This walking tour takes you on a journey through Robert Louis Stevenson’s university years, when he readied himself for a career as a writer instead of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a lighthouse engineer.

We’ll explore Edinburgh’s Gothic Old Town, which has a dark side that inspired some of Stevenson’s best loved writing. We’ll end the tour at Canongate Kirk where Scotland’s three great Roberts – Burns, Fergusson and Stevenson – became forever connected.

Your narrator is John Shedden, one of Scotland’s legends of the stage and screen, and the multi-talented Vincent Guy is the voice of Stevenson reading snippets from his writing.

Stevenson eventually left Edinburgh, never to return. But he was forever inspired by his memories of home.

On this tour, you can look forward to hearing about:

• Stevenson’s brief career as an advocate
• The inspirations for Dr Jeykll and Mr Hyde
• Stevenson’s views on Edinburgh and its weather
• The inspirations for The Deacon Brodie and Body Snatcher
• The inspiration for Long John Silver from Treasure Island
• Stevenson’s connection to Rabbie Burns and Robert Fergusson

This tour is part of a series of walks around Edinburgh dedicated to the life of the celebrated author. You can find the others by search under Edinburgh or by selecting my author profile and seeing all my tours there.

The walking tour was devised by Martin White with much assistance from John Shedden, its narrator who has played Stevenson and recorded his works from the shores of Scotland to the Cevennes, Saranac and Samoa, final resting place of RLS. Martin is a native of Edinburgh and now promotes the story of Robert Louis Stevenson’s time in the Lothians. He is a Director of the European Cultural Route In the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson. He runs the website www.mrrls.com which provides a great springboard for people to enjoy the Stevenson story.