Free Ghost Tour Edinburgh
About our free ghost tour of Edinburgh
Every night from the Royal Mile. An hour and a half through spooky closes, haunted graveyards and the crimes that made Edinburgh one of the most haunted cities in Europe. Pay what you think it was worth.
Edinburgh's dark side included body snatching, public executions, gruesome jails and tortures. Come to the FREE Ghost Tour and hear ghostly tales and sinister stories that will transport you back to the terrifying past of old Edinburgh as we walk spooky shadows and haunted alleyways.
Edinburgh is known as one of the most haunted cities in Europe, with a past of murders, witchcraft and plague. Its wynds and closes have witnessed the two sides of the city: beauty and horror.
Edinburgh's dark side also included body snatching, public executions, gruesome jails and tortures.
Come to the FREE 1.5 hour Ghost Tour and hear ghostly tales and sinister stories that will transport you back to the terrifying past of old Edinburgh as we walk spooky shadows and haunted alleyways.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Departures every night. Check exact times in the calendar. Book to secure your place.
Language: English
Prefer Spanish? See the Free Tour de Fantasmas.
Meeting point: 154 High Street
In front of The Copper Still on the Royal Mile. Open in Google Maps.
Pay what you like
Booking is free. At the end, you decide how much to give your guide, in cash or by card.
Look for the yellow umbrellas!
Ghost tour route through the Old Town
The Royal Mile
We start on the Old Town’s main street, by the yellow umbrellas.
Edinburgh’s darkest closes
Narrow, gloomy alleys where Europe’s most crowded city once lived.
Deacon Brodie
Respectable citizen by day, burglar by night: the man behind Jekyll and Hyde.
The witch trials
Castlehill, where hundreds accused of witchcraft were executed.
Plague and disease
The epidemics that swept the city and the legends left beneath its streets.
Grassmarket: crime and punishment
Public hangings and the city’s cruellest punishments.
Burke and Hare
The West Port murderers who sold bodies to the medical school.
Greyfriars Kirkyard
Body snatchers, mortsafes and Scotland’s most haunted graveyard.
The route may vary slightly from day to day.
Haunted places in Edinburgh
Edinburgh is known as one of the most haunted cities in Europe. These are some of the places with the most ghost stories:
- Greyfriars Kirkyard: home of the Mackenzie Poltergeist, said to haunt the tomb of George “Bloody” Mackenzie.
- Mary King’s Close: 17th-century streets buried beneath the City Chambers, linked to tales of the plague.
- The South Bridge Vaults: chambers under the bridge where the city’s poorest once lived and worked.
- Castlehill: below the Castle, where hundreds of people accused of witchcraft were executed. The Witches’ Well remembers them today.
- Grassmarket: scene of public hangings and of Maggie Dickson, who survived her own hanging in 1724.
- Edinburgh Castle: with legends such as the piper who vanished in the tunnels beneath the Royal Mile.
On the tour you will hear the true stories behind many of these legends. For more of the city’s historic burial grounds, see our guide to Edinburgh’s churches and graveyards.
Free ghost tour Edinburgh: good to know
Booking confirmation
Your confirmation email or a screenshot on your phone is all you need.
Card payments
You can tip your guide in cash or by card. Our guides carry their own card reader.
Groups
Groups of up to 12 people can join our free tours. If you are more, please book a Private Ghost Tour.
School groups
School groups of any size should book a private tour.
Reduced mobility
Let us know in advance and we will adapt the route so it is accessible, without changing the essence of the tour.
Pushchairs
There are a few steps and some uneven paving, but the tour can be done with a pushchair.
Minimum group size
Tours need a minimum of 6 people, children included, to go ahead.
Weather
Tours run come rain, snow or shine. Please dress for the weather.
Children
Children are very welcome as long as they are accompanied by an adult.
Dogs
Well-behaved dogs are welcome on a lead.
What our guests say about the Free Ghost Tour
City Explorers has a 5.0 rating on Google from 27,002 reviews. Here is a selection of real reviews, updated every week. Tap any review to read it in full.
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We attended a Ghost tour with Rory on our weekend in Edinburgh. He made the tour exceptionally educating and was a natural born story teller. I would highly recommend booking on if you have the time!
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Rory was an amazing your guide! Very proud of Scotland as he should be, he knew the city well and shared some incredible ghost stories and spooky history. He told his stories with pazzaz and charm and humour. Very great touri recommend🍁🌬️
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Dan was our guide during this Ghost Tour. We had an amazing time, he is an excellent storyteller with a pinch of humour, time flew by! Highly recommend!
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We had a fantastic time on the Free Ghost Walking Tour in Edinburgh! 👻 The tour was really interesting, entertaining and full of spooky stories. Cobin was a great guide. Friendly, funny and very engaging. Definitely recommend it if you want to experience Edinburgh from a different side! 😊
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Our Ghost Tour was great tonight! Cobin told the history of Edinburgh with such enthusiasm and he definitely got the crowd going when he needed to. His storytelling kept me engaged throughout all the different stops and he even managed to keep his cool when huge trucks kept driving up towards the castle and he had to stop talking until we could actually hear him! Thankfully, the weather stayed dry too, which definitely makes a difference with an outdoor tour. A really enjoyable evening and a great way to hear some of Edinburgh’s ghoulish history!
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The ghost tour with Cobin was very truly fascinating. His stories and humor were greatly appreciated. I highly recommend this activity to discover another side of Edinburgh.
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We had a great tour. It was very interesting and fun to hear about the ghost stories of Edinburgh. Cobin was an amazing guide and it was an overall great experience.
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Had a great time on the Ghost tour with my wife! Rory is a wonderful story teller and was very personable. I really enjoyed learning about the history of Edinburgh. Ghost tours are very fun and my wife and I have done a few before in various parts of the world. Rory’s tie to the real history and his own connections made the tour stand out so much. I will remember this tour forever. Definitely will recommend this to people. Hope they get lucky to get Rory!
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Booked a private tour with a group of 20+ people and absolutely loved it! Cobin was very knowledgeable and extremely funny. Had a great time learning about the history and ghost stories of Edinburgh.
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Cobin was funny, informative, and very knowledgeable about the local history & ghost stories in the city. I highly recommend this tour & him as a tour guide!
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The ghost tour was great. Rory specially has been the best tour guide, with great knowledge of the place and his storytelling is just awesome!!
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sjoukje was amazing. she is an amazing story teller and i genuinely learnt so much. it was also scary but i liked that part a lot.
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My husband and I really enjoyed the nighttime Ghost Tour. We had Emma as our tour guide and she was awesome. We really liked that she based her stories on historical facts. She was also very personable while we walked to the different spots chatting with people on the tour.
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We took yesterday’s ghost tour with cobin , our guide was actually the best , he shared very interesting stories and facts in a really good way !!!
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My partner and I attended the ghost tour in Edinburgh with Cobin. He was an excellent guide, very friendly, funny and knowledgeable. We learnt a lot from Cobin and if our stay was longer we would’ve joined his day time tour too. I would highly recommend! ☺️
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Sarah was an amazing spooky tour guide! It was so interesting to discover Edinburgh through her lens and all the stories that fill the city We definitely recommend
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The ghost tour with Rory was awesome! He just got the right level between lightness and serious topics and told the ghost stories based on historic background. Thanks again!
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Our tour guide was Graeme. He was fantastic. A fabulous story teller, entertainer and reet canny fella. A scotsman with many storys to tell. I wasnt sure what to expect, as I am not really a one for ghost stories anymore, but it was really interesting to hear stories and tales of the people and streets of Edinburgh back in the day. Really recommend this for anyone who's interested in some gory history of the Scottish capital.
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Cobin has excellent knowledge of Edinburgh and its ghost stories, he made the tour informative, fun and spooky. Would recommend if you want to learn more about Edinburghs darker past
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SJ was an incredible tour guide. I felt and visualised all the stories due to her amazing way of storytelling. Truly recommend the ghost tour.
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I had a lovely group walking tour while I was solo travelling through Edinburgh. Our guide SJ was extremely informative, very friendly with a great sense of humour! She showed us all the spooky bits and told ghosts stories! Right up my street and I enjoyed every last bit, thanks so much
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We did out Ghost-Tour with Rory. We hat a very good time and enjoyed the Tour! Rory had great knowlage about the topic and was happy to answer every Question. He was also very funny!
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Our tour guide Rory was the absolute best! such an amazing storyteller and what we loved most about his tour, was that he had a deep understanding of the stories and tales he told. he did not simply recite stories about edinburgh and the spooky ghosts, but instead also touched bits on psychology and human nature whilst doing it, which was particularly captivating. His knowledge in history was way too extensive to be covered in only 90 minutes, we hope to see him soon! greetings from kosovo! philipp and rreze 🤗
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Thanks for our amazing ghost tour guide Rory, who is a great storyteller, and loved to share those dark and evil tales of the city. We really had a great time. If you would like to know more about the dark side of the city, this is the one for you.
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Stuart was a great guide. Very good with local history. Also SJ does a brilliant job with the ghost tour! Very enthusiastic guide! Really nice!
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We did the ghost tour and we were lucky enough to get Sjoukje as our guide. Funny and educational (and quite creepy), which is all I want in a walking tour. 10/10 would recommend.
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Rory was an excellent guide for our Edinburgh ghost tour. From the way he told all the stories you can tell he is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the subject matter. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone interested in the darker parts of a city's history.
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We had a lovely tour from Rory who was very passionate to tell us about the history of Edinburgh. He pulled the entire group in to learn about some scary stories including the witch trials or Greyfriars Kirkyard - with a perfect balance of storytelling and humour.
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Sjoukie guided us throught the night ghost tour. It was very scary and she is fabulous! Entertaining, funny, dramatic, all in one guide! Totally recommend it!
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Great historical ghost tour by Grim! We walked through the Royal Mile and learned about the last hanging in Edinburgh, witches trials and ended the tour in a cemetery.
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Selected real reviews from Google · Updated 20 October 2026