Haunted Vaults and Graveyard Tour review
My verdict: two Old Town sites in ninety minutes — Greyfriars Kirkyard above ground and the South Bridge chambers below it. Rated 4.6 from 7,299 ratings. If you are only going to do one dark-history tour in Edinburgh and you want more than a cellar out of it, this is the one with the most ground covered.
The kirkyard half
Greyfriars sits a few minutes south of the Royal Mile, off Candlemaker Row, and it is a working burial ground rather than an attraction, which is part of why it holds up. The tour takes in Greyfriars Bobby, the Gothic mausoleums, the Covenanters’ ground, and the trade Burke and Hare made out of Edinburgh’s anatomy schools. The ground is uneven and it is outdoors, so this is the half of the tour that the weather actually touches. It runs anyway.
The vault half
Then you walk back to the Bridges and go down into the South Bridge chambers on the Niddry Street side — the same rooms as the one-hour Underground Vaults Tour, entered the same way, through a door in a tenement stair, down a spiral staircase, over a step of about two feet. Low light, brick, damp, the same steady cool whatever the season. There are no audio devices and no translations on this one either, and no video recording. The themes are torture, hanging and death, which is why the age minimum is twelve rather than five.
Ninety minutes for two sites is tight but it does not feel rushed, mostly because the walk between them is part of the tour rather than dead time. What you lose is depth: neither half gets the run a dedicated tour would give it.
Usually included
- A live guide across both sites for the full 90 minutes
- Greyfriars Kirkyard, including the Covenanters’ ground and the mausoleums
- Entry to the South Bridge chambers
- The walk between the two, which is guided rather than dead time
Not included
- Audio devices, translations or any language but English
- Video recording
- A museum, a film, artefacts or a drink
- Anyone under twelve, and no under-twos at all
- Step-free access — the stair and the step are both here
What works
- Two genuinely different sites for one booking and one guide
- Greyfriars is worth a guide: without one it is a nice kirkyard and nothing more
- 7,299 ratings at 4.6 is a big, stable sample
- Ninety minutes is a manageable slot in an evening
- Reviewers name their guides constantly — Darren, Diva, Steward, Jordan
Worth knowing
- Twelve and over only, which rules out a lot of family bookings
- No audio devices, and half the tour is outdoors where voices carry off
- Neither half goes as deep as a tour dedicated to it would
- Uneven kirkyard ground plus a spiral stair and a two-foot step
- Body-snatching and hanging are the subject matter, not a footnote
What reviewers say
Jordan was an excellent guide — full of humour, engaging stories, and a tad bit creepy.
Interesting and funny anecdotes, and he even managed to scare us.
Darren was funny and kept the whole group captivated the entire time.
Note what all three are describing: humour first, then the scare. That is the register this operator works in on the graveyard tour, and it is a long way from the Extreme Paranormal tour, which is the same company doing something quite different after dark.
Who it suits
Anyone with teenagers rather than small children. Visitors who want the Burke and Hare story told where it happened rather than read off a plaque. People who have already decided they want a ghost tour and would like some real history welded to it — my longer take on that category is on are Edinburgh ghost tours worth it.
Who should book something else instead
If there is anyone under twelve in your party, this one is closed to you: take the Underground Vaults Tour without the exhibition add-on, which is suggested from five. If it is the vaults themselves you care about and the kirkyard is a bonus you would trade away, the historic small-group tour spends all of its time underground with audio devices and artefacts. And if the outdoor half is the appeal, the Witches and History walk is entirely above ground and rated higher than anything else on this site.
Greyfriars is exposed and Edinburgh weather turns inside an hour. A hood beats an umbrella in the closes, and closed shoes beat anything else on kirkyard ground and a wet spiral stair.
The alternatives
Most bookedEdinburgh: Underground Vaults Tour
History, not ghostsEdinburgh: Multi-Sensory Small-Group Historic Vaults Tour
Adults onlyEdinburgh: Extreme Paranormal Underground Ghost Tour
Frequently asked questions
Does this tour go inside Greyfriars Kirkyard?
Yes — the kirkyard is the first half, taking in Greyfriars Bobby, the mausoleums, the Covenanters’ ground and the Burke and Hare story, before the group walks back to the Bridges for the South Bridge chambers.
Can children go on the vaults and graveyard tour?
The listing sets the minimum at twelve, and under-twos are not permitted at all. For younger children the one-hour Underground Vaults Tour without the exhibition is the usual answer — see tours with children.
Is it the same vaults as the shorter tour?
Yes, the same South Bridge chambers on the Niddry Street side, run by the same operator. The difference is the kirkyard and the extra half hour, not the rooms. The Blair Street vaults are a separate set entirely.