ABOUT US
At Cobble Tales, local architects and architecture students have been guiding enthusiasts and professionals, visitors and locals since 2016. Our many 5-star TripAdvisor and Google reviews testify to our quality tour content and a great time exploring Edinburgh on a walking tour.
Our highly formative Edinburgh walking tours are created by architects for discerning people looking to build an in-depth understanding of the city. We believe that a city visit gains a lot more meaning when one knows how it was constructed, along with the political and cultural motivations behind it.
We welcome professional groups as well as individual explorers. From 2020, we have introduced the first architectural audio-guides in Edinburgh. In-person guided walking tours led by a local architect are available for groups.
We are very keen to support heritage causes in Edinburgh, and are working with a local charity. Every purchased tour supports the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.
Cobble Tales proud to support 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
ARTE TV
LivinginScotland. Tour snippets in Russian
In the Media
Art Mag. Article
SPAB Magazine. Article
The Team
Our team consists of architects and architecture students
Founder | Author | Guide
The founder of Cobble Tales, personally writes and designs all Edinburgh tour itineraries at Cobble Tales. You will hear her voice on our audio tours.
Olga tutors at Edinburgh University, as well as at her Alma Mater, Newcastle University.
Olga enjoys researching, and making sense of cities. Expect to find her in the library or staring at buildings questioningly.
Guide
Agustina is an Argentinian architect who is studying her second Masters degree in Architectural Conservation at the University of Edinburgh.
Agustina’s passion for preservation and restoration of the built heritage informs her tours and promotes the consciousness of taking care of buildings.
What makes us so special
Passionate experts
Great reviews
We support conservation
After finishing his architecture studies in Antwerp and Oxford, Nick moved to Edinburgh to continue research at the University of Edinburgh where he focuses on Scottish architecture in retrospect of 16th and 17th century Europe, particularly on the dissemination and interpretation of continental architecture and applied architectural mathematics.
Nick lectures in Edinburgh University School of architecture and speaks at international conferences.
After finishing his architecture studies in Edinburgh, Cameron worked in practice and ran a participative design studio.
Cameron’s fascination with Patrick Geddes’s work in Edinburgh lead him to a research project in Mumbai.
He now studies his architecture Masters at Central Saint Martins in London.
Alumni guides
Mohona is an architect from Bangladesh. She completed her Masters degree in Architectural History and Theory, and continues her academical research with a PhD in Architecture, from the University of Edinburgh.
Marie is a Masters student in Architecture at the University of Edinburgh.
Marie is currently focusing on her 2 year thesis project that explores co-living and co-working environments.
Wayne studied architecture in the University of Edinburgh and also worked in architecture firms after graduation.
He has keen eye for a good frame, and devotes a good part of his time to photography.
Frequently asked questions
We no longer offer public guided tours in Edinburgh. Instead we offer self-guided audio tours for individuals, and private guided tours for groups.
Yes, we offer PRIVATE walking tours guided by a local architect, for groups of up to 30 people. These are well suited for study trips, meetings and conferences, however design geeks on a holiday are very welcome too! Prices start at £175 per tour.
Absolutely, if you are curious about cities and culture, an architecture tour will reveal lots of insights about Edinburgh.
The audio tour is available in English. Guided tours for private groups are also available in French.
On most audio tours of Edinburgh, we climb from 20 to a 100 steps. Our flattest walking audio tour is in the New Town.
Yes, except Dean Village where the audio tour passes through a private cemetery that does not allow dogs.
Select your audio tour and pay for it. After you paid for the tour, you will receive an activation code by email, along with detailed instructions.
To go out and do the tour, all you need is a free audio tour VoiceMap app for iPhones and Android devices. Install it on your smartphone via Apple AppStore or Google Play’s store. Then download the tour using your activation code.
Don’t forget your earphones!
Once purchased, Edinburgh audio tours are not refundable. However, your ticket will be valid indefinitely, so you can take the tour at any date, gift it to someone else, or enjoy a virtual tour.
Yes, but for the optimal experience and understanding of the content we recommend following a preset order.
Our Edinburgh audio tours are narrated by Olga Gogoleva, the founder of Cobble Tales. Olga is an architectural designer and tutor.
Yes, audio tour gift cards are available on our gift card page.
?
Our Edinburgh Tours at the Festivals
We enjoy participating in local festivals and contribute to their programmes with our Edinburgh architecture tours. Previous festivals include Festival of Architecture, Architecture Fringe and Doors Open Days, as well as Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival.
