Edinburgh's Underground City Tour: Exploring City of the Dead Vaults

Uncover the secrets of Edinburgh’s Underground City on this award-winning guided walking tour. Explore the haunted tunnels and hear chilling stories of the city’s dark past. Book now!

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 Satan’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
  • Guidance by a local expert
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 10 minutes prior to departure. Please contact us if you are unable to join your tour.
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.7
(119 Ratings)
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Juliabc8180lu
Mar 8, 2026
Great tour - Charlie was a wonderful guide - we really enjoyed the ghost stories and tour of the vaults. It brought the city's colourful history to life!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ethane783
Feb 19, 2026
Brilliant tour 👍 - Tour guide Charlie: Honestly the best tour I've ever been on it was so interesting and the guide was very engaging and had a good sense of humour, brilliant story telling and is a must do if your around the area!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Peterek7665dk
Feb 19, 2026
Underground Vaults tour - Had a tour guide named Charlie, very informative and passionate clearly, one of the best tours ive been on for sure. Guide definitely polished of the tour perfectly. 10/10
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tracey
Feb 14, 2026
Fantastic experience! - Fantastic tour led by the wonderful Charlie who made the whole experience great fun and interesting. Would recommend 10/10
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Juliebw2888de
Feb 8, 2026
City of the dead 10/10 a must see!! - An amazing experience from the Tree to the very end, Fiona our guide was excellent and talked us through the story back to 1753 and the history she was funny and just a pleasure to be around, we absorbed everything she told us and when it finished she was happy to carry on and answer questions we had 👻 Thank you from Bolsover, Derbyshire xx
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Traceyb1124
Feb 3, 2026
Joshua is the Best Tour Guide Ever!!! - Omg what a fantastic fun tour. Our guide Joshua was a brilliant story teller and genuinely lovely bloke. We found the history very interesting the vaults were ridiculously scary, dark, damp and gave me nightmares the following nights! There were some people in our group that heard growling in the vaults. Would definitely recommend if you would like the crap scared out of you! Also don't forget that Joshua is the best tour guide 😁
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Federicaz33
Jan 13, 2026
Don't miss it! - Great tour, Lou is a fantastic guide! His enthusiasm and passion for what he does shines through! To recommend absolutely!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Joshw1855
Nov 18, 2025
Best haunted tour in Edinburgh! - Had a great tour with Désirée in November. We went on the ‘Underground’ tour. Having done quite a few tours in Edinburgh, I’d say this was the best - the stories were great, the guide was attentive and the parts of the tour within the vaults themselves were exceotional (stuff outside was good too but similar to other tours) AND there was some ‘unexplainable activity!’. Désirée herself was friendly, helpful and attentive and really created a great atmosphere. Also had some good jokes! The tour went over stories I hadn’t heard and there was definitely a few things that happened to us in the vaults themselves - people feeling dizzy, odd sounds, and doors opening by themselves! Would definitely recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Olivia
Dec 27, 2025
Interesting tour in Edinburgh. - Lots of interesting stories and info. A section of the tour above ground then you go into the locked area under the bridge. Good walking shoes and your torch phone are a must.
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Runnerhbpt
Dec 10, 2025
Great Ghost Walk - We had done a ghost walk tour many years ago on our last visit to Edinburgh. We enjoyed it so much we convinced our friends to join us on another for our next visit. On a particularly grey day with heavy rain it seemed the perfect thing to do. Sarah was our guide and she was fantastic. The tour lasted about 90 minutes but it felt longer. It was well worth doing and also learnt a little bit of local history too.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $26
up to 4 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).