The distant sound of a rope pulled tight, the scraping of a foot behind you, a crowd baying for blood in the distance. Explore the dim close and wynds of Old Town Edinburgh and learn of the unsavoury characters who used to occupy these streets.

Experience the eerie and frightening atmosphere of the haunted Blair Street Underground Vaults, which Mercat Tours has exclusive access to. Beware, though, for maybe those whispers you hear aren't just in your head…

It might be something to do with the change in temperature. Or the perpetual darkness. Or the ever smaller rooms, stretching beyond the weak beam of a torch or flicker of candlelight. Whatever the reason, there’s something unsettling about the Blair Street Underground Vaults — and your master Storyteller will reveal the troubling tales on this underground Edinburgh ghost tour. From there, it’s on to the spooky Canongate graveyard, where the spirits of the dead await.

A walk through shadowy closes to the Canongate graveyard will bring you to the resting place of Edinburgh’s most famous figures, many of whom met a tragic and gruesome end. Adam Smith, the father of economics; David Rizzio, confidant of Mary, Queen of Scots; and James Douglas, 3rd Marquess of Queensberry — the infamous cannibal of the Canongate.

On this Edinburgh underground vaults and graveyard ghost tour, you’ll hear countless tales of dastardly deeds and ghostly sightings in the very places where they occurred.