Edinburgh’s stately streets hide a darker, more mysterious side of the city, rooted in its 18th-century slums, ‘wynds,’ (alleyways), and vaults. This 75-minute tour takes you back in time to this shadowy world, exploring dark cobbled lanes, a haunted cemetery, and underground vaults. As you explore, your costumed guide shares captivating tales of the city’s history, along with stories of ghosts, murders, crimes, and more.

75-minute Edinburgh Old Town, graveyard, and underground vaults ghost tour
Discover the Old Town ‘wynds’ and closes, and learn about their history
Walk through a graveyard steeped in folklore and mystery
Explore underground vaults that contain the remains of an old street and buildings
Hear about Edinburgh's dark past and ghosts, murders, crimes, and more
Narrated by a guide dressed as an infamous, long-dead Edinburgh citizen
Evening tour suitable for families

What's Included

75 minute tour of the Old Town, Greyfriars Kirkyard and the South Bridge vaults.
Led by a guide in period costume playing a real historical character.
Learn more about the gruesome history of Edinburgh’s Old Town.
Marvel at the darkened Gothic splendour of Greyfriars Kirkyard.
Descend into the South Bridge vaults and discover their secrets.
All stories are based on actual individuals and events.

None

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

124 High St
124 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1QS, UK
City of Edinburgh Tours Old Police Box, 9 hunter Square, Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH1 1QS, UK Edit

Start time

08:45 PM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Start your evening walking tour when you meet your guide on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh Old Town. Your guide will be dressed as one of the city’s long-deceased, real-life characters, and on route, you’ll discover his or her identity, and hear fascinating stories about them.

For starters, head down lanes and wynds off the Royal Mile that were once the heart of Edinburgh’s slums and rife with intrigue and criminality. Roam the cramped passageways and closes, and discover true stories about their history and occupants, and the mysteries that still swirl around them.

Next, pass through a dark graveyard, believed to be haunted, and steeped in lore and legend. See some of the interesting tombstones, and soak in the spooky atmosphere.

Then, descend into some of Edinburgh’s infamous underground vaults, a network of 18th-century chambers that contain remnants of an old street and buildings. Learn about the poor who once lived here in squalor, and hear anecdotes about ghosts, witchcraft, murders, and other grisly occurrences.

As you look around, watch and listen for unexplained happenings and noises in the tunnels, before returning to street level. Your tour then concludes when you bid farewell to your guide.

Royal Mile

1 hour 15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Service animals allowed

Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers

Operated by City of Edinburgh Tours

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.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

671 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 671 reviews

The Red Witch put a hex on me, and I'm no afraid.

Karen_M, Aug 2023

The story told by the red witch is very engaging. She was very entertaining and the history details was a bonus. I recommend this to anyone that like the dark side. The vaults are the coolest.

Informative and engaging

Deeanne_S, Aug 2023

Great tour guide. Engaging and interactive. Great fun history. Lots of laughs. Recommended by 17 y.o. boy, girl & 2 adults

Great history

Clayton_M, Jul 2023

Learned a lot about the area tour was great. The stories, presentation, locations and underground helped to highlight special moments in edinburghs history.

Great experience

Lee_A, Jul 2023

James our tour guide was aboustly great couldn't have asked for better. Very quick witted and funny. The stories were creepy, fascinating as well as informative Would definitely recommend to anyone

Exceptional Tour, very happy!

Ottavia_J, Jun 2023

Really better than expectations! Truly made our day, I’d do it again, history was incredible! Our guide Black John was awesome! This tour was epic & so affordable! Worth every penny! Highly highly recommend!

Scotland's Dark History

Shana_H, Jun 2023

Are you looking for a fun evening out where you learn about the hidden history of witches, the truth about and evil man in a kirkyard and so much more? Then search no more. This tour was full of history, laughs and spooky spots.

What can I say about...

Noha_M, Jun 2023

What can I say about Dr.Knox I haven’t laughed like that in a long time, he was amazing! At first I wasn’t that excited about the fright night tour as I am a jumpy person. However, Dr. Knox with his scary voice and funny jokes mixed the vibes and made the tour AWESOME!!! He told us historical stories, scary stories about the city and showed us where the bodies are hidden. Had SO much fun with zero regrets to book this tour. Cheers Dr.Knox 👍🏻

Fun and Doable

Jeremy_M, May 2023

My wife was a little worried this would be just 75 minutes of walking, but it wasn’t. The stops and stories were not only entertaining, but well spaced to help those with moderately different mobility concerns. Our guide was great and knowledgeable. It was the perfect end to a great day on the Royal Mile.

Fun History Tour!!

Heidi_B, May 2023

Super fun experience for anyone looking to take a deeper dive into the darker side of Edinburgh. Our host (Dr. O) was fantastic and did a wonderful job of staying in character and interacting with the group. I would do this tour again no problem.

Average tour of the dark side of Edinburgh.

Alexa_M, May 2023

The Edinburgh vaults were definitely worth seeing. However, I was extremely disappointed with the tour guide's knowledge. She referred to King Charles III (our present monarch!) when she should have referred to King Charles II in the Greyfriars Kirkyard.

Charmingly eerie!!!

Kathy_C, May 2023

Lafayette was absolutely fabulous and is an excellent storyteller! We really enjoyed the tour and I highly recommend this tour!!!

Spooky

jacqueline_j, May 2023

We had an engaging and fun tour with the Banshee. Interesting and spooky locations especially the undetground. I recommend this tour.

Unprofessional rubbish

Alice_W, May 2023

We arrived 1 min late as trying to find ticket office to the tour but we were then told the party had left without us - they said the ticket said come 15 mins early but we checked it and it did not say this. We ran up the road trying to find them as the lady in the ticket office who was very rude said we may be able to catch them. When we found them the tour guide said we weren’t allowed to join as we were late and he wouldn’t take us, the other guests on the tour took pity on us and said they wanted us to be allowed on so they voted for us stay, the tour guide wasn’t happy about this and it was all quite humiliating having to argue with him to let us join. He ignored us for most of the tour and we also couldn’t hear what he was saying a lot of the time - he made us feel awkward and to be honest it was all a load of rubbish anyway - deffo wouldn’t recommend - also at the end there was another tour coming into the vaults and the guides were having a go at each other

The red witch was good...

savina_k, Apr 2023

The red witch was good when it comes to storytelling. She was also very interactive with the audience and even kept people busy even when moving from one place to another. Some of the facts provided were interested. What would make the experience better is the number of people in the group that should be a bit smaller especially in the vaults and if there were some kind of lights in the cemetary.., or if it was a bit earlier

Spooky

Veronica_L, Apr 2023

Stories of the past very interesting. Between witches and political fronts. Hard to believe oh and canibals

Totally worth it!

Lisa_C, Mar 2023

James was awesome! Super witty and very engaging with his crowd even though the weather was cold and rainy. While the experience isn't super scary, it can get rather spooky, but is very informative! 9/10 Would recommend!

Lighthearted tour with the Red Witch

Ethan_B, Mar 2023

Fun and lighthearted tour of Edinburgh with the Red Witch! She was enthusiastic, confident and tried to engage the group. It would be good to hear a bit more about the city's history and premise of some of the events /places described especially when we are walking from place to place.

Fun walking tour of Edinburgh at night

Bethany_B, Mar 2023

Our tour guide, Lafayette’s, dry sense of humor, quick wit, and harmless scare tactics here and there made for a funnier, less spooky, night tour of Edinburgh. I would have enjoyed more historical stories/lore and more time underground but we enjoyed walking around the city and seeing it at night. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes as the tour is a walking one and we covered a lot of Edinburgh’s city center during the 75 minute tour.

Black John Tour Guide

Daisy_S, Feb 2023

A great night, very funny and informative, would recommend to anyone who wants a spooky and entertaining evening!!

Great tour and guide.

Lorraine_B, Feb 2023

Our tour guide was James Douglas, there were 7 people on the tour in total and we laughed through the whole tour. James was full of information and knowledge but also very funny, it was a great tour, well worth the money.

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