Edinburgh Dark History Tour: Explore City's Murky Past and Notorious Figures

Uncover Edinburgh’s dark and twisted past on a captivating tour. Discover the city’s notorious figures, gruesome crimes, and chilling ghost stories. Prepare to be haunted!

Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Old Town - A walking tour down the Royal Mile of Edinburgh, where your guide will share with you the darker history of Edinburgh.
  • Heart of Midlothian - Former site of the Old Tollbooth, one of Edinburgh’s most notorious buildings. Hear about some of the characters once imprisoned and/or executed here, and why it ultimately became recognised…
What's Included
  • In-person guide throughout the tour
Additional Information

Oh, the charm of Edinburgh! It’s not dubbed ‘The Jekyll & Hyde City’ without good reason. By daylight, it’s an upstanding character with outstanding construction and fascinating past. Yet, as night descends, it narrates a wholly different tale…
Discover the shadowy side of Edinburgh’s history: killers, robbers, flesh-eaters, executions and beheadings,…

Location
West Parliament Square
Find us across the square in Front of St. Giles Cathedral. Search for the white umbrella with the logo of All-Star Guides.
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
5.0
(785 Ratings)
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Scenic63456605135
Nov 10, 2025
Brilliant tour - recommend for visitors and residents! - Fantastic tour, as an Edinburgh resident I learned so much about our city's past and got to see and hear about some of it's hidden landmarks that I otherwise would not have noticed! Kieran was an excellent tour guide, made everyone feel very welcome and was extremely knowledgeable and engaging throughout. Highly recommend this tour for visitors and residents alike, thank you Kieran!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
L9015hfmarinam
Nov 9, 2025
Great tour, learned a ton! - Highly recommend! James was an excellent tour guide - he gave us a really fascinating insight into different parts of Edinburgh’s history and the darker, more human side of the beautiful and historic old city. You could really tell he has a deep knowledge of the history, but also made it fun and engaging. The night tour option also provided some spooky ambiance!
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D9101gralicial
Nov 9, 2025
Glad I booked this tour !!!! - Loved, loved, loved the tour! It was really interesting, and James is so good at telling those stories. I was very intrigued and wanted to learn more about the history of Edinburgh after this. Definitely recommend it to everyone who wants some dark stories!
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Hannaolsenuoe
Nov 7, 2025
Great experience! - We had a great , fun and inspiring experience 👻🫶🏻🤠 Would highly recommend this tour for anyone interested in learning more about Edinburgh’s dark history.
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Mirap907
Nov 5, 2025
Great tour with nice tour guide - We had a wonderful time at the tour. Our guide James did a great job. He was respectful, humorous and a great storyteller. Would recommend everyone who wants to learn some (dark) history about Edinburgh. One of the best tours I’ve had so far.
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Davidbz7313tj
Nov 5, 2025
Brilliant - I highly recommend this tour. We had Kieran as our tour guide and he was brilliant, just the right level of horrific, gory detail and the correct historic facts. There were no gimmicks or dressed up character's, it was great.
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Bizza68
Nov 4, 2025
Amazing tour. Tour guide was so engaging - Kieron was so knowledgeable. The history of Edinburgh is very sad in places he definitely knows his stuff. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes
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Monasif93
Nov 3, 2025
Robert is a super cool and amazing guide! - Very interesting and engaging. Our tourguide Robert was very smart and made his stories become alive. It was very cold so it was maybe a bit too long, however, I definitely recommend this tour!!!
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Teapot113
Nov 2, 2025
Brilliant - Brilliant tour with a knowledgeable and polite guide. We learned lots of really interesting history and stories and will definitiely book with these guides again.
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Jimbse
Nov 2, 2025
Edinburgh - Dark History Tour with James - Without doubt the best thing we did in Edinburgh. James knew his stuff with lots of interesting stories and facts, but was also very entertaining. We walked, we listened, we laughed and we all knew much more about Edinburgh by the end of the tour. I searched for a very long time to try and find 'the right' walking tour and we were very pleased with this one.
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From $21
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).