The Royal Mile - From Huts to High Rise

Highlights

  • Edinburgh Castle Views

  • Royal Mile

Summary

Follow Angus who will will tell you about many of the Mile's famous closes, offering a quiet retreat from the busy main street, and a glimpse into the layers of language underlying the present names of many buildings and areas.

Tour info

Duration
1 hour
Group Size
Pricing (From)
Commentary
English
Meeting Point

Grassmarket

Dropoff location

Why take this tour?

Start at the foot of the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade down to the Tron, on the junction with the Bridges for a brief introduction to how Edinburgh's Royal Mile has developed from timbered medieval buildings to the complex street of today.
Follow Angus who will will tell you about many of the Mile's famous closes, offering a quiet retreat from the busy main street, and a glimpse into the layers of language underlying the present names of many buildings and areas.
Continually altered, repaired, adapted and sometimes restored, the Royal Mile is a living witness to Scottish history since the Middle Ages.
The tour may run an extra five or ten minutes due to crowds or traffic.

Hi, I'm Angus, I'd like to take you on a tour through the centuries down the Royal Mile. Edinburgh started as a huddle of huts round a stockade, through mediaeval high rise living, extensive Victorian clearance, but also, luckily, several modern examples of preservation.
I've experienced homelessness in London and Edinburgh since health problems brought most of my previous career paths, including; gravedigging, kitchen portering, combat engineering, forestry and fencing, building new stuff and, best of all, knocking down old stuff to an unwelcome and creaky end. I was told about Invisible Cities by the staff at Big Issue a couple of years ago. Not a highbrow architectural tour, but a great opportunity for me to share my passion for history and mixed opinions about our Scottish town planners. My tour lasts an hour and is around 99% downhill. Okay, I'll admit I failed maths at school so that's a guess.
Come along!

What’s included?

  • Walking Tour of Edinburgh Royal Mile

  • Gratuities

About operator:

Invisible Cities is a Social Enterprise. This means we are a social business with a social conscience. We don't believe in labels or stereotypes and we want to show that everyone has great potential, a fact reflected in our tour guides. We train people affected by homelessness to become walking tour guides of their own city and offer these alternative tours to tourists and locals.

Other products from this operator: