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Small Group Edinburgh Underground Vaults Historical Walk
4.7
1,100 Ratings
Edinburgh
Explore Edinburgh’s hidden history on a 5-star small group tour of the Blair Street Underground Vaults. Discover secrets beneath the South Bridge.
Duration:
1 hour, 15 minutes
Cancellation:
1 day
learn more
Highlights
- Mercat Tours - Get exclusive access to the city’s oldest, deepest Blair Street Underground Vaults.
Discover secrets & stories of Edinburgh’s underworld.
See and touch 19th century artefacts.
Visit our Discovery Room with 3D model & display.
- Mercat Cross - Tour meeting point.
- Royal Mile - Explore the closes and understand the buildings of the historic Old Town of Edinburgh, before descending into the Blair Street Underground Vaults
- Edinburgh Old Town - See the sites of the Old Town as you walk towards the Blair Street Underground Vaults
What's Included
- Small group experience
- Exclusive access to Blair Street Underground Vaults
- Award-winning local storytellers
- TourTalk radio receiver for immersive storytelling
Additional Information
Small, personal 5 star group tour with a maximum of 18 people.
Descend into the unique Blair Street Underground Vaults of Old Edinburgh.
Far below the busy, bustling Edinburgh streets there lies a dark, quiet and forgotten place. These wonderful dark rooms of arched ceilings, fireplaces and 18th century wine vaults lie beneath the South Bridge, one of the city’s main thoroughfares. What happened in these extraordinary vaulted chambers, who lived here, where, when and why? See and learn more…
- Children over 5yrs only
- Tours are guaranteed all year round, so please dress for the weather, with comfortable shoes.
Location
Mercat Cross
High Street
Mercat Cross, High St, Edinburgh EH1 1RF. Look for the 8 sided monument with white Unicorn on top. You will find a member of our visitor services team waiting here to check you in. They will be dressed in black, holding an iPad, wearing an orange lanyard & holding a black & orange umbrella.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.7
(1100 Ratings)
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Chr4680fa
Aug 3, 2024
Excellent Experience - Very impressed with the whole tour.
Informative and entertaining throughout.
Marie our guide was brilliant.
Would highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
W6303ilbrandonp
Aug 2, 2024
Definitely do the historical tour! A+ city center activity. Not too long and not too short. - The historical version of this tour is 100% worth it. Great and short walk down a bit of the Royal Mile with some key historical context and then down into the vaults for the rest which was fascinating.
Our tour guide Veni was SPECTACULAR -- so knowledgeable and joyful and interactive.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
U2054kytomm
Aug 1, 2024
A very enjoyable experience! - Did the Edinburgh Ghostly Underground tour run by MercatTours with our guide Linda.
The tour was made very informative and enjoyable through the knowledge and wittiness of Linda.
Her ability to keep everyone engaged with her deep knowledge and delivery made it a great tour.
She was very approachable and encouraged questions.
The staff at the end of tour Center were were helpful and friendly also.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nancyh289
Jul 31, 2024
Veni was an excellent tour guide - Veni was an excellent tour guide. Friendly and very informative. The passages and rooms underground could make people with claustrophobia feel uncomfortable but Veni was very reassuring. A good tour of the vaults.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dandooner
Jul 31, 2024
Hidden past - Interesting past of the city was explained to us. Veni did a great job explaining this hidden past. If u visit Edinburg, you want to fo this tour. It is worth it
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Luke
Jul 30, 2024
A great little tour - This tour was absolutely fantastic. I have sadly forgotten the name of the gentleman who guided us, but he was brilliant! A very knowledgeable, engaging and entertaining tour guide like him makes all the difference. Our tour was 2pm, 29th July.
The tour itself was fascinating and not too strenuous or lengthy. A good experience and a great way to get some insight on the city’s history.
Thanks guys ✌️
Review provided by Tripadvisor
O2233sojanicef
Jul 29, 2024
Excellent tour guide Joe - The best part of the tour was Joe our tour guide. I thought he was an actor because his presentation was awesome. However he is a history student. The vaults were kind of dark and creepy but Joe made history come alive, he was the best guide on my trip.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Joellef4
Jul 23, 2024
Wonderful experience ! - Veni was very knowledgeable about the historic vaults below the city! This is my third time using Mercat Tours and it has been a fun and fascinating experience each time!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Helen_s
Jul 23, 2024
Taken back in time! - The tour was brought to life by Joe who’s commentary made you feel as though you were being taken back a hundred years or more and were actually experiencing life in the vaults. The best experience in Edinburgh for me.
Review provided by Viator
Faraway795572
Aug 1, 2024
Interesting, but not academic. - We chose the history tour because we are not interested in theatrics and wanted facts about the vaults. The tour was interesting. Our guide was sincere. We were underwhelmed by the information. We saw about 4 spaces in the vaults, but the tour was 1.5 hours long. The guide used a lot of filler to drag it out, but skipped over key information about the vaults.
We would have liked a tour that was heavier on facts/info or was much shorter.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
