Underground or vaults tour
The Real Mary King's Close
A one-hour guided tour of 17th-century streets buried beneath Edinburgh's Royal Mile.
- 60 min
- 2 Warriston's Close, Royal Mile, EH1 1PG
Haunted pub in Edinburgh
The Tolbooth Tavern
A Royal Mile pub in part of the old Canongate Tolbooth, once a toll house, court and prison. Drinks are said to fly off tables and children's voices to be heard in the bar.
ReportedRepeated accounts, but without names or detail
The ghosts
- A man held prisoner on a charge of witchcraft, said to climb the stairs to the clock tower
- A shadowy figure blamed for pushing glasses off tables and knocking down pictures
- Children's voices and footsteps in the bar
History
The Canongate Tolbooth was built in 1591 to collect tolls from travellers entering the burgh, and later served as council chamber, court and jail. The front became a tavern in 1820; the back, built as housing around 1750, joined the pub later.
Visiting
- Address
- 167 Canongate, EH8 8BN
- Food
- Food served daily from noon
- Children
- Not confirmed yet: check with the pub
- Dogs
- Well-behaved dogs welcome in the bar
Details last checked 24 October 2026. Check opening times on the pub’s website.
Ghost tours nearby
Tours starting within a short walk of the pub.
An evening ghost walk through the closes and wynds of Edinburgh's Old Town.
- usually Advocates Close, 361 High Street, opposite St Giles' Cathedral (it can vary)
Underground or vaults tour
Edinburgh vaults ghost tour
A one-hour ghost tour into the vaults beneath Edinburgh's South Bridge.
- 60 min
- 300 Lawnmarket, by the tourist information booth and red telephone box, opposite Deacon Brodie's Tavern
Haunted hotels nearby
More haunted pubs in Edinburgh
Reported
The Banshee Labyrinth
A rock bar built into the South Bridge vaults that calls itself Scotland's most haunted pub. It is named after a scream builders heard in the empty vaults while renovating them.
- 29-35 Niddry Street
- Food
Reported
The White Hart Inn
One of Edinburgh's oldest inns, linked by tradition to the murderers Burke and Hare, with a long reputation for a shadowy figure heading for the cellar.
- 32-34 Grassmarket
- Food
Reported
The Last Drop
A Grassmarket pub named after the public hangings held nearby. Staff say it is haunted by a young girl who lived in the tenement that once stood here.
- 74-78 Grassmarket
- Food