Edinburgh Dark History Tour: Explore City's Murky Past and Notorious Figures

Uncover Edinburgh’s dark and twisted past on a captivating tour. Discover the city’s notorious figures, gruesome crimes, and chilling ghost stories. Prepare to be haunted!

Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Old Town - A walking tour down the Royal Mile of Edinburgh, where your guide will share with you the darker history of Edinburgh.
  • Heart of Midlothian - Former site of the Old Tollbooth, one of Edinburgh’s most notorious buildings. Hear about some of the characters once imprisoned and/or executed here, and why it ultimately became recognised…
What's Included
  • In-person guide throughout the tour
Additional Information

Oh, the charm of Edinburgh! It’s not dubbed ‘The Jekyll & Hyde City’ without good reason. By daylight, it’s an upstanding character with outstanding construction and fascinating past. Yet, as night descends, it narrates a wholly different tale…
Discover the shadowy side of Edinburgh’s history: killers, robbers, flesh-eaters, executions and beheadings,…

Location
West Parliament Square
Find us across the square in Front of St. Giles Cathedral. Search for the white umbrella with the logo of All-Star Guides.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(644 Ratings)
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Flyer01246589870
Jun 9, 2025
Historical Tales of the Macabre - Highlight of our Trip! - Myself and my partner had a fantastic time on All-Star's Dark History tour of Edinburgh. Our guide, Robert, was very knowledgable and friendly. He tailored the tour to our interests, which we really appreciated. We genuinely had so much fun, and would happily recommend this tour to anyone interested in history.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alexandra_r
Jun 8, 2025
Amazing tour! - Top tier tour! I had an unplanned solo tour and James was an amazing tour guide, really great story teller. Edinburghs dark history was fascinating, highly recomend!
Review provided by Viator
Tourist22864529017
Jun 8, 2025
Great for history buffs - Great tour James was very knowledgeable and entertaining at the same time. Good mix of topics and sign posted to other places worth a visit.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Valerie_b
Jun 7, 2025
Truly excellent. - Obviously, being in Edinburgh, the tour involves a lot of walking up and down slopes. Well worth the effort.
Review provided by Viator
Alicemy8660ys
Jun 7, 2025
Brilliant start to our holiday - A great start to our weekend break, to get an idea of the darker side of the city and the stories and figures that shaped it. Our guide Calum was an exceptional story teller, bringing the streets and nooks and crannies to life. Calum is very knowledgeable and personable, very attentive and remembered each of the guests names and made sure everyone felt comfortable and involved. Would absolutely recommend 😊
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Berrieg2025
Jun 6, 2025
Edinburgh's dark history tour with Calum - Calum was a friendly guide with lots of historical tales and he expanded on our interest in specific areas, e.g. Greyfriars graveyard connection to Harry Potter. It was a small group and I loved the tour as I'm sure the others did.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nina_d
Jun 6, 2025
Not scary but informative - Cullen was a great story teller! Answers all questions and was quite funny too! A good amount of walking which most will be able to do.
Review provided by Viator
Anomoon
Jun 6, 2025
A good view of the city with many juicy, dark story's - The tour takes you through some of the well know places and streets of Edinbrugh, so it's a good starter of your holiday to get a grip of the city. And ofcourse the guide explains a lot about the dark history of the city, and there is some juice to spill... Our guide Robert was very dedicated: even though it was very cold, he stond there in his kilt and Scottisch attire. He was enthousiastic in telling all the story's and was especially good in recalling names of historic figures and witches. Would recommand !
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Hvnahoot
Jun 5, 2025
Callum is a wonderful story teller! - This is an amazing walking tour. Lots of dark history to be learned about this beautiful city. Myself and my friends did the 3 pm tour and would highly recommend it.0
Review provided by Viator
Y8991iyemmab
May 31, 2025
Absolutely 5 starts would definitely recommend! - What an amazing tour we’ve had today with James. He’s super knowledgeable on the history of the area and was so down to earth. He really kept everyone engaged and his delivery and storytelling were top notch. Would highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $22
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).