Historic Vaults Tour

General information

Destination	Category
Edinburgh, United Kingdom	Sightseeing Tours

Program details

The Underground Vaults were created in the late 18th Century, and have been opened to the public since 1996. The labyrinth of corridors and chambers, you will visit, remains unchanged from two hundred years ago. Visit this unique attraction and capture a very special moment in the evolution of this city.

The Edinburgh Vaults are a series of chambers built into the nineteen arches of the South Bridge of Edinburgh. Initially used to house taverns, cobblers and such they ended up being abandoned because of the humidity and poor air quality. The poorest people moved in but eventually even they left and the vaults become inaccessible for more than a century until the 1990s.

Reports of paranormal activity and ghost sightings have been frequent and have resulted in the vaults being featured in several TV shows like Most Haunted, Ghost Adventures and others. In 2009, a BBC TV production team, during an overnight sleepover, recorded unexplained voices in the vaults. The recorded voices lasted some 20 minutes and one voice sounded like a Catholic priest reciting the Last Rites. The voices stopped abruptly after what sounded like the voice of children yelling.



Meeting/ pick-up point: Mercat Cross, the large eight-sided monument on the High Street, just downhill from St Giles Cathedral.
Duration: one hour and 15 minutes.
Start/opening time:2pm and 4pm.
Languages: English.