The Scotch Whisky Experience, a whisky tasting next to the castle

At the top of the Royal Mile, a few steps from the castle esplanade, The Scotch Whisky Experience explains in under an hour how Scotch whisky is made and what sets its regions apart. It isn't a distillery: nothing is distilled here. It's a visitor centre with a guide, themed rooms and a tasting at the end. It works as an introduction before visiting a real distillery, or as your only tasting if you won't be leaving Edinburgh.

Silver or Gold: how much whisky you want to try

The Silver Tour costs £25 and lasts about 50 minutes. With a guide you follow the process from grain to cask, they explain what a blend is, and you choose a malt or a blended whisky to taste, or a soft drink. It ends in the collection room, which the company presents as one of the largest collections of Scotch whisky in the world. You take the crystal tasting glass home.

The Gold Tour costs £39.75, lasts about 75 minutes and adds a tray of four malts from different regions to compare. It's for over-18s only. If you're going as a couple and you're into whisky, the Gold is worth it; if you just want to find out what it's all about, the Silver is enough.

For a meal with a tasting, Taste of Scotland combines the Gold with a three-course menu at the Amber restaurant in the same building, for £95.

With children and without English

The Silver is the only tour suitable for under-18s. Children have an Irn Bru, the Scottish soft drink, instead of whisky, and follow a treasure-hunt game during the tour. There's a child rate and a family ticket, and also concessions for over-60s and students. The tour is in English, but there's a free audio guide in Spanish; the guided tasting on the Gold is in English only.

Under the Challenge 25 policy, if you look under 25 you'll be asked for photo ID: bring your physical ID card or passport. They only accept pounds, not euros.

Opening hours and getting there

Tours start at 10:00 and the last one leaves at 19:00, every day. The address is 354 Castlehill, just before the castle esplanade. From Waverley station it's about ten minutes uphill. There's a lift to every floor and accessible toilets. They don't store luggage, but you can take it with you.