 Jul 10:45
Fri, 30 Jul 10:45
Sat, 31 Jul 10:45

Tour opinions (2)

Kitty Johnstone 07/24/2021

I’m local to Edinburgh. Strangely enough I like tours of familiar places. I like to learn the true facts about the buildings, their history and their influence on our current situation. I found Julie’s commentary well researched and well presented. Her equally well judged humorous comments were always pertinent to the historical truths and the walk took us from busy city centre to pleasant, almost country-like and quiet gardens. Julie’s pace was ideally suited to the context of her presentation. Well done, Julie, and thank you. I enjoyed my morning,

Response from Julie
Thank you very much for your kind and considered review. I am glad you enjoyed it and found out some new info about the city.

Avril Read 07/22/2021

An excellent tour! Julie knows so much about the Royal Mile and she uses her knowledge to deliver a hugely interesting and fun tour. I learnt so much and enjoyed every step from the start at Castlehill to the foot at Abbey Strand.

Response from Julie
Thank you so much for the lovely review. I am glad you enjoyed it.

Guided tours near Edinburgh

5.0(2) Ratings