Prepare to enter a secret world...

Grab a wand and join your robed guide on the original tour of 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 a spell or two along the way...

See where Lord Voldemort's father is buried

Discover in which café Rowling wrote the FIRST Potter book

Take a trip down the real life Diagon Alley

Find out which house you would be in at Edinburgh's very own school of magic

Learn who the world’s worst poet was, and which Hogwarts

teacher is named after him

... and much, much more!

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. Suitable for families. Muggles welcome!

Founded in 2012 we are the original and most highly rated walking tour in Edinburgh for Potterheads - accept no imitations!

Meet the Guides!

Click on the portraits to get to know our guides a little better!

Our Story

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...

Stuart on one of the earliest Potter Trail tours, right at the beginning.

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 – 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!

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Will taking a tour in 2018.

Our tour has grown a lot since 2012, but we are still (and always will be) completely independent and locally run, and we 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!

Commitment to Equality

Our Commitment to Equality

Many of you may be aware of JK Rowling's recent tweets concerning transgender issues. We have been very saddened and dismayed by these and do not condone the views she expressed in any way.

We at The Potter Trail want to say very loudly and clearly that we love and respect trans and non-binary people. You will always be very welcome on our tours. We do not discriminate.

We think it’s important to stand in solidarity with the trans community at this time and will therefore be donating a percentage of our profits to the Scottish Trans Alliance. They work to improve gender identity and gender reassignment equality, rights and inclusion in Scotland.

It’s a difficult time to be a Harry Potter fan for many but we sincerely wish JK Rowling’s views not to diminish our appreciation of the books and their messages of inclusion and tolerance.

What our customers say

It's all well and good for us to claim we're the best Harry Potter walking tour in Edinburgh but maybe it's best you hear it straight from the hippogriff's mouth! We've consistently been one of the top activities in Edinburgh on TripAdvisor for our entire history, gaining a Certificate of Excellence for every year we've been operating and winning a Traveller's Choice Award for 2020 and 2021 too. Have a read of what our customers think!

You can also read some of customer reviews on social media too. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and keep up to date with all things Harry Potter Edinburgh!