A big, warm welcome to Edinburgh. I hope you enjoy the video above, which shows you all the highlights of my tour of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.
You can Book Here, or check out my other Edinburgh Tours below.
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Photography & History Tours of Edinburgh with David Wheater
Photography & History Tours of Edinburgh
I specialise in leading Private Photography and History Tours of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, Old Town, New Town, Calton Hill, and The Dean Village . My private photography & history tours are ideal for people who love history and taking pictures, beginners and enthusiast alike. Whether you have a smartphone, a DSLR or a Mirrorless, I’ll pass on lots of invaluable tips as we discover amazing history and photograph beautiful locations around Edinburgh.
I’m also a professional portrait photographer and specialise in portrait shoots around Edinburgh & Glasgow.
My private photography & history tours are a great first introduction to Edinburgh, with a local who’s passionate about showing you all his favourite things, on and off the beaten track, in these amazing Scottish cities.
I’ve lived in Edinburgh for over 50 years and it’d be a pleasure to welcome you to Scotland and help you discover amazing history, while photographing the beautiful city of Edinburgh. You can see and book all my Edinburgh Photography & History Tours below.
I’ve written a 100-page Edinburgh Guidebook which you can purchase & download here. It tells you everything you need to know about visiting Scotland’s beautiful capital. It’s crammed full of over 300 photos of Edinburgh, and I really hope you find it useful. If you have any questions about my tours, please get in touch.
Edinburgh
Guidebooks & Itineraries
Written by local guide & resident, David Wheater, to save you hours of research & planning.
If you feel a little overwhelmed deciding where to visit in Edinburgh, these guides will save you lots of time to ensure you see the very best of the city.
Choose a guide or itinerary and download it straight to your computer or smartphone.
Contains over 100 unmissable attractions!
This essential, 100-page, (PDF download) guidebook to visiting Edinburgh is written by local guide, David Wheater. It’s beautifully illustrated, with over 300 colour photographs taken by the author.
It tells you everything you need to know about visiting the city. Its 100 pages contain all the city’s main visitor attractions, and many hidden gems you might miss. There’s also lots of essential tips and cultural information that’ll be incredibly useful.
David was born and brought up in Edinburgh and has lived and worked in the city for over 50 years. In this personal, independent visitor-guide to Edinburgh, he shares all his top tips for visiting the city, along with hundreds of his favourite visitor attractions, hotels, restaurants, cafes and shops, to ensure you have the best possible time in the capital of Scotland.
This guidebook was written by David Wheater without the use of AI.
Save hours of planning and research!
If you’ve just one or two days in Edinburgh, this one day itinerary will save you lots of time researching and planning what to see.
It can be overwhelming trying to decide what to visit in a city with hundreds of attractions, especially if you have little time.
David has created an itinerary with 16 unmissable places, on and off the beaten track. From large attractions like Edinburgh Castle, to small, hidden music museums, David’s hand-picked a great variety of places to ensure you have a fabulous time in one of the word’s greatest cities.
Included in the itinerary are 32 recommended cafes & restaurants along the route, plus opening hours, nearest toilets and entry costs.
The itinerary was written by David Wheater and no AI was used.
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Edinburgh Old Town Photography & History Tour
FIXED PRICE / COMPLIMENTARY TEA BREAK
If you love history and taking photos, Edinburgh's historic Old Town is an absolute dream. This is a city of constantly changing light, moody skies, vibrant streets and stunning architecture. On this exciting photography & history tour of Edinburgh's Old Town, David will take you on a personal, private tour of some of the Old Town's highlights, on and off the beaten track, while passing on lots of invaluable photography tips to help improve your photography. This is the ideal tour for people who love taking beautiful pictures and learning about Edinburgh’s fascinating history.
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The Dean Village Photography & History Tour
FIXED PRICE / COMPLIMENTARY TEA BREAK
One of Edinburgh's most delightful & picturesque hidden villages, that's been enthralling locals and visitors for decades. Nestled along the green & leafy banks of the Water of Leith, there's the opportunity to not only photograph the village's beautiful architecture, but also the river and its wildlife inhabitants, including kingfishers, dippers, divers and herons. As we walk through this beautiful village to the Gallery of Modern Art and Stockbridge, David will share with you the fascinating history of the village and all his top photography tips and locations. This is the ideal tour for keen nature photographers, wishing a bit of peace & quiet away from the hustle & bustle of the city centre.
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Calton Hill Photography & History Tour
FIXED PRICE / COMPLIMENTARY TEA BREAK
If you love history and taking beautiful photos, you’ll love this tour. Calton Hill is an unmissable part of the city for all keen photographers, offering unrivalled 360 degree views of the city all the way to Fife, East Lothian and beyond. Full of beautiful views of the city and classic monuments, there’s exciting photographic opportunities at ever corner. David will guide you around Calton Hill's many beautiful historic monuments & buildings, sharing their fascinating history, and helping you to capture them in the best possible way. From observatories, telescopes, canons and clocks, there’s something interesting and wonderful to photograph at every corner.
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Edinburgh New Town Photography & History Tour
FIXED PRICE / COMPLIMENTARY TEA BREAK
Edinburgh’s spectacular New Town is the finest Georgian new town in the world and an absolute treasure trove for all keen photographers. From its elegant, beautiful architecture to its green parks and lively streets, there’s no shortage of amazing history, fascinating former residents and stories to tell, with photographic opportunities at every corner. David will help you explore this photogenic part of the city, sharing all his top stories, photography tips and locations along the way. This is the ideal photography and history tour for people who love beautiful buildings and architecture, in one of the world’s most beautiful cities.
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Leith Photography & History Tour
FIXED PRICE / COMPLIMENTARY TEA BREAK
If you want to discover a different part of Edinburgh, learn fascinating history and take great pictures, this is the tour for you. Leith has a wonderful chilled out vibe and is a great escape during the busy August festival. Once a separate burgh, it has a long and fascinating history and offers some truly wonderful photographic opportunities. From wildlife on The Shore & The Water of Leith, to beautiful, historic buildings and graveyards, there's an abundance of stunning photographs just waiting to be taken. We’ll visit the spot where Mary Queen of Scots arrived back in Scotland, visit some hauntingly beautiful graveyards and learn about recent archaeological discoveries at South Leith Parish Church. David will guide you around this picturesque part of the city, helping you discover wonderful places to photograph in this off-the-beaten-path area of the city.
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Edinburgh i-Phone Photography Class
PRIVATE CLASS - £399 / 3 HOURS
FIXED PRICE / COMPLIMENTARY TEA BREAK
Ever wondered how other people get such great photos & video on their iPhones?
This 3 hour iPhone course in Edinburgh City Centre is ideal for complete beginners and will teach you everything you need to know to get started in iPhone photography and video. You'll learn how to take full creative control of your iPhone's powerful camera to capture high quality photos & videos and how to edit them using your iPhones inbuilt editing suite. You’ll also learn some powerful cinematic moves & techniques to elevate and improve your films. This course may particularly appeal to those who are keen to improve their travel photos and videos.
Teaching will take the form of a three hour photo & video walk around Edinburgh, visiting wonderfully photogenic locations around the city centre.
Edinburgh Tour Reviews
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“Nothing Short of Awesome"
We are still blown away by the wealth of expertise and knowledge you shared with us. You have been nothing short of awesome.
Your enthusiasm will be forever in our minds, as well as all the “extra miles“ you went with us. We truly appreciated every single minute of the tour, there was so much in it. We absolutely believe, you were accurate when you mentioned you could go on for 14 days 😉.
It is people like you, open, honest and humble that make the difference! We are so glad we had the opportunity to meet you and big thank you for everything!
We‘ll do our best to walk through your recommendations today. Be assured, Scotland, Edinburgh and David will always have a special part in our heart.
Warmest and best wishes & big thanks,
— Michael, Gunther & Stefan, Germany (private tour)
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“Truly Went Above & Beyond"
My husband and I have traveled extensively and have taken several tours in the past. We can definitely say that David’s private walking and photography tour was exceptional.
It was definitely the best tour by far. David is not only very passionate about the tour but is also very patient and kind ensuring that the tour is done at our own pace.
David showed us so many hidden gems that we could have not discovered on our own. He taught us so many tips of taking great photos. David was not only kind, good humored and accommodating, but has an incredible wealth of knowledge. His thoroughness, knowledge and history helped bring Scotland’s beauty, people and history to life.
He is a great professional, very pleasant and kind. He ensured that his customers were well taken care and comfortable. He explained every site with great depth of knowledge and patience.
My husband and I consider ourselves lucky to have taken this tour with David. He is superb. David is also very generous with his time and is always excited to share it. He truly went above and beyond for us.
As a seasoned traveler, I can honestly say that I have never had a lovelier tour. We will definitely recommend him to friends and family. My husband and I look forward to doing many more tours with David.
Thank you, David for a pleasant experience.
— Esther & Jay, USA (private tour)
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“Wonderful Tour!"
This was a wonderful tour with David! He is extremely knowledgeable and very friendly.
He takes the time to make sure that you're having a great tour and honestly you could spend days with him and learn more and more!
He has very good manners and takes very good care of his clients. He will even take you to a fantastic tea and coffee shop for a little break.
I wish we could have stayed and taken multiple days worth of tours with him, he was that good! I highly recommend this tour.
Take it at the beginning of your trip because he'll point out many places you can return to so you know where the good things are!
— Kara & Kevin, USA (private tour)
Photographs of Scotland For Sale
by David Wheater
Photographs are some of the most special things we own and become ever more important as the years go by. If you’re in Edinburgh or Glasgow for a special occasion, my two, three & four hour photoshoots are the perfect way to celebrate these special moments - and they’re lots of fun too!