Edinburgh is not an ordinary city. It’s a place where past and present intertwine, coexist, and alternate, living in balance between day and night, when dark alleys, cemeteries, epidemics, underground environments, and legends shrouded in mystery and reality re-emerge from the folds of time. It’s a suspended place, where the past still seems to breathe within the city walls.
Precisely for this reason, one of the most evocative ways to explore Edinburgh is to set out at dusk to immerse yourself in its Gothic and ghostly side.
The two parts of Edinburgh
Edinburgh is ideally divided into two parts. On one side is the Old Town, the city’s medieval historic core with the Castle, the Royal Mile, St. Giles’ Cathedral, and Victoria Street. Historic houses could reach 10-14 stories, an exceptional feat for the time. But they weren’t modern palaces: they were narrow, stacked buildings, with people of very different social classes.
The medieval city was therefore dense and vertical.
On the other hand, there was the New Town. Built in the 18th century to solve the medieval city’s overcrowding problems, it has Georgian streets and squares. Between these two areas lies Princes Street, one of the city’s main thoroughfares, while to the north lie the neighborhoods of Stockbridge and Dean Village. The itinerary we suggest starts at Edinburgh Castle and ends at the traditional Pub The World’s End.
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is built atop Castle Rock, the remains of an ancient extinct volcano. The volcanic rocks in the area are approximately 340 million years old. Over the centuries, it has served as a royal residence and a prison. You can visit the interiors, including the royal apartments, the Great Hall, St. Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest building in Edinburgh, the rooms housing the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish Crown Jewels. At dusk, just explore Castle Esplanade, the ramparts, views of the Old Town, and the streets leading down to the Royal Mile.
Royal Mile
The Royal Mile connects Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse and is the Old Town’s main street. Here you’ll find medieval buildings, ancient taverns, historic churches, and hidden courtyards. On the Royal Mile stands the Witches’ Well, a small monument dedicated to those accused of witchcraft. It’s easy to miss: it’s embedded in the wall of a building.
A typical feature of the Royal Mile are the numerous closes. Narrow alleys that open between the buildings and lead to courtyards, secret passages, and glimpses. Edinburgh was built along the slope of the High Street, and these alleys arose along the sides. They were so named because they were once equipped with gates that were locked to protect residents from thieves and vagrants. Look for Advocate’s Close, Lady Stair’s Close, and Fleshmarket Close. You’ll be transported back in time! Imagine that a few centuries ago the city had very little lighting, crowded streets, and anything could happen in these alleys.
The Real Mary King’s Close
An ancient alleyway from medieval Edinburgh that has remained intact. Entering Mary King’s Close, you descend beneath the modern buildings of the Royal Mile (just below the City Hall). Mary King was a respected widowed merchant who lived in Edinburgh in the first half of the 17th century and owned several shops in this area. It is said that during the height of the plague, the city council decided to wall up Mary King’s Close, trapping around 500 people, both sick and healthy, to contain the disease. Annie is one of the most well-known ghosts in Mary King’s Close, linked to a particular room. Some psychics claim she didn’t live in Mary King’s Close, but was here when the city guards arrived in 1645 and trapped everyone inside. Annie is said to still cry over the loss of a doll, so over the years many visitors have left dolls and other toys here to stop her crying. Aiko Gibo, one of Japan’s most famous mediums, tells a different story: Annie, at just five years old, was abandoned by her family because she had the plague, and no one wanted to get sick.
Guided tours are organized during which costumed tour guides lead visitors through 17th-century underground chambers, recounting true stories of crimes, murders, the plague, and other aspects of the city’s past, such as the story of Deacon Brodie, businessman by day, gang leader, and thief by night, whose double life is said to have inspired The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
South Bridge
After Mary King’s Close, head towards South Bridge. The South Bridge Vaults are narrow, damp rooms built under the bridge. During their early years, they housed taverns, shops, and goods. But when the bridge began to leak due to inadequate waterproofing, the businesses moved elsewhere, and the vaults were inhabited by the poor, criminals, and body smugglers, only to be walled up and forgotten. They were brought back to light in 1985.
Guided tours are available, each with a unique focus, dedicated to ghosts or the social history of the era.
Greyfriars Kirkyard
A must for a ghostly itinerary! Located just steps from the Royal Mile and the Grassmarket, is considered one of the most haunted cemeteries in the world since the 16th century. It is a beautiful cemetery, characterized by the presence of “mortsafes,” large iron grates planted in the ground, used to protect corpses from body snatchers, at least until decomposition rendered them unusable for study.
The name “Greyfriars” derives from the monastic order of the Franciscans, the “Grey Friars,” who lived here until the mid-16th century. When the community was disbanded, the cemetery was established on this site, as the one at Saint Giles’ Cathedral was now saturated.
Greyfriars is associated with the story of the Mackenzie Poltergeist, one of Edinburgh’s most famous paranormal legends.
Sir George “the Bloody” Mackenzie was a prominent 17th-century political figure linked to the persecution of the Covenanters, the Scottish Protestants who rebelled after the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in 1679. He ordered thousands of rebels imprisoned in the cemetery itself, leaving them to die of starvation, hunger, and disease in inhumane conditions. Legend has it that after his death, his mausoleum became the site of paranormal phenomena.
The most beloved grave is that of Greyfriars Bobby, a faithful Skye Terrier who stood vigil over his master’s grave for 14 years. This saved him from the fate common to deceased pets, who were put down. Bobby was made a citizen of Edinburgh and today rests in the cemetery beside his master. Visitors always leave stuffed animals and sticks on his grave! Furthermore, during her time in Edinburgh, J.K. Rowling frequented Greyfriars Kirkyard. Some names on the graves have become famous because they resemble Harry Potter characters, including Thomas Riddell and William McGonagall.
Burke & Hare
From Greyfriars, head toward the university area. This is where one of Edinburgh’s most famous crime stories comes into play, William Burke and William Hare. In 18th- and 19th-century Edinburgh, medicine was very advanced for the time, but there was a huge problem: cadavers were needed for dissections. This gave rise to the infamous body snatchers. Between 1827 and 1829, William Burke and William Hare killed at least 16 people to sell their bodies to an anatomist who used them for medical research.
Burke’s method was particularly horrific: he suffocated his victims by compressing their chests, thus avoiding visible signs of violence. Eventually, they were discovered. Hare cooperated with the authorities, and Burke was publicly hanged in January 1829.
His body was handed over to anatomists, and his skeleton is still preserved in Edinburgh. After the execution, his body was dissected in front of an audience of doctors and students. Even today, the University of Edinburgh’s Anatomy Museum preserves some artifacts associated with Burke. One of these is a portion of his skin used to make a small wallet.
Canongate Kirkyard
In the 12th century, Canongate was a separate burgh with its own parliament and laws. The street’s name derives from the canons of Holyrood Abbey, who once owned land in the area. It is the oldest section of the Old Town. Here you’ll find Canongate Kirk: the historic church built between 1688 and 1690, known for its antler façade. Canongate Kirkyard is the cemetery adjacent to the church, where important historical figures, including economist Adam Smith, are buried.
Historic pubs like The World’s End are perfect for concluding this tour with a taste of Edinburgh! The name comes from the walled city’s location: for those who lived within the walls, that spot literally represented the “end of the world.” And if you’re still not satisfied with the ghosts, you can take the Edinburgh Ghost Bus Tour! It’s a roughly hour-long evening tour dedicated to the Scottish capital’s most macabre stories! The vehicle? A black double-decker bus, decorated in a funereal/Gothic style, that travels through the Old Town and New Town, stopping at some of the sites linked to the city’s dark legends.
Ready to discover the dark side of this fascinating city?