Edinburgh Vaults or Mary King's Close? Which Underground Tour to Book
Updated October 13, 2026 · 5 min read
For history, book the Real Mary King’s Close guided tour at €33.74. For atmosphere and ghost stories, book the Underground Vaults tour at €28.42. They are not two versions of the same thing, and the names are easy to mix up.
Two different places
Mary King’s Close is a former street, the Close, that lies beneath the City Chambers on the Royal Mile. It was a residential street, with people living and working there, and it is now run as a historical attraction. It is a place in its own right, completely separate from the vaults, and the listing describes it as a historic street rather than a ghost tour. The tour is about what ordinary life in the 17th century looked like: €33.74, one hour, rated 4.7 from 4,547 reviews.
The vaults are stone-arched chambers built beneath the South Bridge in 1788. They were commercial workshops and storage, then they quickly fell into squalor and acquired a reputation for poverty and crime. Different companies run tours in the South Bridge and Blair Street vaults, so two vault tours can show you different spaces. The best-known vault tour here is the plain Underground Vaults tour: €28.42, one hour, rated 4.6 from 12,642 reviews.
The tours compared
| Tour | Price | Length | Rating | Reviews | Character |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Mary King’s Close Guided Tour | €33.74 | 1 h | 4.7 | 4,547 | History of a real street |
| Underground Vaults Tour | €28.42 | 1 h | 4.6 | 12,642 | Murders, witches, supposedly haunted |
| Evening Underground Ghost Tour | €22.50 | 75 min | 4.4 | 4,322 | Vaults, Greyfriars Kirkyard, side alleys |
| Haunted Underground Vaults and Graveyard Tour | €30.78 | 1.5 h | 4.6 | 7,465 | Vaults plus Greyfriars Kirkyard |
| Late-Night Underground Vaults Terror Tour | €30.78 | 75 min | 4.6 | 4,700 | Late, with a stone circle vault and torture exhibition |
| Multi-Sensory Haunted Underground Tour | €31.97 | 75 min | 4.5 | 2,761 | Blair Street Vaults, small group |
| Comedy Horror Ghost Bus Tour | €24.86 | 75 min | 4.5 | 4,820 | Vintage double-decker bus, above ground |
How to choose
You are curious how people lived: Mary King’s Close. It is the better visit for a quiet, informed hour, and the rating is the highest in the table.
You want a spooky evening: a vaults tour. The plain one-hour tour is the safest pick, with the largest review base here. The Late-Night Terror tour is the one to choose if you want a darker mood, a stone circle vault and a torture exhibition, at the same €30.78 as the Graveyard tour.
You want a ghost tour but not a cellar: the Ghost Bus. The comedy tour is on a vintage double-decker and runs above ground. It leans towards entertainment over fear.
You want vaults and a graveyard in one outing: the Haunted Vaults and Graveyard tour. At 1.5 hours it is the longest of the vault tours here and includes Greyfriars Kirkyard.
What to know before you go
- Underground tours usually involve stairs and uneven ground. Ask the operator about access if mobility is a concern.
- “Terror” and “paranormal” tours are written to scare. Check the booking page for age guidance before bringing children.
- Not in English? There are ghost tours in Italian (2 hours, €20.13, rated 4.5 from 2,277 reviews) and in Spanish (2 hours at €20.13, or 75 minutes at €22.50).
- Nobody can promise a ghost. All of these are storytelling tours, and none of them can guarantee that anything happens.
Our recommendation
For the largest number of visitors, the Underground Vaults tour is the most-reviewed option, at a mid-range price. Add the Real Mary King’s Close if you have time for a second hour underground and want the history side. For the whole range, see Edinburgh ghost tours. If you are also planning the castle the same day, compare the castle tickets and guided tours.
