--- title: Edinburgh Darkside Ghost Tour of Mysteries and Murder and Legends lang: en type: tour city: Edinburgh country: United Kingdom price: 28 currency: EUR price_unit: per_person availability: bookable rating: 4.77 reviews: 3933 duration_minutes: 120 languages: [en] free_cancellation: true rank_in_category: 19 of 28 (Ghost Tours & Vaults) schedule_checked: 2026-10-01 data_updated: 2026-10-01 canonical: https://guidekin.com/uk/edinburgh/tours/edinburgh-darkside-ghost-tour-of-mysteries-and-murder-and-legends/ --- # Edinburgh Darkside Ghost Tour of Mysteries and Murder and Legends **Guidekin's take:** Public executions, witch trials and body-snatching shape this storytelling walk through Edinburgh's darker past. A guided walk is included, though the route can vary with the group; steep hills and narrow stairways make it unsuitable for wheelchair users. 4.77 from 3933 reviews at €28 per person for 2h. ## Overview Edinburgh sells itself on castles and tartan by day — but its real character was forged in the dark. This walk goes after the city's grimmer past: the public executions and brutal justice of the Old Town, the underground vaults where the poorest were left to rot, the witch trials fed by royal obsession, and the body snatchers who turned graves into a trade. What sets it apart is that the ghost stories are anchored in documented history, not invented for a scare. Your licensed local guide separates the hauntings from the harsh reality that created them — from the Canongate Tolbooth's torture cells to Burke and Hare's murders — showing why a city shaped by disease, crime and superstition still unsettles everyone who walks its closes after dark. ## Before you book - Meeting point: Your Edinburgh Dark Side Tour starts at… - Starts 18:30, 21:00: 2 departures a day - Children from €22: ages 0 to 13 ## Key facts - Price: from €28 per person - Duration: 2h - Rating: 4.77/5 from 3933 reviews (collected from Guidekin & Viator & Tripadvisor) - Free cancellation (see policy below) - Recommended by 94% of travellers (share of four- and five-star reviews) - Operator: Sandemans Tours ## Tour options Prices are the operator's current list price for two travellers (whole euros); options sold only to bigger parties say so; pick the option on the booking page. | Option | Price | Guide languages | Details | |---|---|---|---| | Halloween Special Tour | €28 / person | English | Halloween Special | | Tour with English guide | €28 / person | English | - | ## What's included - Professional guide ## Not included - Hotel pickup and drop-off - Gratuities ## Itinerary 1. **Edinburgh Old Town** (20m) - Meet your guide at 130 High Street, in the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town, where the medieval city still funnels down the Royal Mile through a warren of narrow closes and hidden courtyards. It's the perfect place to begin a walk into the city's darker past. Your guide sets the... 2. **Royal Mile** (20m) - We make our way along the Royal Mile, the spine of medieval Edinburgh that once ran from the castle down to the palace, lined with the machinery of Scotland's capital — and its justice. Here your guide brings to life a time when punishment was public theatre. Hangings drew... 3. **South Bridge- Edinburgh** (15m) - Beneath the arches of South Bridge lies one of Edinburgh's most notorious secrets. Built in the 1780s to link the Old Town across the valley, the bridge concealed a honeycomb of vaults within its structure — spaces that soon took on a life of their own. Your guide descends... 4. **Old Calton Burial Ground** (10m) - We arrive at Old Calton Cemetery, a hillside burial ground crowded with weathered Victorian monuments and watched over by the towering obelisk of the Political Martyrs' Monument. Your guide walks you among the graves, from the striking mausoleum of philosopher David Hume to... 5. **Calton Hill** (15m) - Climbing Calton Hill, with its monuments and sweeping views over the city, your guide turns to older and stranger beliefs — the folklore, superstition and fear that shaped Scotland for centuries. This is the world of the Scottish witch trials, when thousands were accused of... 6. **Jacob's Ladder** (10m) - We descend Jacob's Ladder, the steep stone staircase that has long connected the Old Town above with the burial ground and streets below — a route with a darker purpose than its biblical name suggests. Your guide explains how this was once part of the road to the dead:... 7. **We stop at the Canongate Tolbooth, its turreted clock jutting out over the st...** (15m) - We stop at the Canongate Tolbooth, its turreted clock jutting out over the street — once a courthouse and prison at the heart of the burgh's justice. Your guide reveals the grim reality behind its handsome façade: the cramped, filthy conditions inside eighteenth-century... 8. **Our walk ends at Canongate Kirkyard, a fitting place to close a tour of Edinb...** (15m) - Our walk ends at Canongate Kirkyard, a fitting place to close a tour of Edinburgh's dark side — for this is body-snatching country. In the early nineteenth century, the city's celebrated medical schools created a desperate demand for cadavers, and where demand ran high, dark... ## Schedule - Runs: daily - Departures: 18:30, 21:00 - Schedule last checked: 2026-10-01 - These are published departures, not a live seat count; availability is confirmed at checkout. ## Cancellation For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time. ## Meeting point Your Edinburgh Dark Side Tour starts at 130 High Street, on the corner with Stevenlaw's Close. Looking at Starbucks? Look right, 130 High Street is two doors up the street. If you hit traffic lights, you went the wrong way. Look for the SANDEMANs Tours team with a SANDEMANs red umbrella. Map: https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJSeQmeYXHh0gRhrXh2GNm2Lc ## Good to know - Service animals allowed - Public transportation options are available nearby - Suitable for all physical fitness levels - Our guides have your best interests in mind; while the tour usually includes the sites & stories mentioned and lasts about 2-2.5 hours, your tour may vary depending on what your guide thinks is best for your group. - We unfortunately do not advise guests in wheelchairs to join the Dark Side Tour, due to the narrow stairways and steep hills. We apologize for any inconvenience or disappointment caused. - Recommended for ages 10 and up. This tour covers murder, witch trials, and body-snatching through storytelling — spooky and atmospheric, but not graphic. Great for older kids and teens who enjoy a scare; parents of younger children may want to ask their guide about content in advance. ## Compared with other Ghost Tours & Vaults | Tour | Price | Duration | Rating | Group | |---|---|---|---|---| | **This tour · #19 of 28** | €28 | 2h | 4.77 (3933) | shared | | [Edinburgh - Dark History](/uk/edinburgh/tours/edinburgh-dark-history/?format=md) | €21 | 2h | 4.96 (914) | shared | | [Haunted Histories walking tour](/uk/edinburgh/tours/haunted-histories-walking-tour/?format=md) | €21 | 1h 30m | 4.98 (211) | shared | | [Edinburgh: Witches & Haunted History Walking Tour](/uk/edinburgh/tours/edinburgh-witches-haunted-history-walking-tour/?format=md) | €21 | 1h 10m | 4.9 (711) | shared | Ranked #19 of 28 in Ghost Tours & Vaults by Guidekin score (rating weighted by review volume). Prices here run from €19 to €113, median €27; typical length 1h 30m. 1 of 28 are private. Figures are live from the tour cards; the rubric is our handpicked set, not the whole market. Full list: https://guidekin.com/uk/edinburgh/ghost-tours-edinburgh/?format=md ## More in Edinburgh - All Edinburgh tours: https://guidekin.com/uk/edinburgh/?format=md - This page as HTML: https://guidekin.com/uk/edinburgh/tours/edinburgh-darkside-ghost-tour-of-mysteries-and-murder-and-legends/ ## Query this catalogue with URLs Every listing accepts filter parameters directly in the URL, so you can hand a user a link that already matches their constraints. Combine freely on https://guidekin.com/uk/edinburgh/: | Group | Parameters | Values | |---|---|---| | Language of the tour | `language` | any ISO 639-1 code an operator lists, e.g. en, es, fr, de, it, pt, ru, uk, tr, hi. 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