We're a UK social enterprise, founded in Edinburgh in 2016, that trains people who have experienced homelessness to become paid, professional tour guides. Nine cities, award-winning tours, from £15.
Invisible Cities is doing tourism differently with walking tours led by the people that know their cities best.
Invisible Cities is a UK social enterprise, founded in 2016 by Zakia Moulaoui Guery, that trains people who have experienced homelessness to become walking tour guides in their own cities.
The organisation runs guided tours across nine UK cities: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Scottish Borders, Manchester, Liverpool, York, Cardiff and Newport, with new tours in development in Belfast.
Our tours cost from £15 per person with regular public tours available to book on the website and lots of options for private, group and bespoke tours – just get in touch!
When people visit a city or want to rediscover their home, they often search for an alternative tour but they’re not sure what that might look like.
After a tour with us guests talk about how knowledgeable, funny, warm our guides are, what skilled storytellers they are and how their guide really tailored the walk to their group. People often describe the guides as feeling like a “local friend” rather than a typical tour guide.
Many of our visitors highlight how interesting they find the social mission behind Invisible Cities, and really enjoy the fact that we weave in candid discussion of homelessness and the local charities addressing it. We know that this gives the tour more depth than a standard sightseeing walk.
The storytelling and hidden history always stand out too – tales of witch hunts, crime and punishment in the Old Town of Edinburgh, notable women of our cities, and lesser-known “hidden gems” along the routes that even longtime residents said they hadn’t heard before.
Groups and businesses that we welcome always say that our tours are perfect for team-building and business events, with guides engaging mixed-age or large corporate groups – people even say that their tour was the highlight of their visit to a city.
Our tours are among the most highly rated walking tour experiences in the country with people sharing five star reviews on Tripadvisor and Google:
“I was with my daughter, who married a Scottish man and lives in Glasgow since May 2025. I want to acknowledge Angie for her enthusiasm, her deep knowledge of the town, her generosity and her patience, because I’m not used to the Scottish accent and I asked her to repeat some sentences. I would recommend this guided tour to everyone who’s in search of an attractive tour in the city. Thank you very much for Angie’s kindness.”
We have been recognised with a Lonely Planet Best in Travel Community Award (2021), the Cambridge Social Innovation Prize (2023) and an ARIVAL Spotlight Award for Social Purpose (2024). Founder Zakia Moulaoui Guery was also named National Geographic Traveller of the Year in 2024.
We also have some celebrity supporters. As part of the Homewards 5 year mission to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated, Prince William has pledged his support and was our first ever guest when we launched in Aberdeen.
Other fans include Gail Porter, chef Jon Watts, Andy Burnham and Scotland’s First Minister.