Edinburgh Underground City of the Dead Tour: Exploring Damnation Alley's Haunted Tunnels

Uncover the secrets of Edinburgh’s haunted underground city on this award-winning guided tour. Explore Damnation Alley’s haunted tunnels and hear chilling stories of the city’s dark past.

Duration: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • City of the Dead Tours - This tour explores the most haunted area of Edinburgh’s renowned Underground City, where inhabitants once endured extreme hardship. As dark as the devil’s attire, these vaults boast a captivating history and were hidden for centuries until their recent rediscovery.
    This section of the South Bridge Vaults is referred to as…
What's Included
  • Local, expert guide
What's Not Included
  • Transportation to/from attractions
Additional Information

Discover the most haunted part of Edinburgh’s famous Underground City with this award-winning guided walking tour. Known as ‘Damnation Alley’ and forgotten for centuries, these tunnels were once the dwelling place of men, women, and children living in extreme hardship.
Uncover Edinburgh’s dark history as you hear tales of what truly occurred beneath the…

Location
St Giles' Cathedral
High Street
All tours leave from the "Tree of the Dead" outside St Giles Cathedral on the pavement facing the Royal Mile. Please arrive at the meeting point 15 minutes prior to departure.
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.6
(281 Ratings)
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1 star
Camille
Mar 8, 2026
Interesting and fun! - Interesting and fun! Our guide Désirée made sure that everyone felt comfortable in every room. The tour is full of interesting and scary stories. Wish it was a bit longer though, it finished earlier than expected. Thank you Désirée for your bubbly personality and your humour. We had a fun night out!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
O6394jxekaterinab
Jan 27, 2026
Great experience - Had a great time — our guide, Ben, was excellent. He’s a strong storyteller: attentive, funny, and friendly. It was interesting to see the underground vaults and learn more about Edinburgh’s history while being immersed in a mysterious atmosphere.
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Katharine
Jan 26, 2026
The kind of spooky that sticks with you - This was easily one of the best ghost tours I've been on. The tour was properly spooky — not cheesy — and I had a few moments that were genuinely unsettling and hard to explain. Ben was fantastic: really knowledgeable, engaging, and the way he brought the history to life made the whole experience even better. If you’re looking for a fun but creepy evening activity, I can’t recommend this tour enough.
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Maps52213307505
Jan 26, 2026
Great Tour, Fantastic Guide! - This tour was super creepy and very informative! Ben, our guide, was so friendly, knowledgeable and engaging. I’ve done similar tours in Edinburgh before, but Ben made this one the best by far. Highly recommend!
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Scottsp998ts
Jan 12, 2026
Great experience with charlie - Excellent tour, charlie told great storys, true and untrue with a funny edge, great experience and great atmosphere , defo recommend. Wish i remembered my light hat.
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129sim
Dec 3, 2025
Edinburgh underground city of the dead tour - Lou was a fun, friendly and interesting host, who brought the tour to life. The price was reasonable, and the tour was interesting and informative.
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Harrywe488st
Dec 2, 2025
Get Des her own TV show! - Its all about the Guide! Des is fantastic and needs her own TV show. The actual route you walk was shorter than I thought it was going to be but the stories were great and you could really imagine the life people used to have to endure.
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V1739llnicholass
Nov 24, 2025
Well worth doing - Did this tour on the 21st. Des'ree was an excellent guide and extremely knowledgeable as well as being entertaining. I learnt stuff about Edinburgh that I didn't know. Highly recommended
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Jim
Nov 14, 2025
A fun and informative experience - This was a fantastic way to see a hidden part of Edinburgh whilst learning more about the city's past history. The guide, Ben, was a really good storyteller and brought an added degree to the experience through his emphatic storytelling. We did this tour on a wet and windy day. Due to weather conditions the guide reduced the outaide part of the tour, with the group's agreement. However he spent more time in the vaults to compensate for this. I would thoroughly recommend taking this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ewanmcm2021
Nov 14, 2025
A fantastic wander through Edinburgh’s hidden vaults. - It was a hellishly wet afternoon but our guide Ben rose to the challenge. To start the tour we had a relatively short walk in the rain and then entered the hidden world of ancient Edinburgh. Lots of history, gruesome anecdotes and many laughs along the the way.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $27
up to 4 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).