About

Two visits, both in December

I have been to Edinburgh twice, three years apart, and both times in December: a day in the Old Town around Victoria Street in 2019, and a longer trip in December 2022 that took in Calton Hill, the Princes Street Gardens Christmas Market under the Castle, and the streets around the Castle esplanade. That is not the season most guides are written for. It is a genuinely different city in winter: shorter daylight, the Christmas market crowds and closures around Princes Street, and a colder, wetter Old Town than the photos on most tour operator homepages. Where that changes what I recommend, the guide says so.

I am not going to pretend I have done every tour on this site myself. Where a recommendation comes from having been there, the page says so. Where it comes from verified pricing, real reviews and comparing what each operator actually offers rather than a personal visit, it says that instead. The full method is on the how we review page.

How this site makes money

The Edinburgh Tour Guide earns a commission on some bookings made through outbound links to tour operators, at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure, including which programs and what the commission does not buy, is on the disclosure page.

What this site is, and is not

This is a narrow site on purpose: Edinburgh tours and day trips, written in enough depth to actually decide between two options, not a generic "Scotland" guide stretched thin across a country I have not covered the way I have covered this city. If you have a correction, a question, or spot something out of date, the contact page is the way in.