A Tour of Edinburgh’s Old Town with David Wheater
David’s personal tour of Edinburgh’s historic Old Town is very much a tour for people who love hidden history and obscure things off the beaten path, often hiding in plain sight! A local for over 50 years, David will share with you a lifetime’s worth of knowledge and help you take wonderful photographs along the way, with lots of tips!
An introduction to David’s personal tour of Edinburgh’s Old Town
About The Tour
Starting in the heart of the Old Town, David will take you on a personal tour of some of the Old Town’s most interesting locations, many off the beaten track and easily missed. We'll discover wizards (real ones!), famous writers and courageous Scottish queens, along with contemporary Scottish icons and celebrities who've made their mark in music, literature and sport in Scotland. There’ll be amazing architecture, fascinating stories and plenty of opportunities to take amazing photos along the way.
We’ll visit many of the Old Town’s oldest buildings, including one of the most beautiful, which was built in 1590 and was the venue for a famous royal banquet for King James VI and his Queen, Anne of Denmark, in 1593. We’ll learn about one of the mansion’s most famous residents who was unfortunately shot dead by a 13-year-old schoolboy!
Near the castle we’ll visit The Witches’ Well and The Witchery, one of the prettiest closes in the Old Town. We’ll discover the plight of those accused of witchcraft between the 15th & 18th centuries and discover the hidden meaning and symbolism behind the fascinating Witches’ Well. Nearby, David will show you a couple of cannonballs which have an interesting story.
David will tell you all about a brush shop in beautiful Victoria Street that used to sell every kind of possible brush, and today still sells brooms, albeit the kind that Harry Potter flew! We'll visit the beautiful Writers’ Museum & Makars’ Court to learn all about Robert Louis Stevenson's remarkable career as one of the world's most famous writers and see a wardrobe from his childhood bedroom that is thought to have inspired one of his most famous books, Jekyll and Hyde. We’ll stop in Makers’ Court to see quotes from John Muir and Muriel Spark, and David will show you one of his favourite books, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
Near the castle we'll visit a true hidden gem, a mansion dating back to 1638, and its links to Culloden in 1746 and the Battle of Flodden in 1513. We'll visit the site of Scottish Queen Mary de Guise's old palace, and admire the magnificent New College, one of the city's most beautiful courtyards and buildings. David will be delighted to take some portraits of you there to keep. David will tell you all about the extraordinary lives of two powerful Scottish Queens, mother and daughter, Mary de Guise and Mary, Queen of Scots.
On the way to Parliament Square and St Giles’ Cathedral, we’ll visit a spot next to the statue of David Hume that’s rarely noticed. It’s the last public execution spot in Edinburgh, and David will tell you all about the Ratho murderer, who ruthlessly killed a nursery maid close to where David lives now and why Queen Victoria’s dentist decided to paint him after he was cut down!
In St Giles’ Cathedral, founded in the 1130s, we'll see the beautiful mausoleums of two of Scotland's most famous Covenanters, the Marquess of Montrose and the Marquess of Argyll; and David will tell you all about their remarkable executions just outside the cathedral. We'll also learn about two truly remarkable Scottish ladies, Dr Sophia Jex-Blake and Dr Elsie Inglis, whose courage and perseverance paved the way for women to pursue medical careers and equality in university education. We'll also visit a beautiful chapel dedicated to Scotland's highest order of chivalry, and discover one of Edinburgh's icons, The Angels with Bagpipes.
In the Grassmarket, we'll visit the spot where the captain of the town guard was executed by the Edinburgh mob in 1736, and climb The Vennel to the remains of the old Flodden Tower for some of the best views of the castle in Edinburgh.
- and much, much more!
To find out more, please visit our Old Town page for more information about the tour, or click the button below.
This private, exclusive tour runs only four times a month, on a first-come, first-served basis, so please book early.
