I am going to (highly) recommend a walking tour of Edinburgh. Our host Gerry, who arranged to meet my wife and I at the top of Waverley Steps, explained it was going to be a relaxed and very un-rushed saunter around Edinburgh, discovering parts of Scotlands capital which you won't see from a tour bus. The thing we loved most about the walk was there were just another two more couples who joined us. The walk began by heading west on Princes Street and crossed over Waverley Bridge where we headed up Cockburn Street. We passed Advocates Close, which Gerry said we would experience at the end of our "saunter". Cockburn (pronounced Coburn) Street leads up to the High Street or the Royal Mile, which is so named because it is has Edinburgh Castle at the top and the palace of Holyrood at the bottom of the street. Gerry clearly has a passion and pride for his home city, with stories from the Heart of Midlothian, a heart shaped mosaic, which is situated near to Parliament House and where locals faced execution to Mary King Close where it is reputed people with the plague were walled up and left to die. The walk itself lasted around fours hours and included a pub stop in the Bow Bar where we found a superb selection of whiskies, great craft beers and a coffee break in the celebrated Elephant House where JK Rowlings created Harry Potter. We were in Edinburgh for one more day and both decided after the walk to go and explore the city ourselves from a much better and more informed perspective the next day. We both cannot rate this walk highly enough, which it is not a crowded affair, Gerry limits his walks to a maximum of 6. Oh! and we were so glad when, to end our walk, we walked down the steps of Advocates Close. I'm pretty sure the climb up to the the High Street should carry a health warning! Gerry, you are a font of information. Thank you!