The whole picture
The Edinburgh underground city: what is really down there
There is a version of this city that lives in guidebooks and forum posts: a buried town of streets and squares under the Royal Mile, sealed up and abandoned. The reality is narrower, stranger and considerably better documented. There are two underground sites of any size, they exist for two completely different reasons, and neither of them is a lost city.
Quick answer
Edinburgh’s underground is two things, not one. The Edinburgh Vaults are around 120 chambers built inside the arches of the South Bridge in 1788 and abandoned to damp within thirty years. Mary King’s Close is a street built over in 1753 when the Royal Exchange went up, and lived in until 1902. There is no continuous buried city and no network of tunnels linking them — they sit at opposite ends of the Royal Mile.
The underground city, at a glance
- Underground sites of any size
- Twothe vaults, and Mary King’s Close
- The vaults
- 1788inside the arches of the South Bridge
- The close
- 1753built over when the Royal Exchange went up
- Are they connected?
- Noopposite ends of the Royal Mile
- A tunnel network?
- Nothat part is folklore
- Why the Old Town goes down
- A ridgethe ground falls away on both sides
- Tenement heights
- Up to 14 storeyswhich is why lower floors became "underground"
- The Edinburgh Dungeon
- An attractionon Market Street, not a historical site
- Cheapest way to see any of it
- $20one hour in the vaults
- Both sites need a tour
- Yesneither is publicly accessible
The geography
Why does Edinburgh have an underground at all?
Two building projects, thirty-five years apart, and two very different results.
Because of the shape of the ground, and then because of two building projects.
The Old Town runs along a ridge that falls away steeply on both sides. Everything built on it in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries had to deal with that slope, and the way it dealt with it was height: tenements that presented four storeys to the High Street and ten or more to the valley below. A room that was a ground floor from one side was five floors up from the other.
That is the background condition. What actually created the two underground sites was construction. In 1753 the Royal Exchange was built on the north side of the High Street, and rather than clear the closes standing there, the builders took the tops off the tenements and used the lower floors as foundations. A street survived under a floor. That is Mary King’s Close.
In 1788 the South Bridge was completed across the Cowgate valley, and the spaces inside its nineteen arches were walled off and let as commercial premises. Those are the vaults.
Neither was ever intended to be underground. One was a street that got built over; the other was the inside of a bridge that got buried in buildings. The difference between those two accidents is the difference between the two tours.
What is not true
Five things said about underground Edinburgh that are not so
All five circulate widely, and knowing them makes it easier to judge a guide.
- There is no buried city
No streets and squares surviving intact under the Old Town. There is one built-over close and one set of bridge chambers, and a great deal of ordinary cellarage in between.
- There is no tunnel network
The vaults and Mary King’s Close are not connected, and there is no system of passages running under the Royal Mile. They are at opposite ends of it.
- Mary King’s Close was not sealed with people inside
It was partly demolished for a building project in 1753 and lived in until 1902. The sealed-up version is folklore.
- The vaults were not built as dwellings
They were commercial space: storage, workshops, taverns. What happened in them after the trades left is poorly documented, which is exactly why so much has been invented about it.
- The Edinburgh Dungeon is not part of it
It is a themed attraction on Market Street with actors and rides. Enjoyable, well made, and not an underground historical site at all.
The two real sites are genuinely worth an hour each, and they are completely different experiences.
Which of the two to book→Every trip, current fare
Every tour of underground Edinburgh
Twelve tours, cheapest first, with the one column that matters: which underground each one actually 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
The Edinburgh underground, answered
Is there really an underground city in Edinburgh?
Not in the sense of a buried town. There are two significant underground sites: the vaults inside the South Bridge, built in 1788, and Mary King’s Close, a street built over in 1753. They are not connected and there is no tunnel network between them.
Are the Edinburgh vaults and Mary King’s Close connected?
No. They sit at opposite ends of the Royal Mile, they were created thirty-five years apart and for entirely different reasons, and no passage links them.
Why is part of Edinburgh underground?
The Old Town sits on a ridge with steep drops on both sides, so buildings were very tall on the downhill side. Two construction projects — the Royal Exchange in 1753 and the South Bridge in 1788 — then buried a street and a set of bridge chambers respectively.
Can you visit the Edinburgh underground on your own?
No. Both sites are private property and both require a guided tour. Tours start at $20 and all of them begin on or beside the Royal Mile.
How much of Edinburgh is underground?
Less than the stories suggest and more than a visitor expects. Beyond the two toured sites there is a great deal of ordinary cellarage under the Old Town, most of it in use as storage and bars, and none of it a lost city.
Go deeper
More on the Edinburgh underground
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.
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.
Vaults toursEvery vaults tour compared
Seven tours into the same chambers, and what separates them.
