Edinburgh Self-Guided Audio Tour - Its History and Secrets

Whether you’re here for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival or a whiskey tasting tour, this walking tour is the perfect introduction to Scotland’s capital city. 

• Visit the home of the world’s most famous universities
• Explore the hidden gems in historic Edinburgh
• Instagram Hotspots: We find the perfect picture spots
• Offline Mode: Download tours and listen without WiFi
• Enjoy a private tour in a COVID-19 safe environment

Explore Edinburgh and walk through this charming historic city as you discover the winding, hilly streets of this glorious, ancient town! 
On this immersive guide narrated by an expert historian, we’ll visit the most famous historic buildings and architectural highlights. We’ll hear about the ancient tales that live in this city, as well as what it’s like to be a student at Edinburgh!  
Visit the most iconic sights such as Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, Victoria Street, the National Museum and Barrie’s Close. Learn about the famous people that have lived in Edinburgh, and finish the tour by visiting the fascinating Advocates Close to cap off this cultural adventure in this must-see picturesque city. 

The tour starts at Edinburgh Castle on Castlehill. Niall and Claudia will discuss Edinburgh’s most famous landmark and how it has been a fundamental part of the city’s history, nearly a thousand years in the making.   We’ll walk along until the spectacular Castle View – a truly breath-taking site. Further along, we’ll peer over the wall where we’ll see plenty of stunning sites such as Leith, Edinburgh’s port district, the Firth of Forth, a large estuary just outside the city, and the historic New Town, a neoclassical masterpiece of modern urban planning!   Our next stop will be Royal Mile - the pulsing artery of Edinburgh. Keep an eye out on your right-hand side for a restaurant called the Witchery – an Edinburgh institution.   As we continue on, we discover Old Edinburgh and Victoria Street - The curvature and bizarre layout of the street, with shopfronts on ground level and restaurant balconies above you – is just wonderful!    Then we reach the Grassmarket. Historically a cattle and horse market, today you see a lovely spot to find a drink or some food, or scran as we call it in these parts.
Anyone interested in Edinburgh’s student life will love our next stop – Greyfriars Bobby. Before we learn about the history of this infamous statue, we can see the University of Edinburgh central campus. The University of Edinburgh is one of oldest and the most famous in the world, it is where great writers like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson rubbed shoulders with great thinkers like Claudia Hume, Chrystal Mcmillan and Peter Higgs.

History lovers will love what comes next – the National Museum of Scotland - designed and built in the mid-1800s it is a stunning space to explore the history of Scotland and the wider world. They keep changing their exhibitions, so you’ll always find something new, and the permanent collection holds a massive range of historical curiosities, from the Romans to the Inuits and the moon to a T-Rex skeleton. 
We’ll then get a taste of Edinburgh's nightlife and Cowgate followed by a look at where life in Edinburgh once lived at Barrie’s Close 

Before the end of the tour, we’ll discover two more Edinburgh must see’s. Mercat - the old scots word for Market, so this was where the markets were. People would have come to haggle over sheep and pigs and chickens and whatnot, to hear royal proclamations from the parapets upon high, and to have a wee pray in the Church at St Giles.

Finally, the tour will conclude at Advocate’s Close – one of the finest views in the city

The Vidi Guides experience is enriched with on-screen photos and videos. We also point out where to take the perfect Instagram photos during the tour, and include recommendations for food, drinks, and local attractions. Don't worry, none of our recommendations are sponsored - they are simply favourites of the locals who helped craft the experience.

Vidi Guides creates immersive audio experiences that sound like podcasts. This is a self-guided audio tour that can be started or stopped at your own convenience. Download the Vidi Guides app & your Southbank tour to explore the area independently and safely! Make sure to download your tour before you go to streamline your trip!

• Mercat Cross, High Street, Edinburgh, UK
• Royal Mile, Edinburgh, UK
• Grassmarket, Edinburgh, UK
• Advocates Close, Edinburgh, UK
• Edinburgh Castle, Castlehill, Edinburgh, UK
• Stop 8: National Museum of Scotland, Chambers St, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, UK
• Greyfriars Kirkyard, Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh, UK
• Grassmarket, Edinburgh, UK

Not wheelchair accessible