Campus visit

Student-led tours are ideal for visitors to the city who want to find out more about student life and our campuses. We provide tours for both the Central Campus and King’s Buildings Campus.

Our campus tours offer potential undergraduate and postgraduate students from anywhere in the world an opportunity to visit us and learn about the experience of our students while studying at the University of Edinburgh.

The campus tour is free to attend, but you must book your space in advance. Family and friends are also welcome, however, we kindly request only one additional guest accompanies you on the tour. This is to ensure maximum availability for prospective students.

The tour does not offer detailed subject-specific information, meetings with subject areas or potential supervisors.

Book a campus tour

Our campus tours are currently running until the end of July 2025 and you can book your place now. We run tours of our two largest campuses, Central Campus and King's Buildings. When booking a campus tour the form will recommend tours to you based on the subjects of interest you select so we recommend you enter all subjects you have an interest in while booking.


When do tours take place?

Our campus tours run from October to the first week of December and mid-January to July each year. 

We aim to run campus tours, as much of the year as possible, however, unfortunately in August, September and  most of December we are unable to run tours. During January, we aim to start running tours in line with the beginning of the semester which tends to be around the third week of January. 

During these months and on days when we do not run tours, we recommend our self-guided tour options.

Self-guided tours

Central Gordon Aikman and library
Central Campus - George Square
Kings buildings Nucleus building
King's Buildings Campus - Nucleus Building

Central Campus tour

In general, our Central Campus tours usually run on Mondays and Fridays at the following times:

  • 1200-1300
  • 1230-1330
  • 1300-1400
  • 1330-1430
  • 1400-1500 (Note that this tour is not suitable if you wish to attend King's Buildings Campus Tour later in the day as it only allows 30 minutes to travel).

Where to meet?

You should check-in at the University Visitor Centre at 2 Charles Street (EH8 9AD) around 10 minutes prior to your campus visit start time.

Find Visitor Centre on campus maps

If you use what3words for navigation, the University Visitor Centre is:

starts.cove.leans

The tour gives you an overview of the University of Edinburgh from someone who knows it best: one of our current students. We will take you around George Square and the surrounding region, referred to as the central campus. The tour will give you an insight into what life is like as a student here. 

The tour does not include visits to specific Schools, departmental buildings or student accommodation, however, your guide will share their experience of studying and living in Edinburgh. 

King's Buildings Campus tour

In general, our King's Buildings Campus tours run on Mondays and Fridays at the following times:

  • 1415-1515
  • 1530-1630 

We recommend you leave at least 45 minutes from the end of a Central Campus Tour to the start of your King's Buildings Campus Tour to allow you to self-transfer between the two campuses.

Where to meet?

Please check-in outside the Nucleus Building around 10 minutes prior to your campus visit start time

Find the Nucleus Building on campus maps

If you use what3words for navigation, the Nucleus Building is: 

metals.shape.mouse

This tour is specifically aimed towards students who will be studying degree programmes in the College of Science and Engineering who will likely split their time between both central and King’s Buildings. Please note this does not include School of Informatics or Deanery of Biomedical Sciences as they are based in the Central Area. 

The tour does not include visits to specific Schools, departmental buildings or student accommodation, however, your guide will share their experience of studying and living in Edinburgh. 

Cancellations

We will explore all options to avoid cancelling our tours, however there may be rare occasions where tours are cancelled at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances. 

We are unable to accept liability for any costs incurred by visitors (e.g. travel, accommodation). You might want to consider travel insurance or flexible tickets.

Travel options to Edinburgh

Climate Conscious Travel

We highly encourage climate-conscious travel for our staff, students and visitors and would ask that you consider low-carbon travel options where possible. Our Travelling to the University web pages provide specific details about how to travel to the city of Edinburgh and our campuses.

Travelling to the University

For bookings of more than 5 people please email us:


Outside of our scheduled tours we welcome you to explore the University at your own pace using our self-guided tours. Download our self-guided audio tours or maps, and have them ready for your visit:

Self-guided tours


Undergraduate

The University hosts undergraduate Open Days every year which will include an opportunity to find out more about specific subjects, to speak to academic, admissions and support service staff; and to visit university accommodation.

Undergraduate Open Days

Postgraduate

Postgraduate specific events continue to be hosted virtually. If you will be travelling to Edinburgh and wish to visit your potential supervisor or programme team please email them directly to ask if this can be arranged.

Postgraduate enquiries


You can also find out more about the University and what being a student here is like from the comfort of your own home, anywhere in the world.

Virtual Visit

Take our virtual tour and explore what it's like to study and live in Edinburgh.

Virtual Visit

Chat to our students

Unibuddy gives you the opportunity to text chat to our current students about their experience. You will be able to choose to connect with a range of students, from different countries, studying across different subject areas and levels of study.

Chat to our students with Unibuddy

Online information sessions and events

Join a live online information session to ask questions and find out about studying with us.

Undergraduate

Postgraduate


Privacy statement

In order to facilitate online bookings for our events we use GeckoEngage, a third party service which are not operated by the University of Edinburgh. 

GeckoEngage Privacy Policy

For more information about how we use your personal data, please view our privacy statements:

Student Recruitment & Admissions Privacy statement

Privacy statement: registering for an event

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