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
(8192 Ratings)
5 stars
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1 star
Christi_f
Oct 29, 2025
Best for large groups needing an intro to the Vaults - James was a great tour guide! Knew his history and was very friendly. Just know that this is a large group tour and best for needing only an intro to the Vaults. The tour is not designed to take time to answer questions (which is fine, just know that in advance). James stuck to the script and did not ask if we had questions. When I did ask a question, he said he would cover that later in the tour (he didn't). Still rating a 5 star, just know what you're getting into.
Review provided by Viator
Jackiesa952rb
Oct 29, 2025
Great experience - Lisa was a great guide and kept us entertained the whole time! The stories varied in context and really gave us a great history of the town
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Travelmazing
Oct 28, 2025
Historical Vault Experience - This was a really interesting tour, and a unique experience to get to walk inside and see the vaults under the bridge. The focus of this tour wasn't too much on blood and guts and torture and ghosts, which I personally liked. It touched on those elements a little bit, but was more about the history of why the vaults were built, why they were abandoned, and what happened after that when desperate people moved in. Very glad I did this tour while in Edinburgh!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Taylor_n
Oct 28, 2025
Splendid and Spooky - This was a fun, slightly spooky tour. Our tour guide, Darren was so knowledgable, funny and interactive. Definitely would recommend.
Review provided by Viator
Carol
Oct 28, 2025
Interesting and informative - Good story telling. Interesting to see the conditions in which people survived while trying to imagine the sounds and smells. Louisa was a super guide. Very friendly and helpful and alert to tourists needs.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
B7500tlandr_d
Oct 28, 2025
The best experience in edinburgh - My guide was JAMES. He was a fantastic dude, always very honest, very communicative. Loved his energy and motivation to explain us his passion. The whole experience was so nice!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Q6945smalexa
Oct 27, 2025
Amazing Edinburgh Vaults tour ! - Our guide Louisa was amazing, knowledgeable and made every thing so exciting, dramatic, informative and interesting - will recommend to friends and family - well done and thank you!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Flyer823484
Oct 27, 2025
Amazing historical tour! - Our guide was james and he was so knowledgeable and accommodating. I wanted to book a tour but was worried that it would be more made up stories rather than history, luckily I chose the right tour! Mixing history with the true tales and what have happened within the vaults was so interesting. Thankyou for letting me hold the torch! Thankyou so much, I highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tfa1913
Oct 27, 2025
Unfortunately not alot bangs for your bucks - In my honest opinion I would have expected more for the money I paid for this experience. We unfortunately had to rebook due to staffing issues, luckily the rebooking went swiftly through mail contact, we could use our previous tickets. Due to this our group was pretty big (maybe the groups are already big for this tour but unsure) we were a group of 32 people. We were collected buy our guide Diva, who was very funny but not very understandable in some situations during the tour, due to English not being her first language we presumed, so she had a little bit of a accent. After a short walk to the kirkyard some stories were told in some places like mackenzies grave which were very interesting but as I said sometimes hard to understand. After the kirkyard we went to the vaults which I was pretty excited to see, for it being one of the most haunted places in the UK. We were lead to a room with some interesting artifacts from the old times used for punishments, which was nice to see. Then proceeded to the vaults, due to us having a pretty big group it wasn't necessarily scary and it kind of took away the factor. We saw a room where witches once performed their craft and walked through a little part of the vaults, went into a room with the infamous stone circle and a pitch black room. (And that was it, all with a explanation and a small jumpscare). For the price we paid we would have expected to go furter into the vaults but that unfortunately was not the case. Overall it was interesting but not for the price we paid per person.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gillian_w
Oct 27, 2025
More style over substance - It was a bit boring to be honest the guide was very nice & enthusiastic but we all came out of it feeling like we there wasn’t a whole lot of content & a bit hard done by with the price.
Review provided by Viator
From $29
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).