2 nights · 2 haunted hotels
Edinburgh has a ghost story on almost every close of the Old Town, and much of it lies underground: buried streets, sealed vaults and a graveyard with its own poltergeist. This trip spends the first night in the Old Town itself and the second in a 13th-century castle half an hour south of the city.
Numbered stops in visiting order for each day, ending at that night’s hotel (☾). Lines are straight, not walking routes; use the directions links for the real route.
Scare level
Who it suits
Evidence
Day 1
Castlehill and the Royal Mile
Start at the top of the Royal Mile, where the castle looms over the place the city burned its witches, then go beneath the street to a close that was sealed over in the 18th century.
Edinburgh Castle
The fortress on its volcanic rock is said to be haunted by a headless drummer and a piper who vanished exploring tunnels beneath the Royal Mile. Book a timed ticket in advance.
↓ About 5 min walk to The Witches' Well (estimate)
The Witches' Well
A small cast-iron fountain at the castle end of the esplanade marks Castlehill, where hundreds of people accused of witchcraft were burned at the stake between the 16th and 18th centuries. The Witchery is a few steps away.
↓ About 5 min walk to The Real Mary King's Close (estimate)
The Real Mary King's Close
Seventeenth-century streets buried when the Royal Exchange, now the City Chambers, was built over them from 1753. In one small room visitors leave dolls and toys for "Annie", the ghost of a little girl a visiting Japanese psychic said she sensed there in the 1990s. The one-hour tour starts at 2 Warriston's Close.
↓ About 2 min walk to Dark Secrets of the Old Town Ghost Walking Tour (estimate)
Dark Secrets of the Old Town Ghost Walking Tour
An evening ghost walk through the closes and wynds of the Old Town. It usually meets at Advocates Close, 361 High Street, opposite St Giles' Cathedral, but the meeting point can vary, so check your booking. It's a short walk back up the Royal Mile to the Witchery.
Popular slots sell out, especially in October.
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Candlelit gothic suites in a 16th-century house at the castle gates, named after the witches burned on Castlehill outside.
Alternative
The Scotsman HotelThe former Scotsman newspaper offices on North Bridge, where a printer in a blue apron haunts the basement. Check-in from 15:00 (photo ID and card needed); park at APCOA Waverley with a discount validated at check-out.
Day 2
Greyfriars, the South Bridge vaults and Dalhousie
Spend the morning among the Old Town's dead, go underground into the vaults, then drive half an hour south for a night in a medieval castle.
Greyfriars Kirkyard
Home of Greyfriars Bobby and of the Covenanters' Prison, where prisoners were held in the open after 1679. Since the late 1990s visitors have reported scratches, bruises and fainting near the tomb of Sir George Mackenzie, the persecutor of the Covenanters, blamed on the "Mackenzie poltergeist". The prison is locked and can only be visited on a guided tour.
↓ About 5 min walk to Edinburgh vaults ghost tour (estimate)
Edinburgh vaults ghost tour
A one-hour tour into the vaults beneath the South Bridge, built in the 1780s and later home to the city's poorest. It meets at 300 Lawnmarket, by the tourist information booth and red telephone box, opposite Deacon Brodie's Tavern. Choose a daytime slot so you can reach Dalhousie by evening.
↓ About 15.6 km: drive, or take public transport or a taxi to Dalhousies Castle Hotel and Spa (estimate)
Dinner in the castle
Drive about 30 minutes south to Dalhousie Castle, check in and dine in the castle's vaulted dungeon, where the Grey Lady is said to walk.
Popular slots sell out, especially in October.
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Guests experienced furniture moving on its own with a large wooden chair relocating approximately one metre while they were at dinner (with visible carpet indentations from its original position), a young child seeing strange cloud shapes in the corner of the room at 4am, and feeling the pressure of invisible footsteps walking across the bed at 5:30am with accompanying sleep paralysis.
A 13th-century castle where Lady Catherine, the Grey Lady, is said to roam the turrets and dungeon, and Sir Alexander Ramsay, starved to death in 1342, is said to walk the halls.
Only one night
Do day 1: the castle, the Witches' Well, the Real Mary King's Close and the Dark Secrets ghost walk, with a night at the Witchery.
Want to build your own route? Browse every haunted hotel in the area or see more itineraries.
Last reviewed 18 October 2026. Walking times are estimates from the map; tour times, check-in times and parking are shown only once checked. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.