Underground Vaults Walking Tour

Embark on an eerie journey through the haunted vaults beneath Edinburgh’s Old Town. Discover the dark history of crime, witchcraft, and spirits that lurk within. Step into a genuine witchcraft temple and dare to enter the infamous stone circle.

Duration: 1 hour
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights

The infamous vaults hidden under the South Bridge in Edinburgh Old Town fill the nineteen stone arches of this underground architectural wonder. Join our knowledgeable guide to hear why the vaults were built and why they were eventually abandoned…
Hear tales of how the homeless and destitute community of Edinburgh sought refuge in these former slums….

What's Included
  • Professional guide
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

Embark on a journey along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to uncover some of the city’s darker history before venturing into the notorious hidden and allegedly haunted vaults beneath the South Bridge in Edinburgh’s Old Town. Discover stories of the impoverished and unfortunate who once inhabited these former slums. Navigate these dimly lit vaults by candlelight,…

Location
300 Lawnmarket
Lawnmarket
The tour starts from the Red Telephone Box and Tourist Information Police Box, outside of 300 Lawnmarket. This is on the opposite side of the road from Deacon Brodie’s Tavern. Please be there at least 5-10 minutes early as the tour will always depart on time.
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.7
(8619 Ratings)
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Justinkz313cs
Jan 16, 2026
See a different side of Edinburgh. - £26pp. 1 hour length. Visit the spooky, damp and dark vaults and learn a bit of hidden history. Our guide, Alley, a friendly and energetic young lady, made the most of our hour, setting the scene with a bit of atmosphere, history and humour. It's reportedly a very haunted location, its certainly spooky enough, I didn't get a ghostly encounter, but that might be due to me looking the wrong way. Worth a visit.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Travel61069283906
Jan 15, 2026
Fantastic experience - I went on the undergound vaults tour for my birthday and it was absolutely fantastic. James, our guide, really brought everything to life and couldn't have been more enthusiastic and passionate about the history and the city. James was so good at balancing a more jovial tone with the more serious moments where we discussed the horrors of what living in the vaults would have been like. I would highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
D1034ibcharlottea
Jan 14, 2026
Underground vault walk - What an interesting tour. Full of information about the Edinburgh. Dom our tour guide was brilliant.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Naliah2026
Jan 13, 2026
Good Experience Thanks to Tour Guide - Frazer was informative and engaging with everything he said with a mix of humour which added to the experience. He made sure everyone was well informed about any potential hazards to keep everyone safe and never made me feel not included (which was brilliant as I was there solo).
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tomen2026
Jan 13, 2026
Informative experience with great historical stories - Ally was a very engaging tour guide and very knowledgeable with the history. Her personality added to the tour experience. Thank you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Darrell_s
Jan 13, 2026
Vault tour worth taking - Good interesting your of both Edinburgh above ground and in the vaults. Tour guide very good and knowledgeable
Review provided by Viator
A8218twalanb
Jan 12, 2026
Give it a go - Kieran was good fun, and we were the only people on the tour, so felt like a private tour. Learned a lot about the city, even though we visit pretty much every year.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Teslen2018
Jan 12, 2026
Awesome Tour Discovering the Historical Underground of Edinburgh - Our guide Stewart was brilliant! Highly knowledgeable, witty and funny, he made the tour super fun. 5 stars from us!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Bob_b
Jan 9, 2026
Too large of a group! - I loved the tour of the vaults! Guide did a great job explaining the history of the vaults and the city. The problem was the group was too large. We had 40 people in the tour. Made it difficult to get around in the vaults and even harder to hear the tour guide. People would talk constantly and the guide couldn’t control such a large group.
Review provided by Viator
647neos
Jan 15, 2026
Mid - Went on the walking tour earlier tonight and ended up quite disappointed. Our guide Stewart talked us through the spots in a way that was very clearly rushed accompanied by frequent asides in which he would state how much he wanted to get this over with and go home, he even began the tour in this way. It feels like he must have skipped over significant chunks of the tour as we finished much earlier than expected, not even walking by the famous Mackenzie poltergeist mausoleum nor Tom Riddle’s grave instead pointing towards their general direction and walking on not giving us time to actually see them properly. It ended up being very awkward, the jokes didn’t land as we could all tell he did not want to be there. In retrospect, he was quite rude at times, checking his phone regularly and providing very curt answers to our questions, barely acknowledging the group, without so much as even saying goodbye at the end of the tour, just rushing off. Was definitely not worth the £24. The most chilling and haunting thing about this “ghost tour” was Stewart’s stark lack of charisma. I absolutely understand it can be a difficult job sometimes but I do think that a minimum standard was owed to us especially considering the price we paid, we shouldn’t have been made to feel like an inconvenience or annoyance at the very least. A different career might be better suited for our guide. All this being said, you might have better luck with a different guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $32
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).