Beginning in George Square, Whisper Walk is a self-guided tour of Edinburgh focusing on the city’s human element. As you walk through Deaconess Gardens, Greyfriars Kirkyard and more, you’ll hear memories tied to these locations from real individuals, read by voice actors. It’s a fantastic idea, but the execution is less so. 

The stories vary in quality, and when they aren’t playing you’re stuck listening to inane background music as you fight your way through the crowds.

The route is the biggest problem though. Whisper Walk doesn’t take into account how packed Edinburgh can get during August. At one point, it takes you to Cowgate underneath George IV Bridge, one of the busiest areas of the city during festival season, where trying to concentrate on audio while avoiding cars and people is nearly impossible. This project’s saving grave is the whisper phone. The final location is a quiet, out-of-the-way phone box, where you can record your own memories and listen to other people’s, read not by actors but by themselves. If you can stick out the rest of the tour, this moment of human connection at the end is perhaps worth it. 

Whisper Walk, from Assembly George Square Studios, until 25 August, various times.