Halloween Post: City of Edinburgh Underground Ghost Tour

If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know that I recently returned from a week away in Scotland. It’ll be a little while before I start on those posts in depth but in honour of the spooky season I’m bringing forward a couple of them. On one of my evenings in Edinburgh I decided to do a ghost/history tour, and this one was the one that came most highly recommended. I didn’t take a huge amount of photos since much of the tour took place in the dark. The tour was lead by John Napier who was dressed in period costume (I can’t remember who he said he was representing now – a scientist of some sort) and he was a very engaging guide. The group was quite large, around 20 or so of us I think and we met here at the tour’s ticket booth.

Our first stop was outside St Giles Cathedral (more about that later) with a fairly gruesome tale of an execution that took place there – hanged, drawn and quartered was the least of their problems. We then moved on to Greyfriars Kirkyard and what was the Covenanters’ Prison. In 1679 over 1,000 supporters of the National Covenant (an agreement many people in Scotland signed against proposed reforms to the Church of Scotland) were held here without shelter and barely enough food to survive. Many died horrible deaths and now that part of the kirkyard has a locked gate to restrict visitors as many reported receiving scratches and other injuries from the tormented souls unable to rest in peace.

Then it was down underneath Edinburgh to a section of a seventeenth century close that is now under South Bridge. It was here that people lived and had children and grew old and it really is incredible to think about. Whole generations barely seeing the light of day.

One particularly harrowing tale was when we were in one part of the tunnels where orphaned children during the plague had been locked away supposedly to keep them safe. Of course, as we know now rat infested tunnels are the least safe place you can imagine and the children died, locked away without being able to get out for help. Supposedly the children’s spirits reach out and take people’s hands, presumably looking for the comfort they didn’t find in life. Heartbreaking stuff.

The tour was very well done, not too scary or sensationalist and all (mostly) concentrated on historical facts and it was interesting to get to see places you wouldn’t ordinarily be able to visit without a guide. The tour cost £17 and lasts around 75 minutes though ours actually ended up being a bit longer than that. You do have to keep a sharp eye out though – Edinburgh is crowded at the best of times and as you start off on the Royal Mile dodging through crowds while keeping an eye on the fast walking guide can be quite tricky! You can book this or other tours at their website here.