Edinburgh Vaults or Mary King’s Close?
What each one actually is
The vaults are the underside of a piece of civil engineering. When the South Bridge opened in 1788 its 19 arches carried a road just over 1,000 feet long and 31 feet above the ground at its highest point, and the space inside and beneath those arches was built out into roughly 120 rooms for the trades above. Nobody lived in them by design. They were cellars, and they became slum housing only after the damp drove the businesses out.
The Close is the opposite story. It was a street, with houses on it, where people lived ordinary lives at ordinary addresses. When the Royal Exchange went up over the top of it in the 18th century, the upper storeys came off and the lower ones were built into the foundations. The street is still there, under a working council building, which is why it feels like walking a lane with a ceiling on it.
Which one suits you
What works
- The vaults: bare rooms, a guide, and your own imagination doing the work
- The vaults: shorter — one hour underground is a real option
- The Close: reconstructed rooms, set dressing and a curated route
- The Close: a museum experience, if that is what you came for
Worth knowing
- Neither is step-free; both involve stairs and confined passages
- A vaults booking never includes the Close, and no combined ticket exists
- The Close runs its own opening hours; the vaults open only for booked groups
- Doing both in one day is a lot of underground for one afternoon
Is there a buried city under Edinburgh?
Not a city, no, and I would like that particular phrase to die quietly. What is under the Old Town is three separate things that get merged in the retelling: the arch chambers of the South Bridge, the buried lower storeys of Mary King’s Close, and the ordinary cellars every Old Town tenement has because the ground drops away so steeply. Add the Fringe venues in the south-side chambers and you have a lot of occupied basement, which is not the same as a lost city.
Why is Mary King’s Close underground?
Because it was built over, not because it sank. The city needed a grand exchange building on the Royal Mile, the site chosen had a steep close running down it, and rather than level the whole thing the builders truncated the houses and used what was left as foundations. The vaults, by contrast, were never above ground at all — they were made as dark rooms and they stayed dark rooms. That difference is the reason the two places feel nothing alike underfoot.
If you have one underground afternoon and want the difference in miniature: the Close shows you a rebuilt room and tells you who lived in it; the vaults show you an empty room and tell you why nobody could. Book the one whose sentence you prefer.
If you want the history without the theatre
The Blair Street history tour is the closest the vaults get to a museum experience: a small group, audio devices, a short film, interactive models and artefacts recovered from the excavation that you are allowed to hold. It is the one I recommend to people who came for the Close and found it booked out. More in the Blair Street guide and whether the vaults are worth it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the Edinburgh Vaults and Mary King’s Close?
The vaults are storage chambers inside the arches of the South Bridge, built in 1788 and abandoned to damp; the Close is a buried street of 17th-century houses under the City Chambers. Different sites, different operators, separate tickets.
Can you see both the vaults and Mary King’s Close on one tour?
No. The Close is not included in any of the six tours we compare — see all six. If you want both, book them separately and leave a gap.
Which is better for children, the vaults or the Close?
The Close is the more curated experience; among the vault tours the age minimums run from 5 to 18. Which vaults tour suits children sets out each listing’s rule.