I'm quite interested in ghosts and the supernatural so being up in Edinburgh means I can indulge this interest just a little. Although I've been to Edinburgh a few times before I never managed to convince my travelling companions to come with me to do anything a bit spooky so I'm afraid my husband is going to have to do these things with me instead!
Well as a result of my interest we didn't waste anytime in doing something suitably spooky, signing up for a walking ghost tour on my first visit after my husband moved up from Kent, joining a City of Edinburgh tour. They have several different tours to choose from (all the details are on their website) and as you'd expect you can book online, by phone or in person at their old police box located on the Royal Mile. We booked ourselves on the 8.45pm tour known as the Double Underground tour. The different tours are at different times and as I mentioned with different themes. We didn't exactly know what our tour entailed but it sounded fun and fitted with our plans for the evening. We assumed that maybe there was a clue in the name and that some of it would be underground too.
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| Not actually part of the tour but I spotted this rather dilapidated looking bike outside one of the venues |
We weren't wrong with the thought that our tour may include an underground element to it, or the city's fascinating vaults, in fact it was predominantly just that. So if you don't like enclosed, dark spaces I wouldn't recommend this tour to you (I guess you probably wouldn't be going on a ghost tour if this were the case though) but otherwise it was great fun! The dark underground vaults with their uneven damp floors and a few belongings of those who'd used that space before only made the atmosphere all the more spooky. The places we were taken too simply aren't accessible ordinarily to you and I making them tantalising spots to visit and explore if you have the chance.
I won't spoil the tour or tell you any of the specifics of what we heard, if you want to find out, go for yourself. I will say though that there were lots of gruesome snippets from Edinburgh's colourful past, things that will make me think every time I go to those particular parts of the city from now on and some fascinating details shared by our tour guide. The history and details were interesting enough to make me go away and want to read some more about some of the things that we were told. It wasn't all scary stuff though there were plenty of parts of the evening that lightened the mood and made the tour not only informative but hugely entertaining and lots of fun. Our tour guide, dressed for the part, really knew his stuff and kept all of us engaged and interested in what we were being told.
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| Spotted in one of the underground venues (it's not real or a ghost in case you were wondering) |
As I mentioned the tour is a walking tour and although a lot of ours was inside you do need to go prepared for whatever the Scottish weather may throw at you! Of course that also includes wearing sensible shoes both for the uneven floors of the venues you are visiting as well as for the walking in-between. Don't forget too that Edinburgh is quite a vertical city, though none of the walking we did was that difficult. However don't panic the walking is also minimal, we only walked relatively short distances before we stopped at a venue for another interesting tale.
I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and now I really want to go on some of the others that they offer as well. Hint, hint hubby!
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