INTERACTIVE CITY TOURS BY URBAN TRAILS™
Choose Your Edinburgh Adventure
An Edinburgh walking tour like no other: Old Town closes in, New Town opens out, and every close, cobble and skyline view feels like a clue. Explore at your own pace, then choose how the story moves forward.
City snapshot
Edinburgh is compact walkable, and built for discovery on foot. The Old Town’s steep closes and the Royal Mile lead you past historic courtyards and viewpoints, while the Georgian streets of the New Town bring a calmer rhythm and wide vistas. It’s a city where you can go from castle views to museum galleries to a hillside lookout in a single afternoon, with plenty of independent cafés and pubs for resets along the way.
Urban Trails in Edinburgh
Urban Trails is a unique walking tour in Edinburgh which brings the city together as one playable route, with story beats, location-based puzzles, and player choices that shape what happens next. It’s built for all group sizes, easy to start, and designed to feel like a real mission rather than a checklist.
More Things to do
If you’re planning things to do in Edinburgh, start with the big landmarks, then leave space for the smaller corners that make the city feel personal. These three routes of discovery work well for a first visit or a return trip.
Historic highlights
Begin on the Royal Mile, linking Edinburgh Castle at the top end with Holyrood Palace at the bottom. Detour into the closes off the main street for hidden stairways, courtyards, and a better sense of how the Old Town is layered. If you want a strong city view without a long hike, Calton Hill is a reliable stop.
Culture and stories
For an easy, high-value museum visit, the National Museum of Scotland covers everything from Scottish history to science and design, right in the centre. The Scottish National Gallery sits just off Princes Street and is ideal if you want something lighter and shorter. If you’re drawn to writers and ideas, the city is full of literary connections, from historic printing and bookshops to the university quarter.
Local favourites
Walk Princes Street Gardens for a breather between the Old Town and New Town, then head into Stockbridge for independent shops and a slower feel. Dean Village is a short walk from the centre and is one of the most photogenic pockets of the city. For a bigger reset, Arthur’s Seat is the obvious choice if the weather is clear and you want a proper viewpoint.
Explore the city
Edinburgh rewards anyone who slows down and looks up. The city’s story is written into its streets: defensive walls, grand terraces, volcanic rock, and sudden views that appear at the end of an alleyway. Treat it like a self-guided walking tour with a bit of strategy. Pick a direction, follow the skyline, and let the contrasts do the work: tight medieval lanes, then open Georgian squares, then a climb to a viewpoint that makes the whole layout click.
Getting around
Most central highlights are best reached on foot, but Edinburgh is famously steep in places, so plan for climbs and cobbles. Comfortable shoes help, and weather changes quickly, so a light waterproof is rarely a bad idea. If you want quieter streets, start earlier in the day or explore the New Town first, then drift back toward the Old Town later. For longer jumps, the city has frequent buses and trams, but you can cover a lot just by walking between the Royal Mile, Princes Street, and the museum and university area.
