Edinburgh Old Town History and Tales Walking Tour

The Royal Mile and Auld Reekie

Edinburgh's Old Town grew along a narrow ridge of volcanic rock that runs from the castle down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The street along its crest, the Royal Mile, is about 1.8 km long and lined with stone tenements that rose to ten storeys or more in the 17th century, some of the earliest high-rise housing in Europe. Smoke from thousands of chimneys hung over the ridge, which earned the town the nickname Auld Reekie, Old Smoky.

Your Royal Mile walking tour starts on the High Street, its liveliest stretch, and your guide explains how the cramped medieval town worked: merchants on the first floors, the poor in the cellars and attics, and waste thrown from windows into the street. Since 1995 the Old Town and the Georgian New Town have shared UNESCO World Heritage status. Is Edinburgh Old Town worth visiting with a guide? This walk shows details you would easily miss alone.

St Giles' Cathedral and Parliament Square

St Giles' Cathedral, the High Kirk of Edinburgh, has stood on the Royal Mile since the 12th century, although most of today's building dates from the 14th and 15th centuries. Its crown spire, completed around 1500, is one of the symbols of the city. Inside are fine stained-glass windows and the richly carved Thistle Chapel of 1911. Outside, a heart-shaped mosaic in the cobbles, the Heart of Midlothian, marks the site of the old Tolbooth prison, and locals still spit on it for luck.

Behind the cathedral lies Parliament Square and Parliament House, where the Scottish Parliament met until 1707 and where the highest courts still sit. Your guide stops here to tell the story of the church and the square. St Giles' Cathedral opening hours are usually from morning to early evening, with entry by donation, so you can return after the tour to see the interior at your own pace.

The Mercat Cross

Just east of St Giles' stands the Mercat Cross, the market cross of Edinburgh and for centuries the civic centre of the town. Merchants met here to trade, royal proclamations were read from its platform and public punishments, from the pillory to executions, drew crowds around it. The present cross is largely a reconstruction of 1885, but it keeps part of the old shaft and is topped by a unicorn holding the royal arms.

Proclamations are still read here today, including the announcement of a new monarch and the calling of general elections, making it one of the oldest living ceremonies in the city. Your guide uses the Mercat Cross to explain how justice, trade and news worked in medieval Edinburgh, and points out the brass outline in the cobbles of the older cross nearby. It is also a classic photo stop on any Edinburgh walking tour.

The Hidden Closes and Alleys

More than sixty closes and wynds once ran off the Royal Mile, narrow passages leading into courtyards and down the steep slopes on either side. Each had its own character and many still carry the names of the trades or families who lived there. Some open suddenly onto views north across Princes Street Gardens to the New Town and the Firth of Forth, others are dark tunnels between towering walls.

Here the guide brings the history and folklore of Auld Reekie to life: plague outbreaks when whole closes were sealed, the ghost stories that grew around them, and the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, when thinkers in the cafés and clubs of the Old Town shaped modern economics, philosophy and medicine. Stepping into these passages is the best way to feel how crowded and vertical the old city once was.

The Grassmarket

The Grassmarket lies in a hollow below the south side of Edinburgh Castle and was a market place from 1477, where cattle, horses and grain were traded. It was also the main place of public execution until 1784; a circular memorial now marks the site of the gallows, where many Covenanters died for their faith in the 17th century. A surviving stretch of the Flodden Wall, built after the defeat of 1513, runs nearby.

Today the Grassmarket is a lively square of cafés, restaurants and small shops, with one of the best views up to the castle rock. It is linked to the Royal Mile by the curving, colourful Victoria Street. The tour finishes in this area, surrounded by places to eat and good transport links, so it is easy to continue exploring the city or stop for lunch after your guided walk.