Bobby's Free Walking Tours

Well we think we've made some very good friends of the blog with the guys at Bobby's Free Walking Tours in Edinburgh. You may recall our story at the time on Instagram, but Calum and Rowie are honestly the perfect tour guides. More on that below!

We really wanted to see as much of Edinburgh during our short visit as possible and naturally the best way to do this is to sign up for a walking tour. You see loads of sites, get the low down on the history, and it saves the hassle of getting maps up on your phone or missing out on things you didn't know existed. When Ren started researching tours ideally we wanted one full of history and to take us to the best places. We looked at tours on witches, murderers, and those which gave you access to the underground parts of Edinburgh that we badly wanted to see. Sadly, the underground city is not dog friendly so this was ruled out, but then Ren stumbled across Bobby's named after the infamous faithful dog. This tour was everything we were looking for (above ground) AND DOG FRIENDLY. One of the tour guides is a dog, this was a win win situation. Calum could tell us about Edinburgh and Rowie could tell Yogi. Perfect.

So we booked it, no regrets.

Calum and Rowie's tour takes approx 2 hours and brings you across all the top sites found in Edinburgh. We covered tons of sites including Greyfriars Kirkyard, St Giles Cathedral and subsequently John Knox and his grave, and of course Bobby himself. But we refused to spoil this for you, if you want to find out what else you'll see you'll just have to book on for yourself!

They also talk about Edinburgh's gruesome history and its political differences, but none of that is enough to dampen the mood!

This is only the second guided tour we've been on as a family, but Calum was so friendly and understanding. He made the entire group feel like friends and wasn't phased at all by the odd pitstop Yogi had to make. He gave us time to sightsee, take photos, have little chats, and he welcomed conversations with him on the walk. You could ask him anything and he knows all the best places to eat!

We learnt so much during this tour and to be honest we have him to thank for a fair few of these Edinburgh posts that we have coming up for the rest of this year and into the next. Without his insight or pointing these places out we wouldn't have nearly as much interesting content to share with you as we do. 

The outcome here is support small businesses because they wont lie to you. This tour is FREE. There is no true gain here for Calum & Co. than to pass on their knowledge of this great city to you. Much like us they love what they do and just want to share it. When we come back to Edinburgh next year we will absolutely be booking back on. Yes we've done it once, but we loved it and we feel like we have a friend in the faces behind this tour. Also who doesn't love dogs? Rowie is the star of the show and she knows it.

We need to make it clear that this isn't a paid promotion, we weren't approached to post about these guys. In fact we asked Calum if it was okay to post about him and Rowie as we enjoyed ourselves so much. We cannot sing their praises enough, it is so refreshing to see someone who cares about their craft and their pets and combine the two. We wanna be like them. Calum is so genuine, he shares his personal history with the city, as well as some surprising literary connections we come across on the way. This is the tour you need if you want to see Edinburgh behind the façade. The hustle and bustle of day to day life combined with a grim history. This is the city at its most honest and Calum and Rowie showcase it. 

DISCLAIMER: Now for the official bit. This blog does not receive any paid promotions from the places mentioned above. We have not been approached to promote or act as spokespersons for any attraction mentioned within this post and this is simply a post intended to act as a day in the life of a couple on a cute date. All photos included are taken by ourselves and as such the rights for these images our ours, no links, brands, or companies mentioned otherwise belong or are associated with Phantom Adventures UK. We are responsible only for this blog. Opinions are our own and not influenced by any third party source.. 

If you have any recommendations on places to visit or somewhere you would like to see on the blog, please feel free to drop us a message on instagram under @phantomadventuresuk or email us at phantomadventuresuk@gmail.com