What are the opening hours?

Monday 12pm - 3:30pm Tuesday 12pm - 3:30pm Wednesday 2pm - 1:30pm Thursday 12pm - 3:30pm Friday 12pm - 3:30pm Saturday 12pm - 3:30pm Sunday 12pm - 3:30pm

The Potter Trail

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The Potter Trail

The original and best magical walking tour of Edinburgh’s Old Town. Independently run since 2012! And much, much more. Suitable for families. Muggles welcome!
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Prepare to enter a secret world…

Grab a wand and join your robed guide on the original tour in Edinburgh designed especially for Potter fans! You’ll discover the magical locations that inspired characters and scenes in the series, visit the places where JK Rowling wrote the books and even learn about the real-life witches and wizards of medieval Edinburgh. Discover…

- Who the world’s worst poet

was, and which Hogwarts teacher is named after him!
- Where Lord Voldemort is buried!
- In which café Rowling wrote the FIRST Potter book! Even if you’re not a Harry fan, there’s still plenty to entertain you on this lively and atmospheric tour, full of colourful characters from Edinburgh’s mysterious past.

04/06/2024

Old college 📚

27/05/2024

Okay so we may have spoken a bit too soon about that sun… but look how much these soggy wizards are enjoying themselves!

25/05/2024

After a brief spell of sogginess this week we are enjoying sunny tours again ☀️ there are still a few spots left on the public tours tomorrow, so make sure to sign up ASAP if you want to join us for a magical walk this weekend.

19/05/2024

Happy sunny Hogwarts vibes at the castle today ☀️

14/05/2024

Visiting Edinburgh with kids this weekend? We have the PERFECT activity for you! Our mysterious friend Magus Negus will be accompanying our 12.30 FREE public tour performing magic for all our guests. Book your group’s spot on our website asap 🪄

13/04/2024

Wizard Colin had the privilege of showing these two talented wizards around town yesterday ☀️

02/04/2024

Extra spooky fog added FREE OF CHARGE on todays tours

28/03/2024

Spring has sprung and we have opened up our 4pm slots for public tours starting this Friday 🐰🐣The 12 and 2pm public tours are almost full up but there are still spaces available on the 4pm tours for you 🕰️

21/03/2024

Lovely morning light over our Gringotts 🤍

21/08/2023

Some very smart witches and wizards on todays tours!! House points all round! 🧙‍♀️

21/08/2023

We are starstruck! We were delighted to welcome Australian Eurovision royalty on the Potter trail.

14/08/2023

Spotted in Newington! Regulus’s gang have obviously been up to no good.

12/08/2023

A potion makers paradise 🧙‍♀️

05/07/2023

Have you read the Scots edition of the philosophers stone? It’s a fanciful combination of many different Scots dialects all together, and very good fun! We spied a copy in the window at on Candlemaker Row 🧙‍♀️

27/06/2023

Rainy tours today but the potter fans were out in full force! Thanks to all who joined us today, you were the best!

09/06/2023

Best of luck to everyone staying up late studying for their OWLs and NEWTs this week!

This photo is from a very special library just outside of Edinburgh in Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott on the River Tweed. Well worth a visit if you have a few days in Scotland.

05/06/2023

Draco Malfoy is sad that he had to make his own cake this year. Things haven’t been going well at home and he tripped over a loose paving slab this morning on the way to work, plus his sciatica is acting up again. Happy Birthday Draco. 💚

Presenting our latest excuse to make ridiculous AI images: a new series lovingly called

05/05/2023

Nebulus!! 🪄💨

Someone from the ministry of magic must be on concealment duty in Edinburgh tonight!

01/05/2023

Jumping on the ‘Wes Anderson-ish attempt at symmetrical photos’ bandwagon without making you listen to the song AGAIN. You are welcome.

This is Old College, it is very old.

25/04/2023

‘And keep an eye on the staircases. They like to change.’

21/04/2023

Thankyou so much to everyone who chose to come visit us during their holidays this month. We’ve seen some top notch spell work, truly impressive potter trivia knowledge, and some absolutely fantastic outfits this month. We love you nerds!

Photo by a very bright Gryffindor ❤️

05/04/2023

People often ask if they can bring their dogs on the tour, and our answer is always YES PLEASE!! Our tours are 100% dog friendly and about 2km of guaranteed good sniffs for any canine visitor.

Huge thank you to on Tripadvisor for leaving us a lovely review and bringing this very very good pup on the tour this week.

04/04/2023

Have you visited the vennel? This hidden shortcut from Lauriston place down to the grass market is one of the best places to see our Hogwarts 🧙‍♀️ It’s just a short walk from our final stop on Victoria Street.

02/04/2023

The spring holidays are upon us and tours are getting busier again so lucky for you nerds, we now have TWO public tours per day at 12 noon and 4pm

21/03/2023

Local Edinburgh legend made a guest appearance on the tour today! 💙

20/03/2023

Tour guides Becky and Sam enjoying a strong potion after a long day of tours 🧙‍♀️Thanks to the cauldron for being the most magical tavern in Edinburgh ❤️

17/03/2023

Our very own wish.com Harry Potter - it’s tour guide Sam! 🪄

We’re only running one public tour per day right now (12pm) but if that time doesn’t work for you, you can book a private tour with one of our guides and have us all to yourself! Just visit our website for all the details.

Thanks to Jilly for submitting this photo on our trip advisor.

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12/03/2023

Rossio Lumos!! 🪄

caught a most magical moment from yesterday’s tour on camera- the combined power of Charlie and Christine’s tour groups meeting to perform a VERY REAL spell at the traffic lights. Surprised we didn’t get any Priori Incantatem effects in the crossfire!

10/03/2023

Riddell, Scrymgeour, Cruikshanks, Moodie, Potter, and McGonnegal all lie within these walls. Have you found their graves?

07/03/2023

Our Magical guide Becky in Action!

“Couldn’t have asked for a better tour guide. So much enthusiasm is contagious! Thanks so much for this great experience! It was my first experience in Edinburgh and made me fall in love with the people and the City.”

Thanks so much to Tahné for submitting this review and candid snap to our trip advisor page.

Address

Greyfriars Bobby Statue
Edinburgh
EH12QE

Opening Hours

Monday	12pm - 3:30pm
Tuesday	12pm - 3:30pm
Wednesday	2pm - 1:30pm
Thursday	12pm - 3:30pm
Friday	12pm - 3:30pm
Saturday	12pm - 3:30pm
Sunday	12pm - 3:30pm

Website

http://www.pottertrail.com/

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Our Story

We are Edinburgh's original and most acclaimed walking tour for Potter fans. Consistently in the top 5 highest rated tours in Edinburgh on TripAdvisor, we bring the magical side of the city to life for thousands of visitors every year. We've been featured everywhere from The Times to PBS, and have even won a few awards along the way...

Originally founded in 2012 by Stuart Young, our first tours were often just for a handful of people. Since then, we've gone from 1 guide to 10, and from 3 tours a week to 2 tours a day! Stuart and our earliest guides were members of Edinburgh University's Comedy Society, and we've never forgotten our roots – and still all of our guides are trained comic performers. We like to think this gives us a unique enthusiasm and theatricality in what we do, and our customers tend to think so too!

We are completely independent and locally run, and pride ourselves on providing tours to anyone regardless of their financial situation. JK Rowling started writing in Edinburgh in very financially challenging circumstances and this is true of many aspiring writers. Our public tours are free with an optional donation at the end and that’s never going to change. We hope that this will help you to be inspired by Edinburgh too!