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A walker on a red earth path through Holyrood Park with Arthur’s Seat under dark clouds ahead

The Best Arthur’s Seat Tours, Ranked

Twenty-one experiences, ranked by how well they fit a visit to the hill.

We ranked these by a simple test: if a friend were coming to Edinburgh to climb Arthur’s Seat, what would we tell them to book? Guided hikes come first, then the sights at the foot of the hill, then the best of the rest of the city, and finally the day trips.

Ratings and review counts are from GetYourGuide at the time of writing; prices are indicative “from” prices in euros and will be shown in your own currency when you click through.

  1. Best overall

    Edinburgh: Guided Hike to Arthur’s Seat and Holyrood Park

    🕒 2 hours 📍 Holyrood (see listing) ⭐ 4.9 (130) 💶 from €28

    The straightforward guided climb: two hours, small group, excellent reviews and a low price.

    First-time visitors who want the best route and the stories without map-reading

    Check price & availability
    Walkers climbing the grassy path towards the summit of Arthur’s Seat under a blue sky
  2. Best value

    Edinburgh: Hike Arthur’s Seat & Calton Hill

    🕒 3 hours 📍 City centre (see listing) ⭐ 4.9 (92) 💶 from €31

    Two famous hills, three hours and a guide for little more than the price of one.

    Keen walkers who want both famous viewpoints with one guide

    Check price & availability
    The Nelson Monument and the columns of the National Monument on Calton Hill, with the Firth of Forth behind
  3. Best for sunset

    Edinburgh: Arthur’s Seat Sunset Hike

    🕒 2 hours 📍 Holyrood Park (see listing) ⭐ 5.0 (82) 💶 from €56

    A perfect rating and the best light of the day — with someone to get you down in the dusk.

    Photographers and couples who want the hill at its most atmospheric

    Check price & availability
    View from Arthur’s Seat over yellow gorse and Holyrood Park to Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth
  4. Best pairing with the hill

    Edinburgh: Palace of Holyroodhouse Entry Ticket

    🕒 About 1.5 hours 📍 Palace of Holyroodhouse, foot of the Royal Mile ⭐ 4.8 (6,388) 💶 from €26

    The palace stands at the start of the path. Do both in one day.

    Everyone — it is the obvious thing to do before or after the hill

    Check price & availability
    The Palace of Holyroodhouse and the ruined abbey beside it seen from above, with Edinburgh beyond
  5. Best castle tour

    Edinburgh Castle: Guided Walking Tour with Entry Ticket

    🕒 1.5 hours 📍 Royal Mile, near the castle (see listing) ⭐ 4.7 (14,316) 💶 from €41

    Ticket and guide in one, and the most-reviewed castle tour in the city.

    First-time visitors who want the castle explained, not just seen

    Check price & availability
    Visitors in Crown Square inside Edinburgh Castle, below the clock tower of the Royal Palace
  6. Best for families

    Edinburgh: Harry Potter Magical Guided Walking Tour

    🕒 2 hours 📍 Old Town (see listing) ⭐ 4.8 (13,219) 💶 from €21

    Two light-hearted hours in the Old Town that children actually enjoy.

    Families and fans of the books

    Check price & availability
    The curving, colourful shopfronts of Victoria Street in Edinburgh’s Old Town
  7. Best evening tour

    Edinburgh: Haunted Underground Vaults and Graveyard Tour

    🕒 1.5 hours 📍 Royal Mile (see listing) ⭐ 4.6 (7,425) 💶 from €31

    Vaults, a graveyard and a good storyteller: Edinburgh after dark.

    An atmospheric evening after a day on the hill

    Check price & availability
    Weathered stone memorials on a wall in Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh
  8. Best after the descent

    Edinburgh: Holyrood Distillery Whisky & Gin Tour

    🕒 1 hour 📍 Holyrood Distillery, St Leonard’s Lane ⭐ 4.6 (1,092) 💶 from €32

    A working distillery five minutes from the park paths.

    A well-earned dram straight after the descent

    Check price & availability
    The Palace of Holyroodhouse among trees, seen from Salisbury Crags above Holyrood Park
  9. Best day trip

    Edinburgh: Loch Ness, Glencoe & the Scottish Highlands Tour

    🕒 12.5 hours 📍 Central Edinburgh ⭐ 4.6 (20,777) 💶 from €68

    The classic Highlands loop, with more reviews than anything else from Edinburgh.

    Seeing the Highlands when you only have one day

    Check price & availability
    The ruins of Urquhart Castle on the shore of Loch Ness
  10. Best for experts’ company

    Edinburgh: Arthur’s Seat Hike with Mountain Guide

    🕒 2 hours 📍 Holyrood Park (see listing) ⭐ 5.0 (14) 💶 from €56

    A qualified mountain guide and the quietest lines up the hill.

    Walkers who want expert company and the quietest way up

    Check price & availability
    The dark outline of Arthur’s Seat against an orange dawn sky
  11. Best slow walk

    Edinburgh: Hill & Nature Hike with a Local

    🕒 4 hours 📍 Edinburgh (see listing) ⭐ 5.0 (26) 💶 from €24

    Four unhurried hours with a local, at a very fair price.

    Nature lovers and anyone who prefers an unhurried pace

    Check price & availability
    Walkers on a grassy path between banks of bright yellow gorse in Holyrood Park
  12. Best introduction to the city

    Edinburgh: Old Town History Walking Tour

    🕒 2 hours 📍 Royal Mile (see listing) ⭐ 4.8 (920) 💶 from €19

    An inexpensive, well-reviewed Old Town walk for your first day.

    Getting oriented on day one

    Check price & availability
    St Giles’ Cathedral and pedestrians on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh’s Old Town
  13. Best underground history

    Edinburgh: Underground Vaults Tour

    🕒 1 hour 📍 Royal Mile (see listing) ⭐ 4.5 (12,608) 💶 from €28

    The South Bridge vaults by day, facts first.

    Curious visitors who prefer facts to frights

    Check price & availability
    The towers and spires of Edinburgh’s Old Town skyline rising above trees
  14. Best buried street

    Edinburgh: The Real Mary King’s Close Guided Tour

    🕒 1 hour 📍 Royal Mile, opposite St Giles’ Cathedral ⭐ 4.7 (4,528) 💶 from €34

    A whole 17th-century close preserved beneath the Royal Mile.

    History lovers and rainy afternoons

    Check price & availability
    A dim, narrow stone passage in the preserved underground street of Mary King’s Close
  15. Best whisky introduction

    Edinburgh: The Scotch Whisky Experience Tour and Tasting

    🕒 50–75 minutes 📍 Castlehill, top of the Royal Mile ⭐ 4.7 (6,835) 💶 from €29

    How Scotch is made and how to taste it, in about an hour.

    Whisky beginners and wet-weather days

    Check price & availability
    Two tulip-shaped whisky tasting glasses and a small water jug on wooden coasters
  16. Best for tired legs

    Edinburgh: City Sightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour

    🕒 24 hours 📍 Waverley Bridge ⭐ 4.6 (7,838) 💶 from €21

    An open-top loop that stops at Holyrood, by the park.

    Tired feet, and families with younger children

    Check price & availability
    A green and yellow open-top Edinburgh Tour double-decker bus
  17. Best royal attraction

    Edinburgh: The Royal Yacht Britannia Ticket

    🕒 About 2 hours 📍 Ocean Terminal, Leith ⭐ 4.9 (3,293) 💶 from €29

    The late Queen’s yacht, at the end of the tram line in Leith.

    A change of scene on a second or third day

    Check price & availability
    The Royal Yacht Britannia moored at Leith docks on a grey day
  18. Best for Harry Potter fans

    Edinburgh: Glenfinnan Viaduct, Glencoe & Highlands Day Tour

    🕒 12 hours 📍 Central Edinburgh ⭐ 4.6 (9,411) 💶 from €67

    The Glenfinnan Viaduct and Glencoe in one long day.

    Harry Potter fans and lovers of big scenery

    Check price & availability
    A steam train crossing the curved stone arches of the Glenfinnan Viaduct
  19. Best shorter day trip

    From Edinburgh: Stirling Castle, Kelpies and Loch Lomond

    🕒 10 hours 📍 Central Edinburgh ⭐ 4.7 (1,198) 💶 from €66

    A castle, the Kelpies and Loch Lomond without the twelve-hour drive.

    A Highlands taster without twelve hours on a coach

    Check price & availability
    Stirling Castle on its wooded crag above a green field
  20. Best half-day escape

    From Edinburgh: Rosslyn Chapel & Scottish Borders Tour

    🕒 7 hours 📍 Central Edinburgh ⭐ 4.7 (711) 💶 from €56

    Rosslyn Chapel and the Borders by small minibus.

    A relaxed day of history without a very long drive

    Check price & availability
    The ornate Gothic stonework of Rosslyn Chapel under a clear blue sky
  21. Most useful

    Edinburgh Airport: Airlink Bus Transfer

    🕒 About 30 minutes 📍 Edinburgh Airport / Waverley Bridge ⭐ 4.7 (19,570) 💶 from €7

    Not a tour, but the simple way in from the airport.

    Arriving by air and heading straight into town

    Check price & availability
    Tracks and platforms of Edinburgh Waverley station in the city centre
The Three Sisters ridges above the valley of Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands
Glencoe, the highlight of most Highland day trips from Edinburgh.

How to choose

If you book only one thing, make it a guided hike on your first clear day — the hill is the reason you are here, and the weather may not give you a second chance. Add Holyrood Palace the same afternoon. Leave the castle and the Old Town for a second day, and a Highlands trip for a third.

Still deciding how to climb? Our routes guide compares every path, and the best time to climb page covers daylight and weather.

Plan your day on the hill

A volcano before lunch, a palace after

Arthur’s Seat rises straight from the foot of the Royal Mile. Pair the climb with a guided hike, Holyrood Palace, an Old Town walk or a whisky tasting — compare and book in a couple of taps.

Browse Arthur’s Seat & Edinburgh tours Compare all tours
Good to know

Best tours: FAQs

Frequently asked questions

Which Arthur’s Seat tour is best?

For most visitors, the two-hour guided hike to Arthur’s Seat and Holyrood Park: it is well reviewed, inexpensive and covers the essentials. Choose the sunset hike for atmosphere or the Calton Hill combination for more walking.

How far ahead should I book?

A few days is usually enough for hikes outside August. Book castle tickets, Mary King’s Close and Highland day trips further ahead in summer, and everything early during the August festivals and at Hogmanay.

Are prices in pounds or euros?

Our indicative prices are in euros because that is how GetYourGuide’s partner feed reports them. On GetYourGuide you can pay in pounds or your own currency.