The Sherlock Holmes Tour in Edinburgh – Private Detective Adventure
Step into the shadows of Victorian Edinburgh with Aramont Travel’s Sherlock Holmes Tour in Edinburgh - Private Detective Adventure, an immersive journey into the real-life inspirations behind the world’s greatest fictional detective.
Long before Sherlock Holmes appeared on the page, Arthur Conan Doyle was a medical student in Edinburgh, studying anatomy, forensic observation and diagnosis - skills that would later shape Holmes’ legendary deductive method.
The Experience
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During the 19th century, Edinburgh was a city of medical innovation and dark crime. As you explore the Old Town with your specialist guide, discover what life was truly like during Conan Doyle’s formative years - a time when science advanced rapidly while murder, poverty and injustice thrived in the streets.
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Walk through the narrow closes and wynds of Edinburgh’s Old Town, where shadows hide stories of crime and punishment. Step off the main streets to view the house connected to Conan Doyle’s student life, gaining insight into the environment that shaped his imagination.
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Visit the former medical school where bodies were dissected and modern forensic science was born, and learn how Dr Joseph Bell’s extraordinary powers of observation inspired the methods later immortalised through Sherlock Holmes.
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Continue through Edinburgh Old College to understand the real criminal cases that led Bell, and thus Holmes, to become one of literature’s first consulting detectives.
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Explore the historic graveyard of Greyfriars, where body snatchers once robbed graves under cover of darkness to supply medical schools. Hear the chilling true stories of Burke and Hare, whose crimes horrified Britain and profoundly influenced Conan Doyle’s storytelling.
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This is not simply a guided walk -you become part of a live detective case! During the tour, thieves have stolen a priceless artefact from the National Museum of Scotland. Working alongside your guide, you must analyse evidence, interpret clues and solve interactive puzzles as you move through the city. Use observation, logic and deduction, just as Sherlock Holmes would, to uncover the truth before the trail goes cold!
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Complete your investigation in a traditional Edinburgh pub, where you can relax with a cocktail, whisky, gin or local beer while reviewing suspects, discussing motives and revealing the final solution.​
Enhance Your Day
Elevate your detective adventure with optional immersive additions:
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Private Whisky Tasting - enjoy an exclusive tasting at a traditional distillery or atmospheric historic pub, guided by expert storytellers.
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Conan Doyle & Body Snatchers Escape Game, inspired by Edinburgh’s darkest true crimes
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Sherlock Holmes - themed escape room, testing logic, teamwork and deduction
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Surgeons’ Hall Essentials experience, visiting a remarkable cabinet of curiosities featuring anatomical specimens, medical instruments and rare artefacts from Edinburgh’s medical past
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Evening Underground Ghost Tour
