Edinburgh has a reputation as one of the most haunted cities in Europe, and most of that reputation lives underground. Beneath the Old Town's cobbled streets sits a second, buried city — sealed vaults, forgotten closes, and burial grounds that have drawn ghost-hunters, historians, and curious visitors for generations. This guide explains what these places actually are, what you'll see on a tour, and how to pick one that's worth your evening.
The two "undergrounds" people confuse
When visitors search for the "Edinburgh underground," they're usually thinking of one of two very different places, and it helps to know the difference before you book.
The South Bridge Vaults (sometimes called the Blair Street Vaults) are a series of chambers built into the arches of South Bridge in the late 1700s. Originally used for storage and workshops by the tradesmen above, they were damp, dark, and airless — and within a few decades they'd been abandoned by legitimate businesses and, according to the historical record, occupied by the city's poorest residents and its criminal underclass. Sealed and forgotten for over a century, they were rediscovered in the 1980s. These are the vaults most ghost tours visit.
Mary King's Close, by contrast, is a preserved street rather than a set of vaults — a genuine 17th-century close that was partially demolished and built over when the Royal Exchange (now the City Chambers) went up in the 1750s. It's run as a separate heritage attraction with timed tickets, and it's more of a history experience than a ghost walk, though it leans into its spooky reputation too.
If you want atmosphere and ghost stories, the vaults are your destination. If you want carefully preserved social history with a supernatural flavour, Mary King's Close is the one. Both sit within the same web of closes our Old Town Historian route walks past on its way up to St Giles' and the castle.
What a vaults ghost tour actually involves
A typical evening tour runs 60 to 90 minutes and combines a walk through the Old Town with a descent into the vaults themselves. Expect:
- A guided walk through the closes and wynds off the Royal Mile, where the guide sets up the history — the overcrowding, the disease, the body-snatchers Burke and Hare, and the executions at the Grassmarket.
- The descent into the vaults, where the temperature drops noticeably and the acoustics change. This is the centrepiece. Guides tell the documented history alongside the reported paranormal encounters tied to specific chambers.
- Storytelling, not jump-scares on the better tours. The genuinely good guides are performers and historians rather than people leaping out in costume. The cheaper "fright" tours rely on actors and gimmicks, which some people love and others find naff.
Bring a jacket even in summer — the vaults hold the cold — and wear shoes you don't mind getting a little dusty. The floors are uneven, so this isn't ideal for anyone with serious mobility issues.
Greyfriars Kirkyard: the other essential stop
No underground or ghost tour of Edinburgh is complete without Greyfriars Kirkyard, and many tours either include it or offer it as a companion walk. This working graveyard is home to:
- The Covenanters' Prison, where hundreds of prisoners were held in brutal conditions in 1679, and where the "MacKenzie Poltergeist" is said to haunt the tomb of George "Bluidy" MacKenzie — one of the most reported paranormal sites in Britain.
- Greyfriars Bobby, the Skye Terrier who, as the story goes, guarded his master's grave for fourteen years. His statue at the kirkyard gates is one of the most photographed spots in the city.
- Headstones that inspired J.K. Rowling — including one for a "Thomas Riddell," a name Harry Potter fans will recognise, with George Heriot's School visible over the wall.
How to choose a tour that's worth it
The vaults are competitive territory, and quality varies enormously. A few things to look for:
Access to the actual vaults. Some cheaper "ghost walks" stay entirely above ground and only point at buildings. If descending into the vaults matters to you — and it's the whole point — confirm the tour goes inside.
Small groups over big ones. A guide leading fifteen people through a cramped chamber can tell stories properly. A guide herding forty cannot. This is the single biggest quality difference between tours, and it's why a private or small-group tour is worth the premium if the vaults are a highlight of your trip.
A guide who knows the history. The supernatural stories are the hook, but the documented social history — how people actually lived and died in these spaces — is what makes a tour memorable rather than a haunted-house routine.
Honest framing. The best guides present the paranormal claims as reported experiences and local legend, not as proven fact, and let you make up your own mind. That honesty, oddly, makes the stories more effective.
A few named examples worth knowing: the Edinburgh Witches & History Old Town Walking Tour (4.8 stars) leans into documented Scottish witch-trial history rather than jump-scares; the Original Underground Tour (4.6 stars) is the one referenced on Most Haunted Live as among "the scariest places on Earth"; and the Underground Vaults Evening Ghost Tour with Whisky (4.7 stars) adds a dram in a candlelit cellar at the end for adults who want to warm up afterward.
Prefer it without the crowd?
The standard vaults tours run large groups on a fixed script, several times a night. If you'd rather explore the Old Town's darker history at your own pace — with a guide who can go deeper on the history that interests you and skip what doesn't — a private tour gives you that flexibility. It's also a far better option for anyone who simply doesn't want to be tour number six of the evening.