Underground Vaults Evening Ghost Tour with Whisky review
My verdict: the most generous two hours of the six. A small group, the Blair Street chambers, audio devices so you can actually hear, a museum and a short film, and a drink taken by candlelight in a cellar. Rated 4.7 from 2,798 ratings, and the reviewers almost always name their guide.
What the two hours cover
You gather at the Mercat Cross, the stone shaft beside St Giles’ Cathedral, roughly halfway along the Royal Mile. The first stretch is a walk through the Old Town closes with the guide talking, which is the part people forget when they picture two hours underground — a fair chunk of the tour happens at street level before you go down. Then Blair Street: a spiral stair, and chambers that belong to a different operator from the South Bridge ones, with their own small museum and their own excavation finds.
The underground section is where this listing earns its length. There is a short film called Vaults Revealed, the museum, and then the cellar the operator calls Megget’s Cellar, where you are handed a whisky, a beer or a Scottish soft drink and left to sit with it by candlelight while the storytelling carries on. The audio devices matter more than they sound: a stone room swallows a human voice, and this is the difference between catching every word from the back and catching half of them.
What is included
Usually included
- A Master Storyteller guide for the full two hours
- A walking section through the Old Town before you go down
- Exclusive access to the Blair Street chambers
- A complimentary whisky, beer or Scottish soft drink by candlelight
- Audio devices, so the guide is audible underground
- The Vaults Museum, the Vaults Revealed film and the Sounds of Edinburgh playlist
Not included
- Food of any kind
- Transport or hotel pickup
- Step-free access — there is a spiral staircase
- The South Bridge chambers, which are a separate operator’s rooms
- Anyone under five, and pets other than assistance dogs
What works
- Audio devices solve the single biggest problem with underground tours
- The drink is a real one, taken sitting down in a cellar, not a token at the door
- Small group guaranteed on the listing, which shows in the reviews
- The museum and film give the empty rooms some context to hang on
- 4.7 across 2,798 ratings, the second-largest sample of the six
Worth knowing
- Two hours is the longest of the six, and part of it is walking above ground
- An evening tour, so it does not slot into a busy afternoon
- If you do not drink, one of the headline inclusions is wasted on you
- Blair Street, not the Niddry Street chambers some people have specifically read about
- Still a spiral stair, so still not an option for wheelchair users
What reviewers say
The guide names recur here more than on any other listing of the six — Ash comes up again and again.
Our guide Ash was such a wonderful storyteller… the way she made the stories come to life was amazing.
A storyteller who shared stories that curated sympathy for life in old Edinburgh.
The underground vaults were very spooky. Loved it.
Bo’s phrasing is the one that tells you what kind of tour this is. The people who lived down here after the trades left had no daylight, no water and no sanitation, and a guide who makes you feel that rather than jump is doing the harder job.
Who it suits
Couples and pairs of friends with a free evening who would rather do one good thing than three quick ones. Anyone who has been put off underground tours by not being able to hear. People who want atmosphere without a guide leaping out of a doorway — the split between the two is what the night tours page is about. It also works well as the only tour you do, because the walking section covers a good deal of Old Town ground before you go down.
Book something else if
You want the same chambers, the same museum and the same artefacts in less time and without the drink: that is the historic small-group tour, 75 minutes, same operator, same staircase, and it is the better use of a daytime slot. If you only have an hour, take the Underground Vaults Tour instead. And if the whole appeal was the drink, be honest with yourself about that before you book a two-hour walking tour around it.
Wear something with sleeves whatever the month. The chambers hold the same cool, damp temperature in July as in January, and you will be sitting still with a drink for part of it. More on that on what to wear.
Compare it against
History, not ghostsEdinburgh: Multi-Sensory Small-Group Historic Vaults Tour
Most bookedEdinburgh: Underground Vaults Tour
Vaults + kirkyardEdinburgh: Haunted Underground Vaults and Graveyard Tour
Frequently asked questions
Do you actually get a whisky on this tour?
Yes — a whisky, a beer or a Scottish soft drink, included in the booking and served by candlelight in the cellar the operator calls Megget’s Cellar. Food is not included. The minimum age on the listing is five, so a soft drink is the option for younger guests.
Which vaults does the whisky tour go into?
The Blair Street vaults, which are a separate set of chambers from the South Bridge ones and held by a different operator. Blair Street is where the museum, the film and the audio devices are.
Is two hours all underground?
No. The tour starts with a walking section through the Old Town before it goes down, so the underground stretch is shorter than the total. The breakdown for all six is on how long the tour takes.