See a different side to Edinburgh and combine the best of the underground and haunted graveyard tours on this double dead walking tour, during which you visit two of the city’s spookiest attractions: South Bridge Vaults and the Covenanter’s Prison. The latter is only accessible on City of the Dead tours and our guide provides plenty of exclusive insight you wouldn’t get on your own.

Visit two of Edinburgh’s spookiest spots and learn about their history
See a new side to Scotland’s storied and historic capital
Learn from your experienced guide, who combines humor and horror with ease
Start and end at a convenient central location, so you can continue exploring afterwards

What's Included

Local, expert guide

Transportation to/from attractions

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

St Giles' Cathedral
High St, Edinburgh EH1 1RE, UK
All tours leave from the "Tree of the Dead" outside St Giles Cathedral on the pavement facing the Royal Mile. Please arrive at the meeting point 15 minutes prior to departure.

Start time

08:00 PM

End point

Greyfriars Kirkyard
26A Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh EH1 2QQ, UK

What To Expect

City of the Dead Tours

1 hour 45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Children must be accompanied by an adult

Language: English only
Age: Minimum 12
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 5 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

548 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 548 reviews

Dead is Fun

Dean_H, May 2023

Our tour guide, Ben, was excellent…personable, fun without being campy, extremely knowledgeable. Every moment was wonderful!!

Too long

Margo_S, May 2023

We started off well enough, and the guide was accommodating towards a guest who needed to back out of the initial underground vaults. Our group had about 5 or 6 older adults that were a bit challenged to keep up with the guide in the rain, with slick sidewalks and stair. The weather wasn’t his fault but he just walked so fast.q He told interesting tales but they were often a bit disjointed. For a tour due to end by 21:30-21:45, he kept us out in the chilly rainy, damp at Greyfriars until 22:15, which is when we just walked away. We could no longer see anything. Just went on so long, it didn’t feel like added value.

Whisper up the ghosts

Emily, Jan 2023

Loved it!!! Would definitely do again givin the chance. The tour in itself was great but what really made it was our guide Ben and his fantastic story telling talents.

Great tour, thanks Charlie!

Laura_M, Jul 2022

Our guide Charlie, was very entertaining and informative. We had a great time! The history us fascinating.

Fun Tour

Danielle_L, Apr 2022

Our guide was very good and clearly knew her stuff. Overall it was an interesting experience and one I’d recommend. The tour stops at the vaults and Greyfriar’s, both very creepy. My only complaint is I wish there was maybe one or two more stops. The vaults seemed a little dragged out, but overall I’d recommend the tour.

Night tour

Francoise_H, Feb 2022

Our guide was very knowledgeable, interesting and able to answer all our questions. Clearly a professional highly recommended.

Must do!!

Liam_B, Dec 2021

Ian was our guide, absolute legend, so funny and so knowledgable, not a moment passes where your not learning or laughing, you must do it, it’s fantastic

Good value

Heather_S, Nov 2021

The vaults were very atmospheric and the stories were brought to life by Grant The graveyard was very good and it would interest evey age

I enjoyed it all, was...

Kylie_B, Oct 2021

I enjoyed it all, was nice to hear the history and see the sites at night , tour guide added a little humour which is always good

Funny knowledgeable thrilling tour

Jade_L, Oct 2021

Ian our tour guide was full of banter which made the experience 100x better. He was full of knowledge and I learnt loads I didn't know already. He was happy to answer any questions.

Spooky tour

Barbara_W, Oct 2021

Brilliant spooky tour Ian our guide was the best he made the experience so enjoyable would definitely recommend

Double the fun

Christine_M, Sep 2021

Grant was an awesome tour guide. Good stories at the Underground with just the right mix of history, humor and jumps. Fast paced walking between sites, but was able to keep up.

Brilliant

Jimmy_K, Sep 2021

Really enjoyed tour great inside knowledge into history of city from tour guide, who was amazing, funny and made whole experience brilliant. Would highly recommend.

Would highly recommend

Hannah, Oct 2020

Really fun and spooky tour, good value for money, would highly recommend if you’re in Edinburgh! Grant was an excellent tour guide :)

Spooky evening

Warrington, Aug 2020

We thoroughly enjoyed the tour lead by Grant. I was pleased to hear whistling and footsteps in the Niddry St vaults and experience the Covnentars' jail. Even though the tour overran we had a thoroughly good time.

Fun

Ben_N, Aug 2020

Lots of fun Very entertaining and informative Would recommend to anybody with a fun side and good sense of humour

An evening well spent

Sarah_P, Aug 2020

Booked at last minute as many of the other tours were fully booked. Glad we went for this one; the guide was very funny and made the experience much more enjoyable. His knowledge of the local area was clearly quite vast and we were able to learn a lot along the way, as well as having plenty of laughs. A good opportunity to visit parts of Edinburgh you'd never normally get to see

Fantastic!

Annalise_B, Aug 2020

Amazing tour. Our tour guide Ian was fab! He had so much character and laughter to go with. Very informative and lots of spooks, got the crowd involved. Definitely recommend!

Good craic

Edward_R, Mar 2020

Very enjoyable and a laugh as well, Rebecca made it interesting and funny definitely worth the time and money

Fantastic experience!!

Claire_S, Mar 2020

Tour guide was very good and interacted with the whole group throughout the evening, bringing the whole Evening to life, fantastically entertaining!!