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Looking for the most frightful Edinburgh ghost tours available all year round? This guide details the best options on foot, visiting the most ghastly dark spots around the city and underground, if you dare! There’s even an option to learn about Edinburgh’s haunting characters by bus, a bus that carried dead bodies nonetheless. So let’s hop aboard the guide to ghost tours in Edinburgh and find out how to book.
Visiting for spooky season? Don’t miss our guide to Edinburgh in autumn, things to do for Hallowe’en and historic hotels.
Edinburgh’s Scariest Ghost Tours
1. The Witchery Tour
One of Edinburgh’s most popular ghost tours is hosted by the award-winning The Cadies & Witchery Tour.
Your tour guide is the deceased Edinburgh Cemetery Director Alexander Clapperton from the 1840s.
As you can probably tell, this ghost walk offers a lighthearted take on the tales of the city.
This Old Town Edinburgh tour covers the topics of torture, the plague, witchcraft and invasion. It also introduces you to some of the best known Edinburgh legends whom we’ve documented here if you want to show off your knowledge!
The 80-minute tour starts at 7 pm and with prices from £13, you must book this online to avoid disappointment.
Included in the price is a copy of the bestselling ‘Witchery Tales’ book, some casual bedtime reading for Edinburgh dark tourism fans!
2. Ghost Walk in Edinburgh
Did you know that Edinburgh was famous for body snatching?
Two famous grave diggers feature heavily in Edinburgh’s dark past and they go by the names of Burke and Hare.
The two Irish men were infamous for creeping into the dark of night and acquiring dead bodies for the likes of the popular Physician Dr Knox.
Some of the bodies were a little too fresh for onlookers liking and eventually the pair were caught out.
You can learn more about Burke and Hare and many other stories during this tour which takes you into an Old Town cemetery!
Meeting point is in front of Frankie & Benny’s, 130 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1QS by Tron Kirk at 6pm but you must book ahead you can’t just turn up.
Look for the guides with red t-shirts and red umbrellas with the local tour operator’s logo. Children under 13 are accepted if accompanied by an adult at no cost.
This tour is not suitable for those with limited mobility or pushchairs.
3. Edinburgh Ghost Tours Underground
Since the original Edinburgh’s walled city was tiny, there was nowhere for the ever increasing population to spread out. The solution? Dig below.
Now only brave souls visit Edinburgh’s underground and they can only do so with a guided South Bridge vaults tour.
This underground tour takes you to Edinburgh’s Vaults at South Bridge.
The Vaults stink of damp and are crowded with stalactites formed by the city’s dregs so don’t open your mouth when you look up!
By candlelight, you’ll hear stories about the spirits that lurk down below so be careful because there are numerous cases of poltergeist activity reported.
We’ve done a few of the underground vaults tours as each tour operator owns their own area and this tour is by far the best one of balancing information, entertainment and scare tactics!
A unique thing about this tour compared to others is that within their vault there is a temple and rock circle created by The Source Coven Of The Blue Dragon.
Meeting point is at the phone box across from the Deacon Brodies pub.
Remember your pre-booked eticket.
Booking online is a must from £14 per person.
For more details, check out our review of this underground vaults tour.
4. Free Ghost Tour in Edinburgh
If you are looking for a free ghost tour, then this one is on every night in Edinburgh and takes you through the dark and gruesome history of Edinburgh.
Meeting at 7 pm at 153 High Street, this 1 and a half hour tour will chill you to your bones. You must book online.
Warning – free tours are never free. It is expected that you pay by tip at the end of the tour.
5. Edinburgh Night Ghost Tours
This is an adults only tour which says it all!
Funny yet frightening, a walk around the Old Town ends in a tour of the South Bridge Vaults and an Old Town cemetery.
Booking online is a must.
Book here from only £18 per person and remember – this is only for the bravest of you!
6. Edinburgh Ghost Bus Tour
This tour is honestly one of the funnest tours in Edinburgh.
Customers alight the midnight black bus on the Royal Mile and take their seat where dead bodies were once stored.
The guide, who has a touch of the theatrics, introduces you to your dubious bus driver who spins you around the city on six wheels.
Hold on to your hats though, funny going-ons are known to take place on this vintage Routemaster bus!
There’s a 10-minute stop at St Cuthbert’s Church with a walk through the city graveyard.
Highly recommended by Everything Edinburgh.
Other Edinburgh Dark Tourism Guides
- Spooky thing to do in Edinburgh
- Edinburgh’s Haunting Legends and Where to Find Them
- Edinburgh in Autumn: Things to Do, See and Eat
- Every Harry Potter location muggles can’t miss
- Bonfire Night in Edinburgh & Story of Guy Fawkes
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