Bishop's Palace
© Richard Falconer
St Andrews
St Andrews History Tours
Showcasing over 2000 years of St Andrews remarkable history, these informative walking tours explore the historic quarters including the Cathedral, Palace, Harbour and University Colleges and include forgotten historical details not found elsewhere.
For its size, St Andrews has one of the most extraordinary and chequered histories, the merciful, the barbaric, the spiritual and the fanatical. This unique quarter of Scotland has seen it all in abundance.
Spanning 6 decades of research by your guide and author Richard Falconer, learn about the unusual, the surprising, the intriguing and the forgotten on this insightful and educational St Andrews guided walking tour around the historic sites of this ancient and unique city.
For over 400 years St Andrews was the seat of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Known as the ‘Rome of Scotland’ this was the homage of Kings, Queens, Princes, Princesses and millions of pilgrims coming mostly from Europe to see the relics of St Andrew.
In 1559 however, the Reformation changed the course of St Andrews and Scotland forever. St Andrews Cathedral was sacked and the Catholic Church overthrown. Stripped of papal power and glory, both pilgrims and merchants stopped coming. What little remained would become known to future generations as the “Metropolis of the Kingdom of Darkness”.
Forgotten and wasted, it wasn’t until the mid-nineteenth century, following centuries of neglect that St Andrews then rose from the dung hills of disease and decay to emerge as a revitalised destination for a new breed of pilgrim, comprising the golfer, the academic and the explorer.
Welcome to St Andrews!
PLEASE NOTE: Tour duration approx 1 hour 30 minutes
From £14 per adult
Departure days
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
January — December
Contact details
All Golf Tours meet outside Hotel du Vin, 40 The Scores, KY16 9AS.
History and Sightseeing Walking Tours meet outside the Bothy restaurant, Church Square, St Andrews, KY16 9NN.
St Andrews
Fife
Scotland
As above
Tour information
Tour Stops
Tour company information
St Andrews Tours
WELCOME TO ST ANDREWS TOURS with 4 award-winning walking tours: St Andrews Old Course History Tours, St Andrews Golf History Tours - town and Old Course, St Andrews History Tours and St Andrews Sightseeing Walking Tours. Spanning 6 decades of research by author and guide Richard Falconer, join him on one of these insightful and educational guided walking tours. As a showcase of St Andrews extraordinary multifaceted history, there is something for everyone as you explore the iconic sites of this ancient and unique city.
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