The World Famous Underground Ghost Tour

Edinburgh, Scotland

1 hour 15 minutes
Offered in: English

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Overview

Edinburgh is known for its dark past, and this evening walking tour is the original one to showcase the city's historically sinister and spooky side. Discover the hidden ‘wynds’ (alleys) and closes of the Old Town as you learn their mysteries and horrors; visit the ghost-ridden Greyfriars Kirkyard; and explore the city’s underground vaults to uncover their spirits and secrets. Your tour is led by a creepily costumed guide.

Evening Edinburgh underground vaults walking tour
Explore the Old Town’s ‘wynds’ and hear about their history and mysteries
Visit Greyfriars Kirkyard, said to be the world’s most haunted graveyard
Descend into Edinburgh’s underground vaults and uncover their 400-year history
Hear tales of ghosts, murders and torture, and watch and listen for unexplained events
Guide dressed as one of Edinburgh’s most infamous characters
Early evening tour suitable for families

What's Included

75 Minute evening walking tour of Edinburgh’s Old Town and South Bridge vaults.
Guide plays a real, distinct and infamous character from Scotland’s history.
Walk through the Old Town’s distinctive closes, wynds and secluded squares.
Visit the world-famous, eerie, unforgettable Greyfriars Kirkyard.
Hear terrifying stories of hauntings, murders, executions and cannibalism.
6.45pm Evening tour is suitable for families.
Travel back in time and descend into our section of underground street.

None
No under 5s

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

124 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1QS, UK
Old Police Box by starbucks

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Meet your guide on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile in the early evening. Your guide will be dressed as one of the Scottish capital’s most infamous historical characters, bringing an extra spook factor to your experience.

Then, set out on foot to explore the hidden wynds and closes radiating from the Royal Mile. Stroll through shadowy lanes and courtyards, and listen as your guide details their dark history and horrifying secrets, hearing tales of the criminality and murders once rife here.

Next, head to what is claimed to be the world’s most haunted cemetery: Greyfriars Kirkyard. Walk around the tombstones, and listen to stories of poltergeists, missing bodies, and the graveyard’s famously loyal dog.

Lastly, follow your guide into Edinburgh’s underground vaults. Explore the dark subterranean chambers, and uncover their 400-year history as you hear gruesome snippets about ghosts, torture, murder, witchcraft, and unexplained events.

As you walk, watch and listen or any strange events and noises: many visitors to the vaults have reported weird sensations and sightings.

When it’s time, re-emerge into the streets of the Old Town, where your tour ends when you say goodbye to your guide.

Edinburgh Old Town

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
guests should arrive 10 minutes prior to tours
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 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.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

5,221 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 5,221 reviews

Dr Knox

MARIOS_P, May 2024

The way it the guide described every story. Especially at the underground and at the cemetery, it was a fun way to learn some history of the town.

Good tour

Heather_H, May 2024

Very good tour! Lots of spooky history and our guide Joch was incredible. Is kinda tight on some spots clostrophobics beware.

Dr Know killed it

Michelle_L, Apr 2024

Dr Knox was great! We really enjoyed the tour! Would recommend to anyone looking for a walking tour.

Funny experience

Gerardo_A, Apr 2024

Dr. Knox was funny and made the whole tour more interesting. The underground part was really scary to be honest.

Dr Robert knox

shelley_f, Apr 2024

Our guide was dr Robert Knox, he was fabulous. Hilarious and very enjoyable from start to finish. Definitely recommend.

Historically hysterical

Kathy_H, Apr 2024

Dr. Knox was extremely entertaining. He kept the audience engaged while sharing stories. Enjoyed this tour with our adult children. Well worth the trip.

Okay

Marilyn_T, Apr 2024

This tour was really not what we expected. It’s basically a tour of one underground area with a very animated tour guide. Not advised if you’re clostrophobic.

Great Ghostwalk

Jeff_W, Apr 2024

Maggie Dixon was amazing. Loved her stories, language and sense of humor 🥰 Felt like I was on a movie set but it was just another day in Edinburgh for her 😊

Best Guide ever

Lukasz_M, Apr 2024

Guide and his impression. Scary stories. One of the best tour in my life. I will recommend to my friends .

More a basement than an underground vault.

Sian_C, Apr 2024

The guide was very good. The 'world famous underground tour' was far from what I imagined. It amounted to entering through a high street front door much like any door on the street to be led down to the basement with some rather tacky props.

Scary but family friendly

Kali_P, Apr 2024

What a fantastic scary tour! Maggie was our tour guide and she brought her A game. We did the tour with our two boys (9 & 11) and Maggie asked us straight away how we feel about swearing - being Aussies, we gave her the green light. My boys thought her stories were fantastic and loved it when she scared them along the way with a scream here or there. My boys said after they were glad we didn’t to the kid friendly session which was earlier. Highly recommend this tour for a different perspective on such a historic town

Dr. Knox was amazing! "We love you Dr. Knox!"

Alec_B, Apr 2024

A friend and I joined about 25 others on this tour with Dr. Knox as our guide. The tour was about 90 minutes in total and covered a lot of ground! We had taken the Dark Dublin tour the night before (thru Viator) and almost all the stories but one were different which was great! This one is more geared toward ghosts so it might be more family friendly but there was definitely some R rated language which didn't bother us in the slightest. Dr. Knox was a great tour guide with a costume and gravelly voice to really set the tone. He was very knowledgable and entertaining. He handled the group well and also made a point to talk to almost each and every person while walking to the next stop to ask their name, what they do, why they're in town, etc. It was impressive how he made an experience that was fairly quick and over 25 people feel a bit more personalized. My friend did mention that she didn't love he would talk a bit while walking (and since he is not mic'ed up) you didn't catch every word. With the pace and amount of stops, I can see why he had to do this. Only critique we really had. I can't believe they have to do this 2-3 times a night! It's a well oiled machine and a good value. One final (slightly paraphrased) quote we were taught..."Dr. Knox you are amazing. We love you so much Dr. Knox."

A fun tour and history of the close and vaults as well as ghost history

Justin_H, Apr 2024

Geillis Duncan was our guide and made the tour a lot of fun. She had kids very involved, called on different people to help participate, and told great stories. All in all she seemed to be having a lot of fun which made it fun for us

Fantastic evening

Ava_P, Apr 2024

Dr Knox was hilarious and had great stories to share on the dark history of Edinburgh!! This was a last minute plan for us and we absolutely loved it! Definitely a must do if your looking for something out of the ordinary to do while visiting

Ghost tour

Jane_T, Apr 2024

James our guide was brilliant! Really engaging, knowledgeable and got right into character. Daughter loved it & said it was the ‘best bit of the trip’!

An interesting walking tour

ChiWai_N, Apr 2024

Our guide Dr Knox is funny and the tour is interesting. It was a fun trip for our first day in Edinburg.

very nice

ariella_O, Apr 2024

interesting guide, fascinating history. guide was able to keep our attention although it rained most of the time

Fun and spooky walking tour!

Juliana_P, Apr 2024

Our “ghost” was Sawny and he was great! He kept making us laugh the entire time and really kept in character. The stories he had were in theme and the only thing that I would’ve liked, is a longer tour! But overall it really was great.

Interesting

Margaret_S, Apr 2024

The dungeon and grey friars graveyard, And James was entertaining with lots of information enjoyed it all

Excellent tour and experience

Reza_F, Apr 2024

James Douglas was a fantastic tour guide. He was an excellent story teller and did a great job interacting with the group and keeping everyone engaged. We got to explore some of Edinburghs vaults and learn about it's more colorful historical characters. A great value and I definitely recommend this tour.

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