Multi-Sensory Haunted Underground Vaults Tour in Edinburgh

Recommended by 93% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Edinburgh, Scotland

Popular pick

Booked 5+ times last week!

1 hour 15 minutes (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.7

· Karen_C ·

Jun 2026

Very interesting way to start our visit to Edinburgh. Bo, our guide, was an excellent story teller. We gather more knowledge about the obscure history of the city. It was spooky but funny at times during the tour. Will recommend. Love it!

· Linda_v ·

Jun 2026

Our guide Linda was exceptional. Her enthusiasm brought the tour to life. It is easy to picture the stories she tells.

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Overview

The Blair Street Vaults shouldn’t be missed when visiting Edinburgh—especially for fans of the spooky and macabre. But independent visits aren’t allowed, so you’ll need to a guide to gain access to this restricted underground area. On this ghoulish walking tour, descend into the darkened depths of the vaults and hear vivid retellings of torture, murder, and body snatching from your guide.

Enjoy a personalizedexperience, limited to 18 people maximum
Ideal for those intrigued by the paranormal, this spooky tour is sure to scare
Listen to gruesome tales of torture, murder, and body snatching
No manufactured frights, ensuring everything you experience is genuine

What's Included

Exclusive multi-sensory experience; with master Storyteller guides
Small group experience
Exclusive access to the famous Blair Street Underground Vaults on this high-spirited tour
Enhanced with hand-picked sounds of Edinburgh and delivered through TourTalk audio devices
Take home an exclusive ghost story gift!
Listen to the Exclusive Sounds Of Edinburgh Tour Playlist

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Mercat Cross
High St, Edinburgh EH1 1RF, UK
Mercat Cross, High St, Edinburgh EH1 1RF. Look for the 8 sided monument with white Unicorn on top. You will find a member of our visitor services team waiting here to check you in. They will be dressed in black, holding an iPad, wearing an orange lanyard & holding a black & orange umbrella.

End point

28 Blair St, Edinburgh EH1 1QR, UK
Mercat Tours, 28 Blair Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1QR. This tour ends after a visit to our Blair Street Underground Vaults.

Itinerary

At an afternoon departure time to suit your schedule, greet your guide at a central location. Following your cloaked guide, weave your wicked way through the shadow-shrouded streets of Edinburgh’s Old Town and gain insight into Edinburgh’s dark history.

After the spooky scene has been established, descend to the vaults beneath Blair Street and feel a morbid chill permeate the air. Tentatively wander through darkened passages and hear gruesome tales of torture, murder, and body snatching.

Ghost stories galore, you are sensitive to a cold breath on the back of your neck and the flicker of a candle in the distance. Return to daylight and bid your guide farewell.

Mercat Cross

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Edinburgh Old Town

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Mercat Tours

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Please note that we cannot accept babies or children under the age of 5 on this tour.
Not wheelchair accessible
Service animals allowed

Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Tours are guaranteed all year round, so please dress for the weather, with comfortable shoes.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 18 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

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Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.7

based on 1,769 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

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Sort by: Most insightful

Great tour!

Karen_C, Jun 2026

History brought to life.

Linda_v, Jun 2026

Our guide Linda was exceptional. Her enthusiasm brought the tour to life. It is easy to picture the stories she tells.

Great experience

Jason_S, Jun 2026

Really enjoyed this tour. Our guide was wonderful. She was a great storyteller and added in lots of interesting history. Highly recommend.

Not worth it.

Antonella_D, Jun 2026

Nice to see the underground of the city but overall boring, would not recommend especially bat this price

Response from Host, Jun 2026

Hi there, We're really sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your tour with us. Our Master Storytellers aim to share the tales of old Edinburgh in a lively, engaging way that connects you with our amazing city. Thanks for your feedback, we'll keep this in mind when we review how we present our tours. We hope you had a lovely time in the city. All the best,

Surprisingly lots of fun!

Sem_W, May 2026

Lots of fun with Ash! Informative in an interesting way. Ash is enthousiastic and a great performer!

This was such a fun and...

Mya_P, Apr 2026

This was such a fun and engaging experience. Michael was an incredible story teller and made this a great experience for my family and I. Definitely recommend!

Its a no go

Amber_R, Apr 2026

Our leader was great with what he had to deal with, nice guy, good story teller, but I wouldn't recommend the tour, cheesy, short, spend your time and money on something else.

This was SUCH a fun tour!...

Baylee_D, Apr 2026

This was SUCH a fun tour! Check in was easy and simple. Bo, our guide, was kind and witty. He was very knowledgeable and created the perfect eerie mood! My husband and I were definitely spooked near the end. With that being said, there is no truly scary moments, making this relatively family friendly. Overall, a great, quick tour on a dark and stormy night!

A Spooky Experience in Edinburgh

Elizabeth_D, Mar 2026

A great and unique way to experience part of the city! Tour guide (Jude) was fun and knowledgeable as we walked through the Royal Mile to the entrance of the vaults. We embraced changing Edinburgh weather by sheltering in the near by Close. Inside the vaults we heard stories of residents from history and about some encounters of other guests. I even discovered an encounter of my own on my hand - spooky!!

Edinburgh Stories

Kekes_A, Mar 2026

Great experience going through the Edinburgh South Bridge's with an marvellous performances from Michael. Magnificent way of showing Edinburgh story.

An eerie experience

Susan_A, Mar 2026

Wear good footwear, as the ground is uneven in parts. A torch comes in handy. An interesting lesson on the social history of Edinburgh. Our guide Veni was great. She was very welcoming and passionate about the history of Edinburgh.

11/10 recommend.

Elise_S, Feb 2026

I rarely leave reviews. Phenomenal experience. ————————————————————————————————————————————————-11111

Fantastic walking tour of Edinburgh

Darren_T, Dec 2025

The tour was really good, Steph the guide was really chatty before the tour began and slipped effortlessly into character. She was knowledgable about the history and told the tales with enthusiasm and made it fun. I would highly recommend this tour, it’s a good way to spend an hour or so learning about the darker side of Edinburgh.

Fun walking tour above and below Edinburgh!

Craig_V, Dec 2025

Great walking tour…fun glimpse into some of Edinburgh’s sordid history. Jude was a fantastic guide and storyteller! Perfect level of creepy for our 14yo.

Shannon was a very good...

Sarah_R, Dec 2025

Shannon was a very good storyteller and made the tour really intriguing! Very interactive tour and had a lot of fun. Thank you!

Shannon stories are intoxicating

James_C, Dec 2025

Our beautiful guide Shannon was full of knowledge and was absolutely intoxicating while telling the stories of the past and bringing to life the ghosts of the vaults.

Fun way of exploring Edinburgh

Stephany_J, Sep 2025

Steph was amazing such a brilliant storyteller! A fun family friendly activity! Recommend doing with family

What a fun spooky tour!

Shagun_M, Aug 2025

Fantastic! Must do. Creepy to say the least. Steph was our guide and she was fantastic. They end the tour in the vaults, it is spooky down there. For a non believer, I ended up believing in those moments. My son did get scared, but Steph was so kind and gentle and gave him a flashlight to “protect” himself from any presence. Definitely a must do!

A fun afternoon in Edinburgh

Emily_A, Jul 2025

This was an excellent, ‘off the beaten path’ activity for our family. My two teenagers were delighted by the gore!

This was a fun...

Loviza_P, Jun 2025

This was a fun experience, the tour guide was very passionate about the storytelling and was happy to answer all the questions that you had. If you like history, this one is for you!

Be prepared as there are...

Loretta_S, Jun 2025

Be prepared as there are quite a few narrows stairs to go down. The information given by Mike was amazing.

Awesome tour!! Creepy, fascinating, and super interesting.

Garrett_L, May 2025

Our guide Shannon was amazing. Such a great storyteller and brilliant at creating creepy and disturbing imagery. I think this was one of the best Viator tours we’ve booked ever. So unique with taking the group down to the underground vaults, combining real history with haunted tales. Highly, highly recommend if you’re ever in Edinburgh.

Talk of torture and ghosts and visit to Blair Underground Vaults

ShirleyDodds, May 2025

Half an hr walking tour and told about how criminals were tortured, and about ghosts.Half an hr in Blair underground vaults, being told about resident ghosts and how people lived down there.Nicola was our guide and she was great, very dramatic

Very entertaining

Kenneth_F, Apr 2025

Our guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining. She seemed to really enjoy sharing the stories of the area past.

Well worth the money

Rosie_P, Feb 2025

Jack was a very knowledgeable guide, and very patient. The tour was very well planned. As someone who has a disability, they listened and kept an eye to check we were ok and still with the group at all time. The pace was adapted to suit all participants.

Spooky tour with a very nice guide

AnjaMaria_S, Feb 2025

It was a very spooky tour in the underground of Edinburgh, our guide Mike was very professional and told the stories with passion

10/10 experience!

Michelle_M, Dec 2024

Shannon, our guide, was very engaging and an excellent storyteller. We were all riveted! Thought this was the perfect tour to give us a bit of Edinburgh’s darker history.

Excellent

Glynis_P, Dec 2024

The tour is short but long enough to absorb a lot of information. 30 mins above ground walking through the Closes and a further 30 minutes underneath in the vaults. We were extremely fortunate to have a wonderful guide, Steph who was positively enlightening and interesting. I could have listened to her for hours. Thank you Steph for making the tour so informative and entertaining.

Just do it and you'll have no regrets

Johan_K, Dec 2024

It's a fun and slightly scary experience with cool historical background information of Edinburgh, and particularly the South Bridge, told by a very enthousiastic and good storyteller, Steph. We enjoyed this and we're captured by her performance.