Hello!

My brother and I (both 40-ish) are travelling to Edinburgh for 5 days at the end of May and wondered if it would be worthwhile to take one or more guided tours of the city with Mercat. We generally make our own way most of the time when we travel, but feel that guided tours can be a great way to add some colour and depth to our sightseeing.

So I wanted to ask - has anyone here used Mercat and did you find them worthwhile? We're thinking in particular of their "Secrets of the Royal Mile" history tour (my choice) and the "Hidden and Haunted" ghost walk (his).

FYI, we are also booked with Rabbie's for a one-day Loch Lomond tour - we just didn't want to use them for Edinburgh proper as they do it in the form of a hop-on-hop-off, which is not our favourite mode.

Many thanks in advance,

mirai

And to add to my own post:

We're also planning to do the Real Mary King's Close tour. If so, would it be too similar in feel or tone to the Blair Street Underground vaults ghost tour?

Why Mercat specifically? There are a LOT of companies that do these types of tours. We took a couple but I've no clue what company. Trip Advisor or similar may have comparisons. The ghost walk type one we took included the company's own little torture device display, which was interesting and disturbing.

The Scots do speak a variant of English so you can understand most of whatever tour you take. If bro or you like the local hooch, stop into Royal Mile Whiskies and the Cadenhead shop on the Royal Mile. There's also more of historical interest on Calton Hill than at Arthur's Seat, but the latter is known for its views.

<<We're also planning to do the Real Mary King's Close tour. If so, would it be too similar in feel or tone to the Blair Street Underground vaults ghost tour?>>

Yeah.

Be aware that many tours seem to focus on a specific area of interest usually ghosts or whisky. They also tend to spend their time along the Royal Mile and miss New Town as well as other areas. Walking Edinburgh can be physically challenging for most so trying to do a tour that takes it all or even most of Edinburgh is seldom doable. This is a reason to consider a bus tour which might not be a bad way to at least get an overall view of the city, then focus on the specific for a walking tour.

Agree with Russ, those tours are far too similar. Edinburgh is a remarkable city don't get too caught up in the ghost themed options. I have done the Mary's King Close tour. It was okay but certainly not one of my favorite things to do in Edinburgh.

<<Be aware that many tours seem to focus on a specific area of interest usually ghosts or whisky. >>

Yeah, and HT's on the reason I said the Mary's King Close tour and the ghost walk would be repetitive. There are only so many gawdang ghosts you can encounter in a short trip.

PS, every hill in Edinburgh goes UP, never down. It's like an Escher artwork on steroids.

Great feedback. As to why we chose Mercat, mainly because they were highly recommended on TripAdvisor and some other sites.

Calton Hill is on our list as a must-do; Arthur's Seat only if we have time.

So I think we'll drop one of the ghost tours. And we'll be spending the majority of our days exploring the major sites on our own, but need to consider the physical challenges, as you both noted.