• Walking Tours 

      Spring 2022

      : My Edinburgh Tours :

      : Browse and Book Scheduled Tours : 

      : Why Choose Me : 

      : Frequently Asked Questions :

    • My Edinburgh Walking Tours

      I offer friendly, relaxed and research-based walking tours with no costumed theatrics or sensationalist stories because Edinburgh's history doesn't need any dressing-up! 

       

      With me you'll discover the "how's and why's" of Edinburgh's history as we uncover the city's past through its industrial heritage, social history, urban design and cultural identity. 

       

      I offer Scheduled Tours, Private Tours and Bespoke Tours for individuals and small groups as well as Gift Certificates.

       

      Also on this page: 

      Why Choose Me and Frequently Asked Questions

    • Scheduled Walking Tours

      From November to April scheduled tours will be running once a month. 

      If my published dates are not convenient scheduled tours can be booked privately at a time of your choosing, subject to availability. 

      Please contact me directly for enquiries or to arrange a date.

      Scheduled tour tickets are sold using the secure, global ticketing platform Eventbrite.

      Book directly on my website using the embedded checkouts below or visit my Eventbrite profile.

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    • "Edinburgh Uncovered: 900 Years in 90 Minutes"

      An introduction to Edinburgh's history that uncovers the city's growth from its tiny medieval beginnings to the vibrant cultural capital we see today.

       

      Walk through the back-streets of the Old Town to the top of Calton Hill and discover how trade, industry, royalty, identity, education and landscape have shaped the city. Along the way you'll experience over 500 years of Edinburgh's changing architecture, from its historic 'closes' and Neo-classical monuments to its Victorian breweries and spectacular 21st century Parliament.

       

      At just 90 minutes long this tour is a perfect introduction to Edinburgh's own history, a history that goes far deeper than ghosts, grave-robbers and Greyfriars Bobby. 

      First Friday of every month (except Jan) @10.30am until Easter 2022

      PRE-BOOKING REQUIRED

       

      Can't find a suitable date? Contact me to book this tour at a time of your choosing. 

       

    • "Contrasts of Calton Hill"

      A two-hour walking tour which reveals Edinburgh's iconic Calton Hill as a place of contrasts!

       

      One of Edinburgh’s most famous landmarks this tour uncovers Calton Hill’s past as a place of fun and fear; education and incarceration; grand town-houses and dingy back-streets; and much more.

       

      Taking in the wider Calton Hill area you'll discover how its spaces have been used over the centuries and uncover some of the people who have called it home. Along the way you'll see fabulous architecture and learn about its key buildings including the Old and New Observatories, the Royal High School and the long-gone Calton Jail.

       

      First Saturday of every month (except Jan) @10.30am until Easter 2022

      PRE-BOOKING REQUIRED

       

      Can't find a suitable date? Contact me to book this tour at a time of your choosing. 

    • 3 Reasons...to choose Hetty's History Walks!

       

      1. My Edinburgh walking tours are a different from your typical tourist sightseeing tour.

      I don’t simply take you to a spot tell you some facts and a story or two before whisking you off again. My tours are based around a few carefully selected themes that tell a bigger story giving you a more rounded experience of Edinburgh’s past.

       

      2. It is easy to look at Edinburgh’s many beautiful old buildings but I can help you to really see them.

      My degree background allows me to bring the city's social history and architectural history together. Placing individual buildings in a broader historical context gives you a deeper understanding of how, and why, Edinburgh looks the way it does today.

       

      3. Some tour companies consider 30 people to be a small group. For me it's a maximum of 8 people.

      My super-small group tours make it easier for you to both hear the tour and ask questions. Moving around the city is simpler and quicker so you also get to see more. Better for you and kinder to the environment and the local community with super-small groups we all win!

      This typical street scene of everyday life in Edinburgh's Old Town, from Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh (1881), is packed full of examples of traditional Scottish architecture - turnpike stairs, crowstepped gables, forestairs, skew-puts and the delightfully named cat-slide dormers.  

      (Public Domain)

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      Frequently Asked Questions...

      If you have any questions I haven't covered here please don't hesitate to contact me

    • Find me on social media...

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    Website updated 07 January 2022.

    Images by Daniel Rannoch Photography and Hetty's History Walks.

     

    Copyright 2019 to present date. Hetty's History Walks. All Rights Reserved.

     

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