This
page lists a few examples of some the activities we offer. All of them are
exclusive to Edinburgh
for Groups and all of them can be engineered to suit your group. However, these
are just a few samplers to give you some inspiration and food for thought.
Almost anything is possible, from a weekend of Highland dancing to hiring your own Scottish
pub for the day. If it's Scottish and it's legal - we can do it!
Wet
your whistle on a guided walking tour around Edinburgh's literary and traditional music
pubs via the sites and haunts of Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
Sir Walter Scott, J.M. Barrie, Robert Burns, J.K. Rowling, Ian Rankin and
others. Visit the birthplace of Sherlock Holmes and Long John Silver. 'Whisky
and freedom gang thegither' wrote Robert Burns, but he would have been the
first to agree that it also blends flawlessly with literature, music and song,
a combination practised and perfected by him throughout his short life. So come
along and explore the lost world of literary Edinburgh, with a glass in your hand and a
song in your heart, on a night to remember!
Minimum
age 18. Duration app. two and a half hours.
Sherlock Holmes's Edinburgh
Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the world's first super-hero, Sherlock Holmes,
was born in Edinburgh
in 1859 and studied medicine at its university's prestigious medical faculty.
It was here he encountered the men who taught him the art of deductive
reasoning, and where he met his inspiration for the great sleuth - the
remarkable Dr. Joseph Bell. This walking tour is led by best-selling writer and
raconteur, Allan Foster, author of Sherlock
Holmes and Conan Doyle Locations - A Visitor's Guide (McFarland, 2011), one of the
world's leading authorities on Holmes and Doyle, and is a rare opportunity to
explore a hidden Edinburgh rarely seen by visitors through the eyes of one of
the world's greatest storytellers.
The Edinburgh
Book Lovers' Tour
A
guided walking tour visiting the sites and haunts of Roberts Burns, Sir Walter
Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, J.M. Barrie, Ian Rankin,
Alexander McCall Smith, J.K. Rowling and others in the company of literary
travel writer Allan Foster, author of The
Literary Traveller in Edinburgh, a Book Lover's Guide to the World's First City
of Literature.
“Allan
Foster's personal odyssey. By fay the best tour of the city in many a long day”
A Stroll through Edinburgh's
dark and criminal past.
There
is a long list of crime novelists who have used Edinburgh as a backdrop - from Arthur Conan
Doyle to Ian Rankin. The modern crime writer seems to have developed a lurid
taste for its dark and sinister streets, where, in the words of Ian Rankin,
'The stories are in the stone'. This walking tour will give you a taste of the
dark side of The Festival City as it weaves its way through the back streets of
the Old Town and recalls a city of mob violence,
squalor and murder. Hear its whispers, gossip, myths and anecdotes. Meet its
legendary and infamous characters in a secluded, yet fascinating part
of the city.
An evening of traditional song and banter with some of Edinburgh's finest folk
artists.
Music
and song, washed down with a few drams and ales, have become a Scottish
institution, and are now intertwined and inseparable from its culture. The
words and tunes were often born in taverns, the watering holes of its makars
and minstrels. Today the tradition still survives in pubs all over Scotland, with
new voices and writing talents emerging from the old. Hamish Henderson, father
of the Scottish folk revival, christened it 'the carrying stream of tradition',
a stream which meanders the length and breadth of Scotland from the Border country to
the Shetland Isles. This evening's entertainment dives deep into the 'stream'
and surfaces with many of the city's famous singers and musicians and is a
unique example of Edinburgh's
musical genius.
This
event is performed after dinner in a local restaurant or in a local pub. The
choice is yours.
The story and songs of Robert Burns.
Robert
Burns's memory is revered all over the world, from Russia
to the USA.
In his brief life he gave us some of the world's greatest poems and songs
celebrating his love of life and lassies, drinking bouts, sexual misdemeanours,
debts, and perverse behaviour. In other words, the voice of the common man. He
is without a doubt Scotland's
most famous poet whose spirit transcends the word and has become immortal,
making his memory survive all over the world. This evening's entertainment pays
tribute to the great bard with story-tellers, readers and folk singers in a
celebration of a man who was the poet of the country - perhaps of mankind - as
none has been before.
This
event is performed after dinner in a local restaurant or in a local pub. The
choice is yours.
Edinburgh through words and
music.
An
evening's entertainment which opens up Edinburgh's
musical, literary and historical landscape through a kaleidoscope of words,
music and song. Sir Walter Scott called it 'mine own romantic town'; Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting, describes it
less poetically as 'A dirty, cold, wet, run-down slum'. In other words, like
every great metropolis, Edinburgh
is a city of two faces. The tourist face and the local face. 'The Singing City'
explores both with a collection of
stories and songs from the streets of Edinburgh
performed by some of the city's greatest singers and spinners of yarns.
This
event is performed after dinner in a local restaurant or in a local pub. The
choice is yours.
Adventures on foot in and around Edinburgh.
Forget
your guide books and maps. Experience Edinburgh
and its surroundings on foot, far from the throbbing tourist trail and crammed
open-topped bus tours in the safe and experienced hands of a local guide. Go on
a learning journey into the town or the nearby countryside. Walk to the famous Forth Bridge
along the River Forth's wooded seashore. Trek into the nearby hills to discover
Roman forts and battlefields. Stop for lunch in a local pub. Visit historic
villages and ancient harbours. Discover an Edinburgh just beyond the reach of the
average guide book and get fit in the process! We have many walks available,
all led by experienced guides - from lengthy hill walks to a stroll along the
seashore. All tastes and fitness levels are catered for.
Contact us for our
full range of 'Hoof It!' rambles in and around around the city.
The Hidden Pubs of Edinburgh
Guided pub walks to some of Edinburgh's unsung watering holes.
Edinburgh has more pubs per
square mile than any other Scottish city, but a great proportion of them are
nondescript or tartan-draped 'experiences' for the tourist. This tour leaves
the tartan ghettoes behind and explores some great and historic Edinburgh pubs via the
stunning backdrop of the old city. Your guide will weave you through dark
closes and cobbled alleys to some of Edinburgh's
authentic and legendary watering holes, many with traditional music and song.
Between hostelries, your guide-cum-homegrown storyteller will recount the
history, myth, architecture, anecdotes, and anything else of interest on the
way to the next pint.
Minimum
age 18. Duration two and a half hours.
On the Trail of Mary Queen of Scots.
A
guided walking tour exploring the dramatic life of Mary Queen of Scots, one of
the most contentious and romantic figures in British history. A story of
political intrigue, power, romance, religion, and treachery. Mary only resided
for six years in Edinburgh, but she left behind a trail of love affairs, riots,
and murder, making her time in the city one of the most turbulent and decisive
periods in Scottish history. Starting at Holyrood Palace, this tour weaves its
way up the Royal Mile exploring the most action-packed period of her short
life, including the struggles with John Knox and the Scottish nobility, her fatal
marriage to Darnley and his mysterious death, her marriage to Bothwell that led
to her captivity by Queen Elizabeth and her eventual execution at the age of
forty-four.
Music
and song, washed down with a few drams and ales, have become a Scottish
institution, and are now intertwined and inseparable from its culture. The
words and tunes were often born in taverns, the watering holes of its makars
and minstrels. Today the tradition still survives in pubs all over 
A
guided walking tour exploring the dramatic life of Mary Queen of Scots, one of
the most contentious and romantic figures in British history. A story of
political intrigue, power, romance, religion, and treachery. Mary only resided
for six years in Edinburgh, but she left behind a trail of love affairs, riots,
and murder, making her time in the city one of the most turbulent and decisive
periods in Scottish history. Starting at Holyrood Palace, this tour weaves its
way up the Royal Mile exploring the most action-packed period of her short
life, including the struggles with John Knox and the Scottish nobility, her fatal
marriage to Darnley and his mysterious death, her marriage to Bothwell that led
to her captivity by Queen Elizabeth and her eventual execution at the age of
forty-four.