Actual Education Interactive Guided Tours

Discover Edinburgh's History - The Old Town!
Due late 2009

Imagine having historic Old Edinburgh at your fingertips...ready to be explored whenever you want to... Want to see where Burke and Hare preyed on their victims? Want to see where Deacon Brodie stayed? Want to see where the body of the murdered husband of Mary, Queen of Scots was found? This is the tour for you!

Edinburgh's history has sometimes been violent, sometimes surprising but always fascinating. We believe this massive virtual tour is one of the best ways to discover Edinburgh's history. This is the massive sequel to our "Edinburgh's History - The Flodden Wall Guided Tour".

Features

• Over 120 panoramic scenes - making this the BIGGEST Scottish virtual tour we've EVER seen (feel free to let us know if you've discovered one bigger!)
• Each scene lets you explore Edinburgh's history through 'full screen' images
• The largest virtual tour on the history of the whole of the Old Town of Edinburgh, not just the Royal Mile
• Six exciting tours tell you about Edinburgh's history
• Every important location in Edinburgh's Old Town is covered
• This tour acts as the perfect accompaniment to an actual visit to the streets of the capital today
• Each scene is linked to a map showing the Old Town of Edinburgh as it once looked

Edinburgh’s Old Town
Tour 1

We begin our tour in the shadows of Edinburgh Castle next to the site of Tanner's Close. This was the one time home to the infamous 'bodysnatchers' Burke and Hare. Slightly confusing is the fact that the two Irishmen never snatched bodies from graves...they murdered their victims! Things get even darker as we come to the Grassmarket execution spot. We will end up visiting five on our travels! We do, however, find out about the more 'fortunate' hanging of Maggie Dickson. We head up the old West Bow, passing the haunted house of Major Weir and go up Castlehill. We stop off to visit Semple's Close and its well preserved building before heading up to Edinburgh Castle, Scotland's most famous historic landmark.

Edinburgh’s Old Town
Tour 2

Although Edinburgh Castle may be the most visited historic attraction in Edinburgh don't for one minute think that we've 'peaked'. We head down to the Mound to get an understanding of the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh - quite Jekyll and Hyde in their mannerisms...We soon learn about the infamous Edinburgh cry of 'Gardy Loo'... and why visitors would be better off indoors when they heard this! We get a chance to explore some contrasting old closes and find out a little about life in the cramped conditions of the Old Town. We get to 'meet' some interesting 'Auld Edinburgh' characters in this tour - Deacon William Brodie, Baillie John McMorran, John Dowie and Greyfriars Bobby! We pay a quick visit to the execution spot where William Burke was hanged. We also learn an almost darkly comic story about the meal taken by Edinburgh's council officials after such executions. We finish by visiting the Magdalen Chapel and Greyfriars Kirk.

Edinburgh’s Old Town
Tour 3

Our rollercoaster voyage through Edinburgh's history continues as we go up and down the steep streets in our third tour. Leaving the statue of Greyfriars Bobby, Scotland’s most photographed statue(!), we pass the buildings of the fabulous Museum of Scotland and join with one of the ancient entry routes into the Old Town. The history behind the name of Fishmarket Close is obvious but we will learn about what happened here one day during the infamous 'Lang Siege'.

We soon find ourselves at the High Kirk of St Giles. We explore the flat plaza in front of St Giles for a while. This is where Edinburgh's historic old Tolbooth sat and we learn all about this historic building. At one point the Tolbooth wasn't the only prison in this area and we get to enter St Giles Cathedral. This famous landmark, which takes it's name from Edinburgh's Patron Saint, has been everything from a church to High Kirk, Cathedral, Prison and was even used as a storage depot for execution equipment! We get to find out more about famous Scots such as John Knox and John Graham, Marquis of Montrose before we leave for Advocate's Close and Warriston's Close.

Edinburgh’s Old Town
Tour 4

We pass the famous Mary King's Close (well worth a visit if you want to experience a true Old Town Close) on our way to the Royal Exchange, now known as the City Chambers. We investigate the sites of the charismatic Luckenbooths and the Town Guard. If you ever wanted a reason to explore Edinburgh's history with this tour then the Luckenbooths provide it. The site of these shops is marked out on the road today but we suspect that almost everyone walks past without a glance or a thought. One part of the Luckenbooths was crucial to the career of Robert Burns and was also where some early Slavery abolition meetings were held...a part of Edinburgh's history which is well worth investigating.

We find out more about Burns as we visit Anchor's Close. We come back up through the narrow and evocative Fleshmarket Close. We investigate the site of Kirk O’Fields at the Edinburgh University Old Quadrangle and learn about the murder of the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Edinburgh’s Old Town
Tour 5

Following in Burke and Hare's footsteps as they walked away with their cash we head down High School Wynd towards the site of Cardinal Beaton's Palace. This is one of the darker parts of Edinburgh's history. We head back up to the High Street finding out about the dire conditions of the Old Town during the Victorian era, a time when pigs were living inside the houses, and get to know the story of the little Edinburgh lad who survived a building collapse. From a house which fell to one which remains - the pretty John Knox House comes next and we explore its charming facade. We also learn about John Mossman and his brutal execution. A 19th century murder beckons (aren't you glad Edinburgh's a much safer place today!) before this part of the tour ends.

Edinburgh’s Old Town
Tour 6

The steep nature of the Crag and Tail now eases off for the final leg of our tour and we walk down the Canongate towards Holyrood Palace. We will see where Deacon Brodie's career as a burglar came to a dismal end and we will find out about more about the rivalry between the Early of Argyll and the Marquis of Montrose as we pass Moray House. The Canongate Tolbooth, Canongate Kirk and Huntly House provide us with more stories as we near our tours completion. Before we get to the world famous Holyrood area - home to the Holyrood Palace and the Scottish Parliament we have the hidden gem of 'White Horse Close' to visit as a fitting end to our tour around Edinburgh's history.

See some screenshots from our panoramic images at the Edinburgh's History - The Old Town Guided Tour Gallery Page.

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(Panoramic scene from our "Edinburgh's History - The Old Town". Use your mouse to control this scene. Double click to access the 'full screen' feature.)

(Video preview of our "Edinburgh's History - The Old Town")

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(Click the 'play' button to see a slideshow of screenshots from our "Edinburgh's History - The Old Town"
CD-ROM)

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(Our "Edinburgh's History - The Old Town Guided Tour" CD-ROM cover)

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You may also be interested in the following Interactive Guided Tours;

The Edinburgh's History Collection - Interactive Guided Tours of Edinburgh's Old Town and other Edinburgh topics.