Cheapest hereOne hour
1 hOld Town & Underground Ghost Tour
★ 4.4 · 1,871 reviews
- One hour, through Edinburgh's Old Town
- Tales of Scotland's dark past
- Cheapest here
- Free cancellation
$20$20.00 / hour
Check availability→ The verdict
The best Edinburgh underground tour: one answer for each kind of visitor
Twelve tours, three different undergrounds and a set of listings that all say roughly the same thing. Here is a straight recommendation for each kind of visitor, and the reasoning behind each one, so you can disagree with it usefully.
Quick answer
For a first underground hour in Edinburgh, book the standard vaults tour at $25: 12,500 reviews, genuine 1788 chambers, and the clearest look at them. If you would rather see a preserved street than empty rooms, book Mary King’s Close at $36, which rates highest here at 4.7. For teenagers, the Edinburgh Dungeon at $24 — an attraction, not a historical site.
The short answers
- Best overall
- The vaults tour$25 · 12,500 reviews
- Best to look at
- Mary King's Close$36 · rated 4.7
- Best value
- Old Town + vaults$20 · the cheapest way under
- Best for history
- The historical tour$25 · the 1788 bridge itself
- Best after dark
- The late slot$27 · run harder
- Best atmosphere
- Multi-sensory$34 · sound and smell
- Best for teenagers
- The Dungeon$24 · actors and rides
- Best long version
- Vaults with whisky$39 · two hours
- Best two-in-one
- Vaults + kirkyard$27 · above and below
- Cancellation
- Free to 24 hon every one of them
Book direct
Every Edinburgh underground tour, ranked by price
Twelve tours, cheapest first, with which underground each one enters.
Not a real site80 minutes
80 minThe Edinburgh Dungeon
★ 4.6 · 1,716 reviews
- 80 minutes, through Edinburgh's darkest history
- Live actors
- Theatrical sets and drop ride
- Free cancellation
$24$18.00 / hour
Check availability→ 
After dark75 minutes
75 minEvening Underground Ghost Tour
★ 4.4 · 4,063 reviews
- 75 minutes, beneath the streets of Edinburgh
- True tales of murder and witchcraft
- Visit to Greyfriars Kirkyard
- Free cancellation
$24$19.20 / hour
Check availability→ 
History first1.5 hours
1.5 hOld Town & Underground Historical Tour
★ 4.4 · 2,068 reviews
- 1.5 hours, around Edinburgh’s Royal Mile
- Local published historian
- Literary heroes and criminals
- Free cancellation
$25$16.67 / hour
Check availability→ 
Our top pickMost reviewed
1 hUnderground Vaults Tour
★ 4.5 · 12,500 reviews
- One hour, beneath Edinburgh's Old Town
- Guided walking tour
- Most booked
- Free cancellation
$25$25.00 / hour
Check availability→ 
Vaults + kirkyard1.5 hours
1.5 hHaunted Vaults & Graveyard Tour
★ 4.6 · 7,277 reviews
- 1.5 hours, the haunted sites of Edinburgh
- Greyfriars Kirkyard visited
- Edinburgh Vaults visited
- Free cancellation
$27$18.00 / hour
Check availability→ 
Late slot75 minutes
75 minLate-Night Vaults Terror Tour
★ 4.6 · 4,571 reviews
- 75 minutes, underneath Edinburgh's Royal Mile
- Edinburgh Vaults included
- Stone circle vault and torture exhibition
- Free cancellation
$27$21.60 / hour
Check availability→ 
Late and dark75 minutes
75 minExtreme Paranormal Underground Ghost Tour
★ 4.3 · 885 reviews
- 75 minutes, through Scotland's capital
- Edinburgh's most haunted graveyard
- Period-dressed guide
- Free cancellation
$27$21.60 / hour
Check availability→ 
Sound and smell75 minutes
75 minMulti-Sensory Haunted Underground
★ 4.5 · 2,754 reviews
- 75 minutes, the Blair Street Underground Vaults
- Original ghost tour
- Multi-sensory storytelling
- Free cancellation
$34$27.20 / hour
Check availability→ 
Small groupHands on
75 minSmall-Group Historic Vaults Tour
★ 4.7 · 614 reviews
- 75 minutes, to the Blair Street Underground Vaults
- Exclusive access
- Centuries-old artifacts handled
- Free cancellation
$34$27.20 / hour
Check availability→ 
A street, not a vaultRated 4.7
1 hReal Mary King's Close
★ 4.7 · 4,457 reviews
- One hour, beneath the Royal Mile
- Fully-guided tour
- People lived, worked, and died
- Free cancellation
$36$36.00 / hour
Check availability→ 
With a dram2 hours
2 hVaults Evening Tour with Whisky
★ 4.7 · 2,798 reviews
- Two hours, through Edinburgh's Old Town
- Descent into Blair St Underground Vaults
- Longest tour here
- Free cancellation
$39$19.50 / hour
Check availability→ The reasoning
Why each recommendation, in one line each
If you disagree with a verdict, this is the part to argue with.
- The vaults tour, for a first visit
It carries more reviews than the other nine listings combined, it is an hour rather than ninety minutes of walking, and it puts you in the chambers rather than near them. At $25 it is also not the most expensive.
- Mary King's Close, if you want to see rather than hear
It is the only underground site in the city that still looks like a place people lived. That is why it rates 4.7 and why it costs $36.
- The cheapest tour, if the budget is the constraint
At $20 it is a genuine vaults tour, not a compromise. You get less time and a bigger group, and you go under the same bridge.
- The historical tour, if the structure interests you
Ninety minutes with the 1788 viaduct as the actual subject. The one to book if you find yourself reading about arches rather than about ghosts.
- The late slot, if you came to be unsettled
Same chambers, eleven at night, higher age limit, and pitched deliberately. It is honest about being a performance.
- The Dungeon, only if you know what it is
An attraction with actors and rides on Market Street. Excellent for teenagers, and not a historical site. Booking it by accident is the commonest mistake in this niche.
The one decision that matters more than any ranking is which underground you meant.
The vaults against the close→Every trip, current fare
All ten, priced
Cheapest first, with cost per hour and which underground each one enters.
| Tour | Length | Price | Which underground | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Town & Underground Ghost TourThe cheapest hour under the bridge | 1 h | $20 | The vaults | $20.00 | 4.4 · 1,871 |
| The Edinburgh DungeonAn attraction with actors, not a historical site | 80 min | $24 | None — an attraction | $18.00 | 4.6 · 1,716 |
| Evening Underground Ghost TourThe evening slot in the South Bridge vaults | 75 min | $24 | The vaults | $19.20 | 4.4 · 4,063 |
| Old Town & Underground Historical TourThe bridge and the chambers as the actual subject | 1.5 h | $25 | The vaults | $16.67 | 4.4 · 2,068 |
| Underground Vaults TourThe standard vaults tour, most reviewed in the city | 1 h | $25 | The vaults | $25.00 | 4.5 · 12,500 |
| Haunted Vaults & Graveyard TourA kirkyard and the vaults in one evening | 1.5 h | $27 | The vaults | $18.00 | 4.6 · 7,277 |
| Late-Night Vaults Terror TourThe late slot, run harder | 75 min | $27 | The vaults | $21.60 | 4.6 · 4,571 |
| Extreme Paranormal Underground Ghost TourThe vaults and a kirkyard, played for fright | 75 min | $27 | Vaults + kirkyard | $21.60 | 4.3 · 885 |
| Multi-Sensory Haunted UndergroundThe original Blair Street vaults tour | 75 min | $34 | Blair Street vaults | $27.20 | 4.5 · 2,754 |
| Small-Group Historic Vaults TourThe Blair Street chambers, in a small group | 75 min | $34 | Blair Street vaults | $27.20 | 4.7 · 614 |
| Real Mary King's CloseA street the city built over in 1753 | 1 h | $36 | Mary King's Close | $36.00 | 4.7 · 4,457 |
| Vaults Evening Tour with WhiskyTwo hours, ending with a dram underground | 2 h | $39 | The vaults | $19.50 | 4.7 · 2,798 |
Common questions
Which underground tour is best, answered
What is the best Edinburgh underground tour?
The standard vaults tour at $25 for a first visit — genuine 1788 chambers and 12,500 reviews, more than the other nine listings combined. If you would rather see a preserved street, Mary King’s Close at $36.
Which Edinburgh underground tour has the best reviews?
By score, Mary King’s Close and the two-hour vaults tour with whisky, both at 4.7. By weight of evidence, the standard vaults tour, whose 4.5 rests on 12,500 ratings.
What is the cheapest Edinburgh underground tour?
$20 for an hour that covers the Old Town above and then goes into the vaults. It is a genuine vaults tour rather than a walking tour that passes a doorway.
Should you book more than one underground tour?
Only if the second is a different underground. Two vaults tours from the same operator will show you overlapping rooms. The vaults and then Mary King’s Close, on different days, is the pairing that works.
Is the most expensive underground tour the best?
No. The highest price here is the two-hour tour with a dram at $39, and what the money buys is time rather than better chambers. The most-booked tour costs $25.
Go deeper
More on the Edinburgh underground
The vaults
The Edinburgh vaults
Built in 1788, used for thirty years, abandoned, and dug out again.
The closeReal Mary King's Close
A street built over in 1753 and lived in until 1902.
The bridgeThe South Bridge
Nineteen arches, one of them visible, and 120 chambers inside.
The whole thingThe underground city
What is actually beneath the Old Town, and what is only a story.
Which vaultsBlair Street or Niddry Street
Different chambers under the same bridge, and who runs which.
Side by sideVaults or the close?
The comparison everybody makes, with a straight verdict.
