Historical Tours of Edinburgh

focused on architecture and design

Edinburgh walking tours with a difference

We offer self-guided audio tours for individuals and private architect-guided tours for groups.

Edinburgh’s stunning architecture is one of the main reasons the city has won more than 12 UK’s best city awards in the last seven years.

We invite you to discover Edinburgh through the lens of its most influential architects and uncover the origins of Scottish design, all the while hearing about the conflicts, controversies, and personalities involved in the development of Edinburgh.

Our highly formative Edinburgh walking tours are created by architects for discerning people looking to build an in-depth understanding of the city.

Every purchased tour supports the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. Read more here.

Self-guided audio tours

Set your own pace

Perfect for locals and visitors. Choose from multiple itineraries available as walking audio tours: Old Town, New Town, and Dean Village.

Easy to use
Great value
Location aware
Written and narrated by an architectural designer

£1 from every audio tour sold on this website will be donated to the Society for Protection of Ancient Buildings.

“We found ourselves applying our new knowledge of architectural features for the remainder of our trip!”

Guided Tours for Groups

Available in English and French

Edinburgh walking tours guided by a local architect, for groups of up to 30 people. Perfect for conferences, meetings and study trips.

For custom requirements, let us know your subject of interest and we will tailor the itinerary to your group.

They tour Edinburgh with us

TED Summit 2019

TED Community Conference, Edinburgh

Byggesocietetet

Real Estate Development Association, Denmark

AEI Agence

Architectural Studio, France

Sweco

Engineering company, Sweden

University of West England

Urban Planning Students, UK

Supporting heritage in Scotland

Cobble Tales is proud to support local heritage causes. We donate to a building conservation charity SPAB Scotland (The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings), that works on promoting traditional building crafts among young people.

£1 from every audio tour sold on this website is donated to SPAB.
10% of profits from every group tour is donated to SPAB.

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings is a registered charity with registered number 1113753, Scottish Charity No.SC 039244

What people love

about Cobble Tales

Ben, Lancaster

We could have happily carried on all day. Worth every penny for architecture lovers, and even those with a vague interest (like myself!).

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Ruth, Edinburgh

Absolutely fantastic. Cannot say enough good things about this tour and Olga as a narrator. It’s clear she has an obscene amount of architectural and historical knowledge and she pieces it together so clearly.

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Ian, Edinburgh

Whether you are new to Edinburgh, or already know the city, you will get a huge amount from it.

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Lynn, Edinburgh

We've done architectural tours in a number of cities and this ranks among the top!

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Rosalind, Dunbar

It was fascinating to learn about all the influences on Edinburgh’s architecture, from brochs and baronial castles to Le Corbusier.

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Elisabeth, Newcastle

I saw the city in a new light through the excellent commentary.