Reviews

Auld Reekie

Gwen is herself an Edinburgh gem. We were delighted with our Auld Reekie tour. It was our first visit to Edinburgh, and spending five hours with Gwen gave us an outstanding introduction to the city's history, landmarks, and stories. It set us up beautifully to enjoy the rest of our stay. Visiting in July meant the Royal Mile was packed with people and tour groups, but having Gwen skillfully lead us through the crowds, finding quiet corners to share the city's history, made all the difference. She has a wonderful gift for bringing Edinburgh to life. We especially appreciated the personal experiences she wove into the tour. They created a genuine sense of connection—not only with Gwen, but with the city itself. An unexpected highlight was visiting the Public Library and the National Museum. Those stops helped us experience Scotland and Edinburgh as living places with a rich cultural identity, rather than simply tourist destinations. If you're looking for an engaging, insightful introduction to Edinburgh, we wholeheartedly recommend spending time with Gwen.

Andrea Cassutt  20 July 2026

Edinburgh for Families

We took a 3-hour family tour with Gwen and it was the highlight of our trip. Gwen is warm, lovely, and very knowledgeable. She planned the tour around our family’s interests and, as a retired teacher, was fantastic at keeping our boys engaged. She has an infectious energy and packed a lot into the tour. We fell in love with Edinburgh through Gwen’s eyes — her experience, depth of knowledge, and passion for her hometown made the day unforgettable. We highly recommend Gwen and hope to return for more time with her!

Denise Mooney 17th July 2026

Review of May 2026 Royal Mile tour with Gwen Kinghorn

Exceptional Private Tour with Gwen Kinghorn

If you are looking for a highly personalized and deeply caring tour guide in Edinburgh, I cannot recommend Gwen Kinghorn enough. My husband and I were lucky enough to find her online while searching for a private tour of the famous Royal Mile. We decided to take a chance on her based entirely on her prompt and helpful responses to our initial online questions, and it turned out to be a truly fortuitous find!

As older travelers, we face unique challenges when exploring a new city. My husband walks slowly with a cane, which means standard group tours are simply not an option for us. We needed to strictly avoid fast walking, large crowds, and climbing steep steps. We also had a tight schedule because we needed to get back to our hotel in time for a special evening event. From our very first message, Gwen responded with immense patience, kindness, and understanding. She took all of our physical needs and time limits into account and tailored the perfect walking route for us.

Gwen exceeded our expectations in every single way. On the day of the tour, she arrived early to meet us right at our hotel lobby. She brought along a beautifully curated packet filled with local brochures and her own personal write-ups. This binder covered the best spots for shopping, dining, museums, galleries, gardens, and history. It served as an invaluable reference guide for the rest of our stay, allowing us to find authentic local gems and completely avoid the usual tourist traps.

Gwen is a highly versatile guide who conducts many different types of tours across Edinburgh. She offers private walking tours of the Old Town, the New Town, and charming neighborhoods like Leith and Dean Village. She also hosts specialty tours focused on shopping, food tasting, and medical history, as well as excursions out of town. She is a local and active in Edinburgh socially and professionally.

Our only regret is that we did not discover Gwen much earlier in the initial planning stages of our trip. Had we known about her sooner, we absolutely would have booked her for multiple tours. Thank you so much, Gwen, for the delightful experience and the wonderful memories. You were a true highlight of our vacation!

Linda Stoneham May 2026

The old and new towns of Edinburgh  (Tailor made tour)

Gwen Kinghorn was an exceptional guide. My husband and I did a four-hour walking tour with her in April 2026, and it was one of the highlights of our trip. She is incredibly knowledgeable and provided a fascinating, well-rounded overview of Edinburgh’s history, culture, and hidden gems.

Beyond her expertise, Gwen was warm, engaging, and easy to spend time with. She struck the perfect balance between sharing information and keeping the tour relaxed and enjoyable. We especially appreciated how she tailored parts of the tour to our interests and answered all of our questions thoughtfully.

We left with a much deeper appreciation for the city and so many great recommendations for the rest of our stay. I would highly recommend Gwen to anyone visiting Edinburgh—she truly made the experience memorable.

Shareen Fanburg   22 April 2026

Auld Reekie

Excellent tour content and our guide, Gwen, was superb.  It was our first time in Edinburgh, and we wanted to see the historical highlights.   We requested an in-depth tour and are good walkers, so we covered a lot of interesting and historical sites.   We heartily recommend this tour guide and tour.

Janet Ellsworth   19 April 2026

Top to Toe

Gwen delivered a great tour for us! She shared her city and her knowledge and her enthusiasm for Edinburgh with plenty of humour and honesty and respect for its history.  Our half day tour helped us get grounded in the city on our first morning of our weeks long trip to Scotland.  And it felt like an appetizer for an in depth look at all Edinburgh that offers to residents and visitors.   We will return and contact Gwen for more adventures!

Brian Singer   17 April 2026

Top to Toe

Gwen was great! She is very knowledgeable, extremely kind and has a dry sense of humour that made the time fly. We’d recommend her to anyone interested in learning more about the city!

Sarah Bartesaghi Truong     21 March 2026

Edinburgh for Families

Gwen was absolutely wonderful.  She toured us through the royal mile and surrounding area.  Gwen proved to be very dynamic, keeping both kids (5 of them!) entertained and also 5 adults.  It was very interactive, educational and she also had numerous recommendations for activities to do on our own.  We will 100% book with Gwen when we come back!

Lucas Kerr 26 Nov 2025

Discover the Unknown

A wonderful tour with Gwen.  She had a great itinerary for guests who were new to Edinburgh.  She showed us so many sites with lots of commentary, in addition to several”hidden gems” we never would have discovered on our own.  At the end of the tour she gave us a packet full of more information about the city.  I would give her more than five stars if they existed.

Janet Marble 6 Sept 2025

Auld Reekie

Gwen was a brilliant tour guide.  She was so knowledgeable and even customized our tour a bit to accommodate our preferences.  We would never hesitate for a minute to reach out to Gwen for another tour should we find ourselves in Edinburgh.  Thank you sincerely Gwen, you were wonderful!!!  Dennis, Lisa and Scott.

Lisa Logsdon 4 Sept 2025

Auld Reekie

Our guide provided our group with a most wonderful tour; we learned a great deal about the history of Edinburgh, saw many of the landmarks of the Royal Mile, and had great time. Around every corner was an interesting story. I cannot imagine a better way to begin our visit to Edinburgh than with the tour provided by our guide.

Doug Bell 29 Aug 2025

Doug also left a personal comment to me:

Gwen, thank you for a most wonderful tour. You provided us with a wide breadth of the history of the Royal Mile and highlighted how that history has impacted the events Edinburgh, Scotland, and Europe. Most of all you made the tour fun and entertaining. The suggestions you provided for the remainder of our stay in Edinburgh have been helpful.  Your stories about your life growing up in Edinburgh were highlights.  Your interest in our group was palpable and your connection to each of us left each of us with great memories. Best to you!

Doug Bell 29 Aug 2025

Top to Toe

Gwen is a 5-star host / guide all the way. So much detailed information about most anything related to the Castle and Royal Mile and much more. Also a wonderful visit to St Giles Cathedral and chapel on the side with amazing wooden carving.

We were there during Fringe Fest which added lots of spontaneous street performers but sometimes made it difficult to navigate and hear all that she had to say. But she did point out some cashmere specialty shops and shopping ideas along with historical facts of the area. Gwen kept the pace of her tour at just the right speed for our toddler and gave many follow up suggestions once we were done. Can’t recommend her enough.

Chris Hays 18 Aug 2025

Top to Toe

I recommend this tour with Gwen!  She is enthusiastic about the sights, possesses a treasure trove of knowledge, and shares historic tales at each site that the common visitor wouldn't know. Thanks, Gwen.

Sam Katsimpalis 18 July 2025

Edinburgh for Families

Gwen made sure to tailor our experience to include my child and gave great recommendations and treats for the trip home. Warm and kind.

Anita Bohon17 July 2025

Top to Toe

Gwen is a treasure! Don't hesitate to take a tour with her.  In May this year she gave our group of four women a tremendously informative, fun-filled look into all of the history, charm and secrets of Old Town Edinburgh. You will learn so much and be mesmerized by the extent of her knowledge and love for the city. (You'll make a new friend in the process too.) Thank you Gwen for making us fall in love with your city  and giving us a fabulous day we won't soon forget.

Ann Schwartzstein 12 May 2025

Ann also left a private comment to me:

Gwen, on behalf of the four of us. Ann, Mady, JoAnn and Debi, thank you for such a wonderful time with you "on the mile." 12 May.  You were a delight.  Not only did we learn so much, but you entertained us and made us feel so comfortable in your care from the first moment. You went above and beyond.  We wish you well in all your future adventures as a guide and in your own personal travels as well.  Good cheer from the U.S.!

Ann Schwartzstein 12 May 2025