free audio tour edinburgh

DISCOVER A DEEPER

With our audio walks and private tours.

Welcome to 7 Hills Tours! Our mission is to take you deeper into the history and culture of Scotland’s wonderful capital city, with our superb collection of audio walks and private walking and vehicle tours. Edinburgh’s waiting for your visit, and so are we, with the warmest and friendliest of Scottish welcomes and fascinating tours that have earned us two whole seasons of unbroken 5* reviews. If you want to go far, far beyond the ordinary during your Edinburgh visit, scroll down to find out more!

Hear the stories of Old Edinburgh, with our free Virtual Audio Tours and our Deep Royal Mile Audio Walk . (Available now)

Walk with us , through the nooks and crannies of our historic Old Town, and let us open up for you the stories of Edinburgh, from light-hearted songs and tales, to comprehensive medical and surgical history with a local physician! 

Drive with us on our half day and full day private vehicle tours, and let us show you the bigger picture on our unmatched range of speciality trips, from hiking the 7 Hills of Edinburgh to following in the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Celebrate with us by making one of our tours a feature for your guests – whether wedding, conference or family celebration!

FREE VIRTUAL AUDIO TOURS

We created these audio tracks during our lockdown spell, so that you could still explore Edinburgh’s wonderful Royal Mile by listening to the tracks while guiding yourself using Street View. As Edinburgh opens again, though, they also make fantastic and free walking guides to the historic top section of the Royal Mile, from the Castle gates to Lawnmarket. (Part 1 of the tour is available also in Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish)

DEEP ROYAL MILE AUDIO WALK

(st giles’ to the tron).

Created in the style of the virtual tours, this is an immersive, deep-dive 95-minute audio guide for independent touring, and ranges from the deep themes of Scotland’s history to the key moments that have echoed through Edinburgh’s story.

PRIVATE WALKING TOURS

If you want to get to the very heart of Edinburgh, consider one of our private guided tours through the Old Town! We’ve gone deep into Edinburgh’s unique history, to find some of the oddest tales and most fascinating themes, all presented with our trademark friendly Edinburgh welcome!

PRIVATE VEHICLE TOURS

Edinburgh is far, far more than just the Old Town, and in these half and full day tours in our executive vehicles we make the whole city and beyond your playground, opening up Edinburgh along the most fascinating cultural and historic planes – new insights into the city guaranteed!

CELEBRATE WITH 7 HILLS TOURS

Are you having a family celebration, conference or business meeting in Edinburgh? Our tours make wonderful feature activities to make your guests’ Edinburgh experience even more unforgettable! Along with our coach transport partners, we can design mini coach or full coach tours for up to 52 guests, either chosen from our range or bespoke. Get in touch for further details!

Enjoy Edinburgh tales and pictures on our regular social media posts!

MEET YOUR GUIDES

MORAY GRIGOR is our Director, and is a part-time local GP, giving extra realism to our medical and surgical tour! Born in Edinburgh, Moray is full of local stories and knowledge, which you’ll find he’s delighted to share with you.

AMANDA AIKMAN is our Associate Guide, and leads tours using her academic background in Social History to give extra depth to your experience! Amanda leads tours both in English and German.

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY

CONTACT 7 HILLS TOURS

To discuss booking a tour, or if you have any queries, please just get in touch!

Tel: +44 7879 405860 E-mail: [email protected]

Privacy Overview

Explore Edinburgh with the best-rated Tour Guides

Edinburgh Free Tour

The best introduction to edinburgh, secure your space now.

The best-rated Edinburgh Free Walking Tour

• 10am, 11am & 1pm
• 154 High Street (Royal Mile)

No card info required

Free Walking Tour of Edinburgh

No trip to Scotland is complete without visiting Edinburgh, its inspiring capital, a cosmopolitan town teeming with genius and culture. On this 2 hours FREE Tour your expert guide will show you the most attractive spots of this seductive city.

Wonderful walking tour

"What a wonderful walking tour with Graeme. A beautiful summer day and an extremely engaging guide. Would definitely book again next time I visit Edinburgh."

Tricia Butterfield

Google (July 23)

It was worth every second

"I did three walking tours with City Explorers and it was worth every second! Definitely recommended. Ashlyn, Emma and Dr Rory were super fun and highly informative."

Sanyukta Desai

Highly recommended!!

"We had a PHENOMENAL ghost tour with Emma! We also had a AMAZING day time walking tour with Glen. Both guides were funny, knowledgeable, and friendly. Could not recommend these tours enough!!!"

Katie Cummings

Free Walking Tour of the Old Town

"Wonderful intro giving us enough info about where to spend our time as well as some great restaurant recommendations. Kenny was amusing, knowledgeable and easy to listen to so I highly recommend this walk."

Annelise Giddings

Google (June 23)

Tour Description

The FREE Walking Tour starts every day at 10 am, 11 am and 1 pm on The Royal Mile , just in front of a bar called Copper Still (154 High Street).

We believe that everyone, no matter what is one's budget should be able to experience and enjoy what Edinburgh has to offer and we also believe that the price of a tour should correlate with your budget and how much you enjoyed it.

Our Edinburgh FREE Walking Tours are both informative and fun and offer something for everyone.

To ensure the highest quality of our Free Tours, groups of 15 or more people should book a Private Tour .

If you are arranging a booking for a School Group , please book a Private Tour .

This will allow us to give you a more personalized experience. Thanks for your understanding!

Secure your space now for the Edinburgh Free Tour!

Showing up is fine in most cases. However, you will have priority with a booking if tours reach their capacity.

Meeting Point

The FREE Tour starts on The Royal Mile just in front of a bar called Copper Still (154 High Street).

Look for the yellow umbrellas!

Related tours in edinburgh.

Free Ghost Tour

Every night @ 7pm

Duration: 1.5 hours

Discover the ghostly tales and sinister stories that will get you back to the terrifying past of old Edinburgh.

Free Harry Potter Tour

Every day @ 2pm

Explore the real people and places that inspired JK Rowling to create the Universe of Harry Potter.

Free New Town Tour

Saturday @ 2pm

Duration: 2 hours

Discover the finest part of town and the role Edinburgh played as a center of the Enlightment in Europe.

Edinburgh Castle Tour

Every day @ 10am, 12.15pm & 1.30pm

Get the best value of your visit to Edinburgh Castle and jump the queue with our skip-the-line tickets.

Fri & Sat @ 8pm

Duration: 4.5 hours

Meet amazing people from all over the world and enjoy Edinburgh nightlife at its best 7 nights a week.

Edinburgh Travel Guide

Useful information.

Travel tips you need to know before visiting Edinburgh.

Sightseeing

Discover the most unmissable attractions in Edinburgh.

Things to do

The ultimate guide to things to do in Edinburgh.

Food and drink

Edinburgh's best restaurants, bars and pubs.

Where to stay

Find out the best places to stay in Edinburgh.

Discover how to travel around Edinburgh.

Address 154 High Street Edinburgh EH1 1QS

Email [email protected]

Phone +44 (0) 7858 992030

Leave us a message

We will get in touch with you within 24 hours (most messages are answered within 2 hours during normal business times).

FREE PUBLIC TOURS

PRIVATE TOURS

Prepare to enter a secret world...

Grab a wand and join your robed guide on the   original tour of edinburgh designed especially for potter fans.

You’ll discover the magical locations that inspired characters and scenes in the series, visit the places

where JK Rowling wrote the books, and even learn a spell or two along the way...

See where Lord Voldemort's father is buried

Discover in which café Rowling wrote the FIRST Potter book

Take a trip down the real life Diagon Alley

Find out which house you would be in at Edinburgh's very own school of magic

Learn who the world’s worst poet was, and which Hogwarts

teacher is named after him

... and much, much more!

Even if you’re not a Harry fan, there’s still plenty to entertain you on this lively and atmospheric tour, full of colourful characters from Edinburgh’s mysterious past. Suitable for families. Muggles welcome!  

Founded in 2012 we are the original and most highly rated walking tour in Edinburgh for Potterheads - accept no imitations!

All scripted tour content is © 2012 The Potter Trail, and is not licensed for public performance or reproduction.

Meet the  Guides!

Click on the portraits to get to know our guides a little better.

We are Edinburgh's original and most acclaimed walking tour for Potter fans. Consistently in the top 5 highest rated tours in Edinburgh on TripAdvisor, we bring the magical side of the city to life for thousands of visitors every year. We've been featured everywhere from The Times to PBS, and have even won a few awards along the way...

Stuart on one of the earliest Potter Trail tours, right at the beginning.

Originally founded in 2012 by Stuart Young, our first tours were often just for a handful of people. Since then, we've gone from 1 guide to 10, and from 3 tours a week to 2 tours a day!

Stuart and our earliest guides were members of Edinburgh University's Comedy Society, and we've never forgotten our roots – still all of our guides are trained comic performers. We like to think this gives us a unique enthusiasm and theatricality in what we do, and our customers tend to think so too!

Will taking a tour in 2018.

Our tour has grown a lot since 2012, but we are still (and always will be) completely independent and locally run, and we pride ourselves on providing tours to anyone regardless of their financial situation. JK Rowling started writing in Edinburgh in very financially challenging circumstances and this is true of many aspiring writers. Our public tours are free with an optional donation at the end and that’s never going to change. We hope that this will help you to be inspired by Edinburgh too!

Our Commitment to Equality 

Many of you may be aware of JK Rowling's recent tweets concerning transgender issues. We have been very saddened and dismayed by these and do not condone the views she expressed in any way.

We at The Potter Trail want to say very loudly and clearly that we love and respect trans and non-binary people. You will always be very welcome on our tours. We do not discriminate.

We think it’s important to stand in solidarity with the trans community at this time and will therefore be donating a percentage of our profits to the Scottish Trans Alliance . They work to improve gender identity and gender reassignment equality, rights and inclusion in Scotland. It’s a difficult time to be a Harry Potter fan for many but we sincerely wish JK Rowling’s views not to diminish our appreciation of the books and their messages of inclusion and tolerance.

What our customers say

It's all well and good for us to claim we're the best Harry Potter walking tour in Edinburgh but maybe it's best you hear it straight from the hippogriff's mouth! We've consistently been one of the top activities in Edinburgh on TripAdvisor for our entire history, gaining a Certificate of Excellence for every year we've been operating and winning a Traveller's Choice Award for 2020 and 2021 too. Have a read of what our customers think!

You can also read some of customer reviews on social media too. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and keep up to date with all things Harry Potter Edinburgh!

Our FREE tours in Edinburgh are running!

Book your place now..

Book a paid PRIVATE tour at a time to suit you.

Book a virtual tour from anywhere around the world.

We offer discounts on private tours for SCHOOL and educational groups.

and share the magic

with a friend or loved one

Any questions?

You might find an answer on our FAQs page!

• Schools & departments

Audio Walks

Information about walking routes and audio tours in and beyond Edinburgh

Audio Tours

Curious edinburgh.

For those interested in the fascinating and important scientific, medical and technological heritage of the city of Edinburgh, the tours on the Curious Edinburgh website and its accompanying app will act as a guide to the history of ideas in the Athens of the North. The stories were sought from the history of Edinburgh, and will inspire, inform and amuse both visitors and residents of the city. There are currently tours available on the general history of science, the history of geology, the history of physics, the history of medicine, the history of genetics and biotechnology, and the Scottish Enlightenment. On top of this, there are also community tours, including the Jewish history of Edinburgh, the UnCoverED tour and The Black Lives Matter Mural Tour.

Curious Edinburgh Tours

iPhone Walk Applications

Walking Through Time - Edinburgh

A phone APP that combines GPS technology with old maps to allow users to walk through time. The map set is for central Edinburgh and allows the user to see a variety of historic maps from 1849 to 1960. The APP also comes with a set of narrated walking tours from the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh College of Art and Edinburgh World Heritage.

Ian Rankin's Edinburgh

A free audio guided tour which can be downloaded to your iPhone.

Ian Rankin’s Edinburgh is a personal guided tour by the bestselling author of the city that inspires his writing. This free iPhone APP includes videos, audio, and photographs bringing our fantastic city and Ian’s books to life.

The tour is broken down into three mini tours and in total there are around thirty key locations each relevant to Ian’s novels and characters. It is also a great and easy to use guide to the city itself, so that you don’t need be a fan of Ian Rankin to really enjoy this APP .

MP3 Audio Tours

Stories In Stone

The Edinburgh City of Literature Trust and Edinburgh World Heritage have created a series of free audio podcasts celebrating the literary and built heritage of Scotland’s capital city.

Written by Edinburgh poet and author Stewart Conn, the podcasts present unique views of the city, explore famous city landmarks, their architectural history and their literary links - from Calton Hill to Princes Street Gardens, The Netherbow to The Canongate, from Robert Louis Stevenson to Daniel Defoe, Ian Rankin to Quintin Jardine.

"Discover your Coast" Audio Walks

Twelve of the coastal walks featured in the popular BBC series are available as free downloadable audio walks.

Scotland Walks Podcast

The Open University in collaboration with the BBC have created a series of audio walks around historic locations in Scotland, with narration from Neil Oliver and input from local experts. You can download them to your mp3 player to listen to whilst you walk.

Free Edinburgh audio tour for locals - get to know Edinburgh's hidden history on your doorstep

A new walking tour designed for locals promises to take you up-close and personal with the city's history

• 07:11, 2 JUN 2020
• Updated 07:12, 2 JUN 2020

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Coronavirus is expected to hit Edinburgh's overseas tourism industry hard this year, with the usual major attractions like the Edinburgh Festival Fringe already cancelled.

And the usual walking tours which we are so used to seeing during the Summer won't be taking place either.

With that, one company has decided that for Summer 2020 it will help Edinburgh locals get up-close and personal with their own city and its history - including with a free audio tour.

To receive one WhatsApp message a day with Edinburgh Live's headlines, as well as breaking news alerts, text NEWS to 07899067815. Then add the number to your contacts as 'Edinburgh Live'.

The new walking tours will ignore the usual tourist hotspots we are mostly familiar with, and instead explore the city's hidden history.

Three new tour packages from Edinburgh Expert promise to help locals get too grips with the history on their own doorstep.

Under their banner " Know Your Place " , these tailored walking tours of the city steer clear of the best-known tourist highlights and instead focus on the hidden corners and history that even locals may not be familiar with.

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Want more news from Edinburgh Live? Our FREE daily news email goes out every afternoon and offers a comprehensive overview of the day's latest general news updates.

All you need to do is type your email address into the 'sign up to free daily alerts' box - found at the top of this article as well as on any other stories on the website.

Simply click 'subscribe' and you're all set, and can expect your first newsletter the next time one is released.

The company is already offering a free socially distanced self-guided audio trail featuring some "close encounters" in the lanes and alleys of the Old Town.

There will even be a tour for young history buffs, with a special tour to help them explore where they live.

Edinburgh Expert said each tour it will offer aims to show those who may have lived in Edinburgh all their lives something they haven't seen before, and tell them something new about the city.

All tours will also be private to guarantee a truly personal experience, and will be delivered in accordance with the Scottish Government's guidelines on distancing and health protection, the company said.

Join our nostalgic Facebook group Edinburgh Back In Time for more fascinating facts about Edinburgh's history.

Edinburgh Expert's free audio tour is already available online , and you can get more information about the other tours which are planned to begin from 1 July here.

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Free Harry Potter Walking Tour Edinburgh

This post is a free, 13-stop, self-guided tour of Harry Potter book and movie sights in Edinburgh, Scotland's capital, along with a map and route.

Edinburgh Harry Potter Tours are popular, but with our version, you can stick to your own itinerary as you wander the streets.

This was put together by Free Tours by Foot's resident Muggle, Margaret, who you can watch virtually right now.  

You can expect to walk nearly 2.2 miles or just over 3.6 kilometres while following the Harry Potter trail around Edinburgh.

You could also elect to take this as a GPS-led audio tour (see below).

Click the map to enlarge or download

The tour will last, on average, just under 90 minutes.

Although this may change depending on your walking pace or the stops you wish to make along the way.

You can use the map or this (PDF) to get the written directions. 

Note that for people wishing to see the Glenfinnan Viaduct (which the Hogwarts Express travels over), it's on the other side of Scotland, through the highlands.

It's nearly a 4-hour drive or a 5-hour train journey from Edinburgh.

GPS-Enabled Audio Tour

We also offer an audio tour of Harry Potter sights in Edinburgh, researched, written, and recorded by one of our own tour guides.

Here’s a sample.

• Purchase an audio tour.
• Get a confirmation email with .mp3, .pdf, and embeddable Google Map
• Enjoy the tour(s).

You will also find an audio tour that covers the history of Edinburgh.

Be sure to check out our other self-guided tours and free guided tours of Edinburgh .

We also offer Harry Potter tours, both guided and self-guided in London and Porto .

1. The Dog House

The Dog House is one of the few places on Earth where you can drink Butterbeer.

In the Harry Potter series, Butterbeer is sold at a multitude of pubs, but primarily in The Three Broomsticks and The Hog’s Head.

Although Butterbeer is consumed by adults and kids alike in the books, the one served at The Dog House is definitely for adults only, one of the ingredients being - you guessed it - beer.

2. Spoon (Now Wu Zhen of China Restaurant)

Although the Elephant Cafe usually claims the title of the “birthplace of Harry Potter” we know that Spoon played just as large a role in the creation of the legendary series.

(And as an aside, it tends to be less busy than Elephant Cafe’ so this may be a good way for you to avoid the crowds!)

In 1997 Spoon was known as Nicolson’s Cafe and it was owned by JK Rowling’s brother-in-law, Roger Moore.

At the time, Rowling didn’t have much money so she would hide out in cafes, ordering a coffee now and again as she worked on the groundbreaking first book of her Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone . 

Walk and Listen - POTTERROW

We couldn’t let you walk next to Potter Row and not mention it!

This street bears the name of the world’s favourite Wizard, and it would make sense to think that the name perhaps inspired JK Rowling when she was naming her main character.

However, she says it’s just a coincidence. When giving her first-ever interview in America in 1999, JK was asked about the name of her hero and how she chose it.

Her reply was, “ ...he had several different surnames before I chose Potter. Potter was the name of a brother and sister who I played with when I was very young.”  

3. George Heriot School

Originally built in 1628, George Heriot’s school was opened as an orphanage and hospital for boys and today is a co-ed primary and secondary school.

You’ll notice the four grand towers that top the building, which many said were the inspiration for the towers atop Hogwarts Castle.

The school also has four houses that students are divided into and they all do, in fact, compete for a house cup!

The school is easily visible from the locations Rowling used to write in and walk along so it’s very easy to see why, for so many years, Potter buffs believed this building to be the inspiration for her wizarding school.

4. National Museum of Scotland

Ron Weasley taught Harry to play Wizard’s Chess.

This is just like regular chess except the pieces are enchanted and can be directed like troops - they also literally knock each other down when taking a square! 

It would seem that when Rowling was creating Wizard Chess, she was also thinking of the Lewis Chessmen.

This is a group of distinctive 12th-century chess pieces that were discovered in a hoard on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland in 1831.

Eleven of the over ninety chess pieces are held at the National Museum of Scotland and are viewable to the public.

Author's Note: This museum is incredible in its' own right with unique exhibits like Dolly the Sheep and the flags flown at the Battle of Culloden. Consider making the time to visit it either during your walk or at another time!

5. Elephant House (Temporarily closed as of 2024 after a fire)

This unassuming cafe is a destination for thousands of Harry Potter fans every year - as well as fans of Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall-Smith who were well-known patrons.

You’ll notice a sign on the Cafe which erroneously claims that this is the “birthplace” of Harry Potter.

Rowling herself addressed this sign and is quoted as saying:

“ I’d been writing Potter for several years before I ever set foot in this café, so it’s not the birthplace, but I *did* write in there so we’ll let them off! ”

Also, make sure to take a trip to the loo!

The walls are covered in Harry Potter graffiti with messages and drawings left by fans who have traveled from all over the world to come here.

6. Greyfriars Kirkyard

You are now standing outside the iconic - and haunted - Greyfriars Kirk - kirk being a Scottish word for church.

The name Greyfriars is in reference to the Franciscan friary which previously stood here, whose friars wore grey habits. 

As the kirkyard is not far from the cafes JK Rowling used to frequent, she would occasionally walk through the rows for inspiration.

Here you will find the tombs of Thomas Riddell (NOTE SPELLING) , who lent his name to that of the Dark Lord Himself.

You will also find William McGonagall a poet who shares a surname with the head of Gryffindor House and a Mrs. Elizabeth Moodie who perhaps gave her name to a certain Mad-Eyed Professor.

The kirkyard is almost always open to the public, as is the church from April to October for tourism and year-round services.

To get to the graves we mentioned above, simply walk straight past the church, along the left of the building.

You will find them in the back towards the right, behind the remains of the old Flodden Wall, the remains of a 16th-century wall that surrounded the city.

Author's Note: This is another must-visit while you are in Edinburgh so take the time to explore the graveyard or consider signing up to one of the tours that takes you through after the sun has set!

7. Museum Context

Known by some locals as ‘Diagon House,’ Museum Context is a (VICTORIA ST) fascinating shop, spread over two stone vaults and looks exactly like the Diagon Alley shops as depicted in the Harry Potter films.

Absolutely every inch of the place is covered in interesting and quirky treasures to take home.

Given that Victoria Street is heavily associated with Diagon Alley, it makes sense to find such a treasure trove of Potter memorabilia in this location.

Make sure to hit the top floor where you’ll find a wizarding desk with a hat that you can wear to snap a selfie while you’re visiting!

8. Victoria Street

So as far as we are concerned, this is Diagon Alley - or Victoria Street as the case may be!

This gorgeous, curving road looks just like the twisting and topsy-turvey thoroughfare in the Harry Potter films.

All these ramshackle, colourful buildings are tucked close together, with oddly shaped windows and roofs adorning each one.

Just around the corner is Candlemaker Row, lined with cobblestones and filled with whimsical structures holding just a hint of magic. 

It’s also worth pointing out the AHA HA HA along the curve of the street at No. 99 West Bow - perhaps a precursor to Fred and George’s joke shop, Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes?

Author's Note: This is a great place to spend some time browsing the shops and there are excellent options for lunch and dinner nearby on Grassmarket.

9. The Witches Well

The Witches Well is a small cast-iron fountain - which no longer flows - and a plaque, honouring all the Scottish people who were burned at the stake for witchcraft between the 15th and 18th centuries.

Throughout the centuries, more than 4,000 alleged witches were put to death in Scotland - and a great deal of them right here.

Now get back onto Castlehill and face the Castle itself.

10. Edinburgh Castle

An imposing, sprawling structure of strength and mystic design at the end of the Royal Mile that surges out of a great rock into the sky, it’s easy to imagine this building filled with hundreds of witches and wizards studying, playing, and living inside.

In fact, Rowling commented that now,”... I’ve come to live in the shadow of what could be a lot like Hogwarts, except Hogwarts has a lake. ”

So aside from the missing lake, this castle essentially showcases most of the features and details of Hogwarts that Rowling describes in her books!

As a side note, there is a canon that fires at 13:00 every day (except for Sundays) which means the Castle is very busy.

So we’d recommend coming either when the castle first opens, or in the late afternoon! For those wanting to visit virtually, check out Margaret's video below.

11. The Writers’ Museum

This fabulous building is called Lady Stair’s House; a faux-medieval structure designed by architect Stewart Henbest Capper in the 1890s which now houses a museum.

Edinburgh became the first UNESCO City of Literature in 2004 and this Museum shows why.

Primarily focused on Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Burns, there are also occasional temporary exhibitions.

One of which was dedicated to JK Rowling and included a first edition copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone with annotations and drawings by the author herself! 

12. Edinburgh City Chambers

The beautiful building standing before you now holds the Edinburgh City Chambers.

For the purpose of our tour, you will want to head to the quadrangle in front of the building.

Here, under your feet, you will find flagstones displaying golden handprints.

These handprints are those of people who have won the Edinburgh Award - given to those who have made, “outstanding achievements and contributions to the city.”

Set up in 2007, the first winner was Ian Rankin, and the second, in 2008 was JK Rowling, whose own handprints are immortalised here.

13. Balmoral Hotel

JK Rowling began writing her iconic book series in a number of cafes, but she would write the final words of the series in one of the finest hotels in the city, Room 552 of The Balmoral Hotel - marking the end of a true rags to riches story.

Today, the room has been re-named the JK Rowling Suite, and the room contains a marble bust of Hermes (now contained in a glass display case), scribbled with the following, written in JK’s own hand:

“JK Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room on 11th Jan 2007.”

Author's Note: The Balmoral is super posh and very expensive but consider a visit to the bar for a drink as a way to get the luxury experience without having to break the bank!

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About The Author

Stephen Pickhardt

North america, united kingdom & ireland, middle east & india, asia & oceania.

Tours, guides and itineraries

There’s a new story to discover around every corner at Edinburgh Castle.

To make sure you don’t miss any, we offer some great ways to explore this Scottish icon, including some suggested itineraries you can follow if you prefer to explore at your own pace.

Itineraries

• Portcullis Gate
• Argyle Battery
• Lang Stairs
• and much more...

Just an hour

• St Margaret's Chapel

Royal Route

• Castle Timeline

Military March

• Fight for the Castle - Argyle Tower

• Foog's Gate

Family Day Out

• Children's Quiz
• Lang Stair (family)
• Dog Cemetery (family)

British Sign Language Tour

• BSL Welcome
• BSL - How old is the castle?
• BSL - One o’ Clock Gun

Official Guided Tour

Be shown around the castle by those who know it best, our wonderful castle guides!

Castle guides will share stories from the most besieged place in Britain. Be entertained by tales of kings and queens past and discover the must-see spots around the castle. You will also be able to take in the spectacular views of Scotland’s capital along the way.

Our tours now include our brand-new audio tour guide system.

Official Guided Tour tickets include admission to the castle and a 30-minute guided tour. Please choose your tour time when booking.

29 March to 30 September: 9.45am, 10.15am, 10.45am, 11.15am, 11.45am, 12.15pm, 1.15pm, 1.45pm, 2.15pm, 2.45pm, 3.15pm and 3.45pm. 

Book tour tickets

Book partner organisation tour tickets, important information.

• Official Guided Tours are £3.50 per visitor. Availability is limited on tours and all visitors must pre-book in advance of arrival. Tours are free for Historic Scotland members
• All visitors with pre-booked tour tickets must arrive at the Tour Meeting Point (just through the Main Gate and to the right. View a map ) 15 minutes before the pre-booked tour time start time stated on their ticket. Entry to the castle can be very busy so please allow additional time
• If visitors miss the tour start time, they will not be able to join the tour, or any tours later that day
• Upon arrival at the Tour Meeting Point, visitors will be issued a portable wireless receiver and headset
• Tours may be adapted or cancelled in poor weather conditions. If cancelled, visitors will be emailed with as much notice as possible and will be automatically refunded for the price of their tour ticket.
• Tours will take place outdoors, please dress accordingly including sensible footwear. The route requires visitors to walk on steep and cobbled walkways
• Further information on accessibility at the castle can be found in the Access Guide .
• Tours are given in English only

Audio guides

Our audio guide features the voices of four time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan, celebrated TV and movie actor Bill Paterson and Outlander’s Andrew Gower. Let them take you on a journey and learn about the castle and the people and events that stand out most in its fascinating past.

You can hire an audio guide device from the ticket office and audio booth, or pre-book online when you buy your tickets. 

Audio guides are available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian. Large Print is also available. 

You can also use our guide with your own mobile phone or tablet, instead of a headset. You'll need to bring your own fully charged mobile phone or tablet with internet, and we'll show you how to load it in an email before you arrive.

Audio guides are subject to availability.

20% discount

For Historic Scotland Members and Explorer Pass holders.

New 3D Model

This 3D model has been populated with information giving you an immersive digital tour of the Castle and gives the chance to explore hidden parts too.

View the 3D Model in Sketchfab

At Cobble Tales, local architects and architecture students have been guiding enthusiasts and professionals, visitors and locals since 2016. Our many 5-star TripAdvisor and Google reviews testify to our quality tour content and a great time exploring Edinburgh on a walking tour.

Our highly formative Edinburgh walking tours are created by architects for discerning people looking to build an in-depth understanding of the city.  We believe that a city visit gains a lot more meaning when one knows how it was constructed, along with the political and cultural motivations behind it. 

We welcome professional groups as well as individual explorers. From 2020, we have introduced the first architectural audio-guides in Edinburgh.  In-person guided walking tours led by a local architect are available for groups. 

We are very keen to support heritage causes in Edinburgh, and are working with a local charity. Every purchased tour supports the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.

Cobble Tales proud to support heritage in Scotland

Cobble Tales is proud to support local heritage causes. We donate to a building conservation charity SPAB Scotland (The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) , that works on promoting traditional building crafts among young people.

• £1 from every audio tour sold on this website is donated to SPAB.
• 10% of profits from every group tour is donated to SPAB.

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings is a registered charity with registered number 1113753, Scottish Charity No.SC 039244

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Our team consists of architects and architecture students

Founder | Author | Guide

The founder of Cobble Tales, personally writes and designs all Edinburgh tour itineraries at Cobble Tales. You will hear her voice on our audio tours.

Olga tutors at Edinburgh University, as well as at her Alma Mater, Newcastle University.

Olga enjoys researching, and making sense of cities. Expect to find her in the library or staring at buildings questioningly. 

Agustina is an Argentinian architect who is studying her second Masters degree in Architectural Conservation at the University of Edinburgh. 

Agustina’s passion for preservation and restoration of the built heritage informs her tours and promotes the consciousness of taking care of buildings.

What makes us so special

Passionate experts, great reviews, we support conservation.

After finishing his architecture studies in Antwerp and Oxford, Nick moved to Edinburgh to continue research at the University of Edinburgh where he focuses on Scottish architecture in retrospect of 16 th  and 17 th  century Europe, particularly on the dissemination and interpretation of continental architecture and applied architectural mathematics.

Nick lectures in Edinburgh University School of architecture and speaks at international conferences. 

After finishing his architecture studies in Edinburgh, Cameron worked in practice and ran a participative design studio. 

Cameron’s fascination with Patrick Geddes’s work in Edinburgh lead him to a research project in Mumbai. 

He now studies his architecture Masters at Central Saint Martins in London.

Alumni guides

Mohona is an architect from Bangladesh. She completed her Masters degree in Architectural History and Theory, and continues her academical research with a PhD in Architecture, from the University of Edinburgh.

Marie is a Masters student in Architecture at the University of Edinburgh. 

Marie is currently focusing on her 2 year thesis project that explores co-living and co-working environments.

Wayne studied architecture in the University of Edinburgh and also worked in architecture firms after graduation.

He has keen eye for a good frame, and devotes a good part of his time to photography. 

Frequently asked questions

Yes, we offer private walking tours guided by a local architect, for groups of up to 30 people.  

Absolutely, if you are curious about cities and culture, an architecture tour will reveal lots of insights about Edinburgh. 

Yes, except Dean Village where the audio tour passes through a cemetery. 

After you paid for the tour, you will receive an activation code by email, along with detailed instructions.

To go out and do the tour, all you need is a free audio tour VoiceMap app for iPhones and Android devices. Install it on your smartphone via Apple AppStore or Google Play’s store.

Once purchased, Edinburgh audio tours are not refundable. However, your ticket will be valid indefinitely, so you can take the tour at any date, gift it to someone else, or enjoy a virtual tour.

The audio tour is available in English. Guided tours for private groups are also available in French.

On most audio tours of Edinburgh, we climb from 20 to a 100 steps. Our flattest walking audio tour is in the New Town.

Yes, but for the optimal experience and understanding of the content we recommend following a preset order. 

Our Edinburgh Tours at the Festivals

We enjoy participating in local festivals and contribute to their programmes with our Edinburgh architecture tours. Previous festivals include Festival of Architecture, Architecture Fringe and Doors Open Days, as well as Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival.

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