Afternoon Old Town and Underground Ghost Tour 1:15, 3:15, 5:15
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Afternoon Old Town and Underground Ghost Tour 1:15, 3:15, 5:15
By City of Edinburgh Tours
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About
Lowest price guaranteeReserve now & pay laterFree cancellation
Ages 5-99, max of 30 per group
Duration: 1h
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
Live guide: English
More
- A 60-minute long walking tour of the Old Town and Underground vaults.
- Due to an afternoon start and a lighter tone, these tours are suitable for children.
- Led by a guide playing a real individual from Edinburgh’s history and dressed in clothes suitable for that person’s era.
- Visit the South Bridge vaults, find out how they came to be and what may dwell within them
- Walk the labyrinthine, beautiful and wholly unique closes of the Old Town and discover their sometimes tragic but always interesting past.
- Start:
- 124 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1QS, UK
End:This activity ends back at the meeting point. - Not wheelchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 36194P15- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- No children under 5.
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers
- For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
- If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 36194P15
From
$18.69
per adult
Select date and travelers
Similar experiences
Itinerary
- 124 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1QS, UK
- 1Edinburgh with the fascinating Old Town and mysterious vaults.
About the operator
Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator:
- Riddhi S0 contributionsStellar paranormal tour!Maggie Dickson was our guide. She went all out to be in the element starting from costume and doing a lot of role play. Most informative and entertaining.Written January 20, 2025
- Kate U0 contributionsYou should do this! 👻Amazing experience, 10/10 would recommend! John was our tour guide, he was super knowledgeable and funny. Just the right level of spooky 👻Written January 20, 2025
- W7766JLjoshuas0 contributionsGreat Way To Spend and EveningWas an amazing way to see the City at night. Tour Guide Robbie was amazing took time to chat to us all individually and get to know each member of the tour. Very informative and had a great laugh. Would highly recommend to anyone who wants is visiting the City. Fantastic way to spend a couple of hours in the evening. Again thankyou Robbie.Written January 20, 2025
- sarahmI9082ER0 contributionsIncredible historical storiesLou was an excellent guide! Really knowledgeable about the area and had incredible stories on the history of Edinburgh. Loved it!Written January 20, 2025
- AnnieVF030 contributionsFunA humorous and fun tour of parts of Edinburgh you will never normally see. Dr Knox was very entertaining and we had a great nightWritten January 19, 2025
- Bethany W0 contributionsFun, entertaining, spookyOur tour guide was sauney bean and he was absolutely amazing! So entertaining and well spoken about all the facts of history in Edinburgh, would recommend to anyone!Written January 19, 2025
- F7099YIalexandrao0 contributionsHeleneMe and my brother loved it. It had amazing atmosphere thanks to the lovely guide / Helene who was very professional and knowledgeableWritten January 19, 2025
- claudiamD1008OH0 contributionsThe best tour!!Honestly such a good tour! Dr. Knox was an AMAZING tour guide he was so funny and made sure everyone was involved and entertained! We had the best time on this tour and will 100% recommend it to anyone I know coming over! Love from the Irish girl with the crap earrings ☺️Written January 19, 2025
- joannehR7160AE0 contributionsUp and under yourReally loved the tour and Holly our guide was very funny and knowledgeable about Edinburgh history. Lots of opportunity to ask questionsWritten January 19, 2025
- judithpX947PU0 contributionsHilarious highlight of our tripSpontaneously joined the tour and it turned out to be one of the highlights if our trip. The tour was not only informative but also absolutely hilarious thanks to our guide James Douglas. I would 100% book it again.Written January 19, 2025
- F5711HHlaurend0 contributionsGreat historical tour!My family did this tour with Holly. She was a great tour guide who had great historical knowledge. She was great at telling us all about history of the Edinburgh and the vaults. There is a bit of walking involved to see the different buildings. If you go I hope you have Holly as your guide!Written January 19, 2025
- mishac5900 contributionsGreat tour and great tour guideAmazing tour! Had Dr Knox as our tour guide and he was absolutely great..."think i fell in love with him". Highly recommendWritten January 18, 2025
- Z3740SVkatel0 contributionsMr Knox, the best tour guide!I had Dr Knox as my tour guide. He was absolutely amazing and made the tour a 10/10. He made lots of jokes, kept us entertained and made everyone feel included. I would 100% recommend!Written January 18, 2025
- anabelleg9700 contributionsDr. Knox was a great tour guide!It was so fun! Dr. Knox was hilarious and a just overall great tour guide! I wasn’t expecting to do this during my trip to Edinburgh but am so happy I did :) it was so engaging and light hearted poking fun, I couldn’t stop smiling the whole time!Written January 18, 2025
- lauramH5458MQ0 contributionsGreat tour!Really nice tour and great tour guide,Helen!she was funny and knowledgeable. Loved it! I just Wish it was longer and maybe less people in the group. But loved every second of it!Written January 18, 2025
These reviews are the subjective opinions of Tripadvisor members and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
5.0
991 reviews
Excellent
884
Very good
61
Average
15
Poor
13
Terrible
18
Karie
1 contribution
Mar 2020
Such a great ghost tour! Nell and her male companion the “hangsman” kept us mesmerized with the interesting stories of the past and gets the group involved. We even learned about a lot of the history behind Edinburgh. Loved this tour and hopefully we didn’t have any spirts come back with us.
Written March 8, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Katie L
2 contributions
This tour didn't leave us disappointed whatsoever! An hour of looking into the more macabre history of Edinburgh with the extremely knowledgeable and witty Dr Knox.
For the price paid (around £15 pp), it was worth every penny. Interesting, entertaining and a true look at the more gruesome past of the city.
If you enjoy some near the knuckle repartee whilst learning a thing or two, then would highly recommend. Our guide, the wonderfully gravelly voiced Dr Knox, joined everything up to be an hour very well spent and pointed us in the direction of related things to do as well. Highlight of our short trip.
For the price paid (around £15 pp), it was worth every penny. Interesting, entertaining and a true look at the more gruesome past of the city.
If you enjoy some near the knuckle repartee whilst learning a thing or two, then would highly recommend. Our guide, the wonderfully gravelly voiced Dr Knox, joined everything up to be an hour very well spent and pointed us in the direction of related things to do as well. Highlight of our short trip.
Written October 17, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Emma S
5 contributions
Aug 2020 • Family
Alexander the Hangman (aka Paul) did a fantastic job of guiding us around Old Town and taking us underground, telling scary and gruesome stories along with way. Our party was one adult and four children aged 8-16 years and we all thoroughly enjoyed it, finding it engaging and interesting all the way through. Our 8 year old found the underground part quite spooky but she soon recovered afterwards. Thank you for providing such a fun experience while keeping coronavirus safe too. Would definitely take another tour next time we go to Edinburgh. Highly recommended x
Written August 11, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Susan C
2 contributions
Having been scolded like naughty schoolchildren for arriving on time (not early), our tour was largely spent above ground (in Parliament Square) and walking across the city (back past our starting point) to reach the entrance to the vaults.
The underground tour fell flat - with tumbleweed jokes, unsubtle scare attempts and tedious stories.
The size of the group (28) made it impossible to look for ghosts as the tales were told (crammed into airless rooms and wondering if we were going to catch Covid from the coughing man to our right).
Given the tour company earned £300+ for an hour’s work, we also didn’t appreciate being blackmailed with a 900-year curse (only to be lifted by leaving a 5-star Trip Advisor review).
We left with the conclusion we could have Googled five interesting facts and saved £12.
The underground tour fell flat - with tumbleweed jokes, unsubtle scare attempts and tedious stories.
The size of the group (28) made it impossible to look for ghosts as the tales were told (crammed into airless rooms and wondering if we were going to catch Covid from the coughing man to our right).
Given the tour company earned £300+ for an hour’s work, we also didn’t appreciate being blackmailed with a 900-year curse (only to be lifted by leaving a 5-star Trip Advisor review).
We left with the conclusion we could have Googled five interesting facts and saved £12.
Written September 19, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kim Tattersall
Newquay, UK33 contributions
So, we have a 12 Yr old boy and an 8 Yr old girl that was desperate to do some ghost hunting after learning some of Edinburgh's dark history. We choose this tour as it was a great time of the day, kinda evening, but still light outside (we wanted them to enjoy the experience and not be frightened to sleep for the next 10 years!) This tour was perfect. We were worried they wouldn't be interested in the stories and find them boring. They loved every second, as did we. Our tour guide Andrew spoke loud and clear (great for me as I struggle hearing) and was thoroughly entertaining throughout. She was engaging and had really good knowledge of the city, with multiple people asking random questions, she was able to answer them all. The whole experience was great, the vaults were just the right amount of spooky for kids and first time ghost hunters. Thank you for an amazing experience Andrew, from the parents of the cool kid with the camera and the girl still annoyed we forgot the custard creams. (have inc 2 photos with possible orbs bottom right)
Written August 15, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
CollingwoodCourt
Tynemouth, UK113 contributions
Jul 2021
Lady Primrose took us on an afternoon tour around the streets of Endinburgh and then underground - this was marketed as a scary ghost tour but I have seen scarier episodes of the Ten O'Clock news. She was knowledgeable but nothing on the whole tour to risk even a missed heartbeat, quite sure the strories she told were made up. Save your money.....watch the news.
Written July 7, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Herman7500
London, UK34 contributions
Dec 2022
We purchased the “Afternoon Old Town and Underground Tour” for a family of four on the 21st Dec 2022. Too be honest this was a joke. The “Red Witch – Tour Guide” was knowledgeable (not sure if all was true) and tried to be scary. However, in my view this is not really worth the money. They take you across the old town to a few underground rooms that were badly decorated. They also said that they’ll take you back to the meeting point, but after the tour they just left you to find your own way back. Some people may like it, but even my kids were bored.
Written December 27, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Emz
7 contributions
Agnes was our guided tour and Jessica on guided training.
Agnes was brilliant and made the tour fun and interesting. We never had a dull moment and she made sure everyone was enjoying it. Honestly she's the best tour guide ever. I thought the tour was quite long and it might be boring but I was wrong I didn't noticed the time because I was enjoying it and my husband was pleased with the experienced.
It was amazing how Agnes remembered the children's name on the tour. We came with husband niece and nephew and they felt that they are involved and Agnes made them laugh and scared them in a good way. Whether you are a couple, friends or family this is the best tour for you.
We highly recommend Agnes and the City of Edinburgh Tour. Thank you so much for the positive experienced.
Of course Jessica still on her guided tour training and shes doing well keep it up.
Positive experienced and worth the money. Thank you for the lovely experienced today. This is our first tour that we booked on our Edinburgh Holiday.
Agnes was brilliant and made the tour fun and interesting. We never had a dull moment and she made sure everyone was enjoying it. Honestly she's the best tour guide ever. I thought the tour was quite long and it might be boring but I was wrong I didn't noticed the time because I was enjoying it and my husband was pleased with the experienced.
It was amazing how Agnes remembered the children's name on the tour. We came with husband niece and nephew and they felt that they are involved and Agnes made them laugh and scared them in a good way. Whether you are a couple, friends or family this is the best tour for you.
We highly recommend Agnes and the City of Edinburgh Tour. Thank you so much for the positive experienced.
Of course Jessica still on her guided tour training and shes doing well keep it up.
Positive experienced and worth the money. Thank you for the lovely experienced today. This is our first tour that we booked on our Edinburgh Holiday.
Written July 22, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ivan C
5 contributions
Jul 2021 • Family
This tour was simply fantastic, I would 100% recommend. We as a family of 7, 2 adults and 5 kids, ages 12,11,8,7,5 sometimes find it challenging to attend activities without the fear of the kids acting up but Agnes was amazing in keeping the children engaged throughout the tour with her witty jokes, and gruesome tales. Agnes even brought my husband Ivan out of his shell with her activities, very funny! Thank you Andrew for excellent communication in making the booking and a big well done to Rebecca (guide in training) for her very interesting stories, confidence and engaging nature.
Written July 22, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Simona B
4 contributions
Jun 2022
My partner and I had a great experience on this tour. The stories were very interesting and it was great to hear them from a guide who has a lot of knowledge about the city. Our guide Sawney Bean was very engaging and enthusiastic - the way he told stories really drew me in and made me want to learn more about Edinburgh's dark history.
Only minus is that we would have liked to see more of the underground, we only saw one close. I would recommend this tour more for people who are interested in the above-ground Edinburgh ghost stories, and perhaps another tour for the underground specifically.
Only minus is that we would have liked to see more of the underground, we only saw one close. I would recommend this tour more for people who are interested in the above-ground Edinburgh ghost stories, and perhaps another tour for the underground specifically.
Written June 19, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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