A visitor from New Zealand told me "Everywhere has castles, there are two unique things to do in Edinburgh, the underground city and Harry Potter". Well actually Seattle has an underground city, so that just leaves one...
Potter trail was formed in 2012, they are the trailblazers, thus having more reviews from happy customers.
👉 Potter tour formed 2017 and I love every last one of my reviewers from their eyebrows up.
Pottertrail has HUGE groups, 35+, it's like going to the Quidditch world cup, their guides probably have whistles & referee.
👉 In 2019 Potter Tours had upto a dozen. If you're interested you can get individual chat.
Pottertrail is for tips so you can walk away with no loss.
👉 I get everyone to swear an unbreakable vow at the beginning of my tour, if you walk away, you die.
Potter trail has won certificates of excellence from Tripadvisor for a high number of good reviews.
👉 So have I.
Potter Trail has an award from 'THA' for hospitality; never heard of them.
According to LUX life magazine I'm the best in class for family & visitor attraction; never heard of them either. But bless them!
Potter trail is 75 minutes with a flatter route. Less walking arguably makes it better suited to those who are disabled or who have a casual interest.
👉 PotterTour has 'The Complete Potterhead' a 8 hour activity tour for witches & wizards on a pilgrimmage. PotterTours are longer, Sam likes reviving the magic, Potter fans do some wand work on the tour, but Sam loves what Rowling's life has to teach.
Potter trail is fun and Funny.
👉 I hope to provide something useful, perhaps inspiring and worthy of spending more time on. I want to make memories, laughter is satisfactory.
Potter Tour's longer tours take in more sights (& more walking).
🏆 However Potter trail includes Favourit cafe & some Edinburgh ghost stories celebrating the gothic tradition, I don't. These are all good things.
Never has Sam been complimented by a wizard — like an equal!
Bless you master William. Master has nice robes too.
Oh Good Lord.
OK well Sandemans are a multinational based in Germany? Spain? They have an excellently rated historical tour and a well paid executive class. Too often their 'serf' guides, paying £3 per head for each customer, earn less than our legal minimum wage. Their company makes us poorer and the bloated battalions they march around make passage of the city worse for people who live here.
Is it run by Grindelwald? No.
But they could be.
My tours are run by me. I'm pretty bad too. If you do a quiz on my blog, you can see I probably idolise Alan Rickman too much. But he's just sooo silky.
...the guide included everyone and was genuinely interested in what you had to say. The only down side was it said 2 hours when I booked and it was only 1 hour and 15 minutes.Edinburgh is a city with a young population, but there are a good number of older folk living here, JK Rowling amongst them, they're the most vulnerable to the virus. My Dad has been told if he's admitted to hospital they will not resuscitate, they're not feeling like valued 1st class citizens.
On Edinburgh's streets these generations are beginning to grow tetchy at the obstacle courses devised for them by $$ seeking tour companies, they feel endangered, fairly so, in busy August the number of infections in Edinburgh doubled.
My tours are generally small. My capacity is presently 6 Potterheads, often smaller. My competitors continue to go for huge tours, Sandemans will take upto 40 people.
Corona virus is spread by human to human proximity - groups are a brothel for the virus. With virus rates in Edinburgh climbing back up our local media are reporting on discontent with the street clogging numbers & social distancing breaches caused by larger tours.
As the Coronavirus gains a firmer foothold and gathers pace for every 3 tours my competitors run, more than one person is not expected to survive the aftermath. They're superspreader factories, whilst their guides struggle to make our legal minimum wage.
If you can feel empathy for our less youthful citizens or our flailing economy seek responsible smaller tours, or ask the company of your choice for a private tour. I'd rather both you & our Ancients survive the Corona-clypse.
| Potter Tour | Edina | Potter head |
|
| Length / hrs | 2⅓ | 4 | 8 |
| The Tron Kirk | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Kwidditch postbox | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| George Heriots | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| The Nor Loch | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Nicolsons café | ✓ | ✓ | 🍽️ |
| Surgeons Hall | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| McEwan Hall | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| The Grassmarket | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tom Riddle's grave | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Andrew Carnegie's library | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| The Elephant House | ✓ | ✓ | 🍽️ |
| |||
| Edinburgh Castle grounds | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| The witches fountain | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Mcgonagall's Gt. grandfather | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| The Witchery | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Riddle's court | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Victoria Street 🍨 | 👍 | 👍 | 👍 |
| Lady Stair's mansion | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Royal Academy | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| The Balmoral Hotel | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| The Heart of Midlothian | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Parliament Square | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rowling's Edinburgh Award | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Inside Old Parliament Hall | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Café witchcraft | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
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Ah.... My greatest love Sandemans 💞 & their 75 minutes, just like Potter Trail... huh! This is their refrain. Insecure much?
I admit you don't need 4 hours. You don't need a Harry Potter tour at all. Do not be astonished but some folk come to Edinburgh, leave without taking one and proceed with happy, fufilled lives. And no, they're not mentally ill.
Not Sybill Trelawney level anyway.
Do you want a shady 75-90 minute tour from some dam busting gang-bangers rolling straight outta Knockturn Alley, or do you want something crafted with love?
NEW: Edinburgh bike tours of JK Rowling's world with a sprinkling of heavenly Harry Potter inspirations.
While our nucleus, the Old Town, is Harry's maternity ward & creche, Rowling began her retreat to greater Edinburgh quickly into Harry's adolescence. It's where she usually writes, plays minecraft with her son, walks her dogs, loves her daughters & packs merch to sell at her husband's gigs. It's the soil of Rowling's genius, come sample the sap.
So...
Short tour, long tour; loooong tour, short?
If you're a fan it's like choosing between Butterbeer & Fire whisky. One will make you jolly, the other will make you soar.
Why choose Potter Tour?
More Rowling, more of her inspirations, more magic, more memories.
indepth
writing 
magic