St Andrews History Tours: Explore the Rich Historical Quarters with Historian Richard Falconer

Join historian Richard Falconer on a captivating tour of St Andrews’ rich historical quarters. Discover lost and forgotten history, visit Mary Queen of Scots’ holiday locations, and explore the unique charm of this ancient city.

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • St Mary’s College - A haven off the beaten track. Learn about the 3rd college of the university built in 1538 to combat heresy.
  • St Leonards School - Hear about St Leonards school, the top private school in Scotland and one of the top schools in the world where the Queen Mother attended primary school.
  • The Pends - Learn about the only…
What's Included
  • Guided tour with Richard Falconer, professional English-speaking guide and historian.
Additional Information

See all the major historic quarters of St Andrews (excluding golf) and hear about its unique and rich history, with your guide - Richard Falconer. As a local historian, author and guide for 10 years, you will learn previously lost or forgotten history, about Mary Queen of Scots, the Knights Templar, St Andrews Meridian line, the Cathedral, the pilgrims…

Location
The Bothy St Andrews
All tours meet opposite the Bothy Restaurant in Church Square, behind Holy Trinity Church (formerly the Dolls House Restaurant).
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(41 Ratings)
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Terry_b
Sep 3, 2024
Great tour with an engaging local historian. - Took the morning train from Edinburgh to St Andrews and spent the afternoon, including this tour of the town. Well worth the money. Several hours with a gentleman that knows the city inside and out and is also quite affable. Lots of obscure facts and places to see along with all of the must see major attractions. Can't go wrong with this one. We spent the morning at the golf course where we also had lunch. As avid golfers we are well versed in The Old Course but I image his tour that focuses on the course is just as good as his city tour. I highly recommend him if you are looking for a in depth historical tour of St Andrews.
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Lisa_s
Jul 18, 2024
Great value and awesome guide - Awesome guide.. Included items we were interested in. 1.5 hours was perfect and the tour was a great value. It was worth more than what was paid!
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Timothy_k
May 8, 2024
History - Our guide, Richard, was enthusiastic about sharing his well-researched knowledge of St Andrews. We were shown hidden gems about the lovely town and were told histories of the cathedral and other buildings. Great tour!
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Michael_s
Apr 26, 2024
I would recommend this tour to anyone. - The tour guide was very knowledgeable about the town of St Andrews and took the time to show us the highlights.
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Gentry_w
Sep 7, 2023
St Andrews: More than Golf - Richard was a great tour guide and answered any question that was thrown at him. St Andrews is a can’t miss.
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Nancy_s
Jul 20, 2023
Great tour - guide wonderful - Our guide, Richard, was a wealth of information! Made the tour wonderful! Highly recommended to all age levels.
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760bt
May 10, 2023
What a very informative, interesting and fun tour! - It was an excellent, fantastic and most enjoyable tour. Richard Falconer was very knowledgeable, professional, friendly, helpful and always came up with suggestions/ideas to enable me to make the most of my tour as well as to plan my tours effectively. For example, Richard was with a tour group when he bumped into me in St Savlatore Hall and he suggested I join them there and then to go into the St Salvatore's chuch as it would be closed by the time I did my evening tour. Also when I was booking my tours, Richard pointed out that I was booking more tours than I needed and advised me which tours would already cover everything I needed. And during the tours, Richard was a superb tourguide, making my day so interesting, informative, fun and enjoyable too! I highly recommend Richard and his tours!
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Sarah
Apr 27, 2023
Lovely tour through St. Andrews - This was a great informative tour of St. Andrews. We learned so much from Richard about the long history of the town. Would highly recommend.
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Sally_w
Apr 22, 2023
Superb history tour - Richard was a superb guide. He truly brought the history alive and we enjoyed speaking with him and learned so much. The cathedral history was especially fascinating.
Review provided by Viator
H621jrelizabethh
Sep 19, 2024
Informative, amusing, positive experience - I know St. Andrews as we holidayed there as a family in the 50's & 60's however I did not know much about its history. Richard kept our group both amused and interested. No hanging around too much and he gave us enough information, debunked some myths and kept it real! Really pleased we went.
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