City Of The Dead Tours

Tourist attraction · Lauriston ·

City Of The Dead Tours

Tourist attraction · Lauriston ·

Exclusive access to haunted vaults & graveyards with humor

Information

Bobby's Bothy, 26 Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh EH1 2QE, United Kingdom Get directions

@nomadicmatt

6,682 Postcards · 1,172 Cities

The Best Ghost Tours in Edinburgh (Updated 2025)

"One of the most chilling tours I did took me through the underground vaults with City of the Dead: the vaults were used as storage space and workshops in the 1780s, abandoned in 1795, and later became slums and a red-light district full of brothels and pubs; moving through the vaults in the dark creates an atmosphere of unease, and I think exploring the vaults is probably the best of all the ghost tours in the city. Tickets start at 17 GBP." - Matthew Kepnes

https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/best-ghost-tours-edinburgh/

City Of The Dead Tours

@nomadicmatt

6,682 Postcards · 1,172 Cities

The Best Walking Tours in Edinburgh (Updated 2025)

"I find City of the Dead ideal if you want to be genuinely creeped out: they run several tours through the underground vaults and are the only company with access to the ominously named Black Mausoleum and Covenanter’s Prison, two of the city's most haunted spots. These locations are favorites of the Mackenzie Poltergeist, which has hundreds of supposed encounters, and City of the Dead is one of my favorite tours in the city. Prices start at 19 GBP." - Matthew Kepnes

https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/best-walking-tours-edinburgh/

City Of The Dead Tours

millie H.

Google

me and my boyfriend booked this tour while visiting edinburgh and it did not disappoint! the lady we had as our guide was so very good and really allowed everyone to be involved. whether you believe in ghosts or not it’s a really fun way to learn about some of the history of the city. we did the tour at night time in the pouring rain and it really added to the experience! thank you so much we had the best time!!

Tracey W.

Google

We did the City of the Dead tour in Edinburgh on Sunday evening and from start to finish it was brilliant. Ben our guide was very animated, knowledgeable & enthusiastic! I highly recommend the tour which included the hidden streets and the graveyard at Greyfriars!

George J.

Google

We recently did the double dead tour! It was absolutely fantastic! Our tour guide was Fiona who was funny, informative and an overall excellent tour guide, we felt privileged to have her especially! It’s one of the best tours I’ve ever been on. I am open minded when it comes to ghosts, so I throughly enjoyed seeing the spooky side of Edinburgh along with its rich history. Please the see picture below which I believe I captured a spirit! (I could not see it in person). Highly recommend this tour to everyone and our tour guide Fiona!

Jon M.

Google

VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE Sarah knew her stuff and gave good information not just about the vaults and graveyard, but also the area in general with a lot of background info. Enjoyed the tour. It felt very haunting even without the poltergeist. The Yorkshire man in the Tshirt. :)

Peter S.

Google

A great tour of two very creepy and richly historic sites in Edinburgh's old town. We took the Double Dead tour thst included he South Bridge Vaults and the Covenanters Prison. Our tour guide Sarah was so warm and friendly and her performance was the perfect blend of hilarious and spooky. This tour is the only way to get access to the Black Mausoleum inside the locked section of Greyfriars Kirkyard and it's really worth going - especially when you hear the gruesome tales associated with it. Not just the ghost stories, but the bloody history too.

elliot J.

Google

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING experience. I seem to be a magnet to these typically tourist-y kind of walking tours, having done quite a few over the years in various cities. This is, by far, the best one I have ever done. By far. Our guide, Sarah, was incredible. I took the Double Dead tour and throughout the 2 hours she perfectly blended history, comedy, and spookiness. 👻 She clearly knew everything inside and out, even adding in lots of her own experiences and wisdom that helped make this a great and thoroughly entertaining tour. I could listen to her talk for hours! She even showed us her favourite tombstone in Greyfriars at the end (and explained the meaning behind the carvings). Did I see any full-bodied apparitions? No. Did I experience uneasy feelings and uneasiness? Yes. Particularly in the south bridge vaults. Having exclusive access to the locked part of Greyfriars should be a reason to book with City of The Dead anyways, but the knowledge and care that the tour was assembled with should also convince you. HIGHLY recommend if you're in Edinburgh. Bonus picture of a face(?) I may have captured in the south bridge vaults. Or it could just be the cobblestones. Who knows.

J W

Google

Had a great tour with Désirée in November. We went on the ‘Underground’ tour. Having done quite a few tours in Edinburgh, I’d say this was the best - the stories were great, the guide was attentive and the parts of the tour within the vaults themselves were exceotional (stuff outside was good too but similar to other tours) AND there was some ‘unexplainable activity!’. Désirée herself was friendly, helpful and attentive and really created a great atmosphere. Also had some good jokes! The tour went over stories I hadn’t heard and there was definitely a few things that happened to us in the vaults themselves - people feeling dizzy, odd sounds, and doors opening by themselves! Would definitely recommend.

Amedeo van L.

Google

We booked the "Double dead" tour and had a great time! It was fun to learn more about the vaults in Edinburgh and what went on in there. The second part at the graveyard might even be more interesting. Before joining we felt that we had seen alot of the city centre and might not be worth the tour.. but we were so wrong! Saw places we would never even had gotten to. Our guide Ben really had some interesting stories, good sense of humour and gave an interactive tour. We were with 25people but felt like a personal tour almost. Good pub recommendations from him as well to end the night in pleasant horror vibes!