Multi-Sensory Small-Group Historic Vaults Tour in Edinburgh

Recommended by 93% of travelers

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Edinburgh, Scotland

Great choice

5+ bookings last month.

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

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Overview

No trip to Edinburgh is complete without a stop at the Edinburgh Vaults—aka South Bridge Vaults—the 18th-century underground chambers that lie far below the city. But independent visits aren't allowed. On this underground walking tour, hear tales of this dark and almost-forgotten place below one of Edinburgh’s busiest thoroughfares. See evidence of excavated storage spaces, human habitation, taverns with wine vaults and more.

Enjoy a personalized experience, limited to 18 people maximum
Historic afternoon walk through the underground vaults of South Bridge
Listen to stories from the city's dark side from your entertaining guide
Learn about centuries of Edinburgh's underground history

What's Included

Exclusive multi-sensory tours; with master Storyteller guides
Enhanced with hand-picked sounds of Edinburgh and delivered through TourTalk audio devices
Exclusive access to Blair Street Underground Vaults
Visit to our Vaults Museum, with interactive 3D models and the Vaults Revealed audio-visual display
Evoke the memories - Take home an exclusive Scent Card
Exclusive Sounds of Edinburgh Tour Playlist
Touch original artefacts

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

Far below Edinburgh’s bustling city streets lie the Edinburgh Vaults—a series of dark chambers formed under the 19 arches of the South Bridge in the late 18th century. Set out on a walking tour of underground Edinburgh with a professional guide and learn about this subterranean expansion of historic Old Town.

As your guide sheds light on the fireplaces, wine vaults and artifacts in the excavated vaults, hear about the 100 or so businesses—including taverns and trades—that once thrived at the South Bridge and used the concealed space for their workshops and merchandise.

Listen to haunting tales of Infirmary Street, the former site of Edinburgh's medical school, where it is said that the notorious duo, Burke and Hare, sold the bodies of their murdered victims. Search for signs of human habitation when city residents reportedly lived in, then vacated, the cavern-like vaults, and imagine life underground before you breathe fresh air again!

Mercat Cross

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Edinburgh Vaults

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Mercat Tours

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Children over 5yrs only
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

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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 1,425 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

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Unique, Historical and Great experience

Suzanne_S, Aug 2025

First off, our tour guide Linda was amazing, her knowledge unsurpassed but presented in such a way you could see and feel the history. This is a most unique tour giving a sense of Edinburgh you can’t obtain any other way. We were so impressed with the tour that we turned around and booked another Mercat the same day.

Vaults

Patricia_S, Jul 2025

Excellent Very informative. Lots of history Wouldn’t recommend for small children because of the darkness

Unique Edinburgh Experience

Sandra_Z, Jul 2025

This is a short tour and conveniently located to include on the same day as a visit to Edinburgh Castle. Our guide, Veni, was knowledgeable and interesting to listen to. She explained the origin of the vaults and then we went down into them. She explained what was in the vaults over time. The lighting is quite low and the floor uneven so it may not be suitable to people with walking issues. It is a fascinating part of Edinburgh history.

Informative small group tour.

Paige_S, Jul 2025

Had a lovely time in a small group going through he vaults and learning more about the history of old Edinburgh's underbelly.

Great way to catch a...

Tim_B, May 2025

Great way to catch a glimpse of the city’s history and dark underbelly. Michael was a fantastic storyteller.

Interesting

Dean_W, Feb 2025

Dont expect too much. Guide Steph was excellent, however was expecting more from the tour considering the fab reviews

Incredible Storytelling

Charlie_M, Jan 2025

Nicola was a great storyteller and really set the scene of old town Edinburgh for us. She answered our questions with enthusiasm and was just generally a delight to be around. This tour is a must do, especially if only visiting the city for a few days. We really enjoyed the tour and would like to book some others with the same company in the future!

A fascinating & fun tour for all the family

Peter_S, Oct 2024

A great tour - a fun and interesting introduction to a side of Edinburgh that we would have otherwise walked straight past without noticing. The 2 guides made a real effort to engage everyone throughout the tour. Thank you!

Thoroughly enjoyable and educational

Reay_S, Sep 2024

Guide was professional in explanation of the History, social and cultural conditions of the time. How parts of the old city were buried when expansion began.

Perfect first tour

Kristine_M, Sep 2024

Our guide Veni was extremely friendly, knowledgeable and engaging. A perfect length 1.5 hrs tour for our first ( jet-lagged) afternoon . Our 20-somethings enjoyed the intro to Edinburgh history.

Underground Tour

Kelly_G, Aug 2024

We appreciated how mindful our guide was about weather and adjusted the tour so that it minimized our time in the rain. I loved the headphones…they helped tremendously to hear clearly. My hubby like the tour so much he bought a book about it (7 pounds) after.

Make time for this Edinburgh tour!!!!

Gwendolyn_A, Aug 2024

I booked this as a birthday present for my husband. We had limited time in Edinburgh, but I knew he would enjoy the historical vaults. WOW!!!! It was better than anything we expected. Loved hearing the stories and history. As well, Veni (our lovely and brilliant guide) was beyond wonderful and made the exploration a complete highlight for us. I appreciated her narration and care of travelers so much. Excellent tour!!

Great tour of Edinburgh vaults

Kendall_P, Aug 2024

This tour was great. Our group of 4 had Marine as a guide, who was very knowledgeable about the history of the vaults. This is a great way to see part of underground Edinburgh, learn history of the Old Town, and see some sights you otherwise would not experience.

Great tour

Rebecca_K, Aug 2024

What a fascinating piece of history. Really interesting and informative. Our guide was clear and enthusiastic and it was well paced and had loads of interesting facts which made the tour a really fascinating part of our trip to Edinburgh

Taken back in time!

Helen_S, Jul 2024

The tour was brought to life by Joe who’s commentary made you feel as though you were being taken back a hundred years or more and were actually experiencing life in the vaults. The best experience in Edinburgh for me.

Interesting vault history

Sarah_W, Jun 2024

Interesting and fun exploration of a small underground vault in Edinburgh. Our guide Veni was great!

Our guide was excellent, and we all learned a lot.

Carol_A, May 2024

Seniors should be aware that the terrain is quite rough and, in places, there might not be enough light for “old” eyes.

Compelling history with Scottish humor

David_S, May 2024

Nikola the guide had tons of great insights and an extremely entertaining delivery. Interesting things to see, but understanding the humans involved was key to the experience. This is a superior substitute for Mary King's Close and other tenement-oriented tours.

Great tour, great guide

Beatrice_C, May 2024

Nicola provided plenty of interesting information. Edinburgh looks even more fascinating after the tour.

Underground Edinburgh Vaults

Theresa_P, May 2024

Our guide, Veni, was a treasure trove of information about the underground vaults. We had an interesting and enjoyable tour.

fantastic

pat_g, Apr 2024

was really very interesting Tour. Was fascinating and our guide Nicola was excellent. I can’t say enough about this event. It should be something that everyone takes just to show the history of the area.

Linda, our guide, was...

Jose_A, Apr 2024

Linda, our guide, was very Entertaining and had a lot of information. The tour is strongly recommended

Linda was very...

Eloise_S, Apr 2024

Linda was very knowledgeable - kept us all entertained for whole time. Enjoyed it and would recommend

Great history

Kevin_H, Mar 2024

Glad we did this the first day we were here to get some great history and lay of the land. Great tour guide.

Great tour - fascinating history

Anna_T, Jan 2024

Really enjoyed the narrative presented by our tour-guide Stefanie. She was knowledgeable and interesting on a subject matter that's fascinating in itself. Maybe just a bit over-rehearsed in her delivery

Excellent Experience!

Katie_J, Jan 2024

Our tour guide Margaret-Ann is very welcoming and knowledgeable about the vaults history, her passion for the subject clearly shines through. The tour was interactive and interesting, I would definitely recommend it. The meeting place is also very clearly marked and easy to find.

Excellent Tour Guide

Angel_T, Dec 2023

Absolutely loved how Linda was, she was very informative and really made me comfortable as I was 33 weeks pregnant and I really enjoyed learning more about the vaults as this tour was mainly for my partner.

Really great tour

Alison_M, Nov 2023

Having seen the vaults on TV we finally got to see it in person. Our guide Charles gave us a lot of very interesting history, not just about the vaults, we thoroughly enjoyed the tour and would recommend it to friends.