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: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • City of the Dead Tours - This tour ventures into the most haunted section of Edinburgh’s legendary Underground City, where a population once lived in utter misery. Black as Satan’s jammies, with a fascinating history to match, these vaults were forgotten for centuries and only recently unsealed.

This part of the South Bridge Vaults is known as Damnation Alley. With good reason. These dark tunnels and are stalked by a malevolent presence known as the South Bridge Entity.

What's Included
  • Guidance by a local expert
What's Not Included
  • Transportation to/from attractions
Additional Information

Venture into the creepiest part of Edinburgh’s famed Underground City on this celebrated guided stroll. Referred to as ‘Damnation Alley’ and deserted for many years, these corridors once served as the grim dwelling for destitute men, women, and children.

Delve into the sordid history of Edinburgh as you hear the real narratives of what actually occurred underneath the city’s lanes and what might still be lingering…

• A guided, 80-minute trek through Edinburgh’s subterranean city, directed by an expert local guide.

• Option to select a daytime or evening tour.

IMPORTANT NOTE

In exceptionally bustling periods throughout the year, tours are designated SOLD OUT even when spaces remain, to prevent over-booking. Reach out to us should the tour you desire be labelled SOLD OUT, as there may be spots still free.

  • Age: Minimum 12
  • Children must be accompanied by an adult
  • Language: English only
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
(81 Ratings)
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Beccaclucas
Jul 18, 2024
Amazing tour and guide! - Having lived in Edinburgh my whole life, I had never done a ghost tour, so decided to book one with my family. We had a really amazing time and our guide Jenny done a fantastic job and was extremely funny. She was very knowledgable and managed to cram a lot of stories in a short space of time. She interacted well with the crowd and left us wanting to attend more tours. I was amazed at the end when she told us it was her first ever tour!!! 5 starts, highly recommend! The guide really makes the tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sunshine56051256760
Jun 29, 2024
Great ghost busting tour with Beth - My 15 year old daughter and I did the Underground Vault tour with Beth. She was an amazing storyteller. We heard footsteps and others heard unexplained growling. Such a fun way to learn the city’s history and do a little ghost busting! Highly recommend and ask for Beth!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Passport43884146719
Jun 16, 2024
Edinburgh underground was great - We were pleasantly surprised, our guide Rebekka was able to draw the whole group into the story very well, we had a very educational afternoon, and it was sometimes spooky, but that is the purpose of the tour
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Faraway651903
Jun 14, 2024
Best Ghost Tour - Went on the Double Dead tour with Artemus and had a fantastic time. He is such a great storyteller and the showmanship is some of the best I have ever experienced. It was so much fun being able to go into the vaults and hear the ghost stories, these vaults aren’t accessible to the general public. Then we went to Grey Friar’s Kirkyard to learn more about the dead buried there, the grave robbing, and the Mackenzie Ghost. This tour also gets you access to the locked off portion of the graveyard where you learn about the Covenanters’ prison that was there. I highly recommend this tour, it was the best ghost I have ever been on.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lauren
Jun 12, 2024
AMAZING tour with Sara! - This tour was the best part of my trip! My tour guide, Sara(h), was INCREDIBLE! She was super knowledgeable about the history and legends of Edinburgh, while also being cheery, friendly, and personable. Her performances on the tour definitely added to the experience, with her natural way of storytelling and her ability to keep the whole crowd engaged the entire time. I can honestly say I learned so much on this tour, while also being appropriately frightened (I swear I heard the Watcher’s footsteps) I 100% recommend this tour, and if I’m back in Edinburgh I would definitely come again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marief175
Apr 29, 2024
Thank you Ryan 💕 - Ryan is a true gem of a guide. He did the absolute most to make sure we had a good time and was very informative as well. And what a sense of humour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
184lucindap
Apr 3, 2024
10/10! - This experience was just awesome! The history of the vaults was fascinating, and the vaults themselves were totally spooky and cool. Our tour guide, Beth, was absolutely amazing. She was very engaging and respectful, and she did an excellent job at telling the history of the vaults, while also telling supernatural stories that contributed to the ghostly ambience. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in the haunted histories of Edinburgh.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
F849lcjuliee
Mar 31, 2024
City of the Dead..........great fun - Highly recommend, the tour guide Rebecca was great, she kept the tour stories light with just the right amount of scariness and was very informative about the city's darker history, all in all we had a great time and would definitely book again. 10/10 ☠️👻💀
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tomgammie
Mar 27, 2024
Beware the watcher, he might be right behind you - A genuinely thrilling experience that will make your skin crawl and your blood run cold. Beware the watcher, we heard footsteps and thought someone was behind us only to find that space completely unoccupied. The vaults themselves and the stories told are frightening in their own right, but were brought to life by our outstanding tour guide Sara. She’s both an insightful guide as well as an excellent performer that made the experience truly spectacular. Could not recommend any higher, even though it gave me nightmares. Thanks Sara for accomodating us - from your Aussie friends.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Emmawt8310oj
Jul 7, 2024
Tour guide never turned up! - Booked our tour, arrived 20 minutes prior to the tour starting and our tour guide never turned up! There was about 14 or so others waiting. We all tried to call, we sent emails. Never got a reply or could get through on the phone. Ended up going to the information centre which was thankfully right opposite the tour meeting point to try see if they could get in contact with the company. Thankfully the information centre was so incredibly helpful and after multiple calls they got through on the phone and we were told to request a refund. By this point it has been half n hour to 40 minutes anyways so we all left. We later got a reply to our email we sent earlier. They wrote back saying we would get a full refund and could book another tour free of charge (however we did not book again). Very unfortunate as my family and I were looking forward to this underground vault tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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September 2024
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