Edinburgh Darkside Ghost Tour

The Darkside Ghost Tour is one of the best-known ghost walks in Edinburgh, and it earns its reputation by leaning on good storytelling rather than cheap tricks. It is a guided walking tour of the Old Town built around mysteries, murder and legend, and it brings out the city's grimmer past: the executions, grave robbers, plague stories and unsolved crimes that give the closes and kirkyards their atmosphere. A tour like this works because Edinburgh is already so well suited to it. The Old Town is a maze of narrow wynds, steep steps and blackened stone, and the street plan has barely changed since the days when families crowded into tenements ten storeys high. A good guide moves you through that landscape slowly, pausing at doorways and corners where something happened and letting the story do the work. Expect a mix of verified history and local legend, with enough humour to keep it from being relentless, and an emphasis on the human stories behind the ghost stories. It is a popular activity for adults, groups of friends and teenagers, and a more storytelling-driven alternative to the theatrical dungeon attractions. As with any ghost walk, the line between fact and folklore is blurry, so treat it as entertainment first and a history lecture second.

Tours of this kind generally run in the evening or after dark, when the Old Town is at its best, but timings vary by season, so check the current schedule when you book. The group moves on foot through closes, kirkyards and lanes, with stops of a few minutes at each location. Because most of the route is outdoors, the weather matters: bring a waterproof and wear shoes that cope with wet cobbles.

Some routes include steps, slopes and uneven ground, so ask about access beforehand if you need it. The stories can be graphic, with murder, disease and execution all on the menu, so this is not a tour for young children.

What sets Edinburgh apart from other ghost-walk cities is how much of it can be verified. The city's reputation for resurrectionists and body-snatchers, the trial and execution stories attached to the Grassmarket and the Mile, and the history of the plague all have documentary roots, and guides tend to know the difference between a documented case and a good rumour.

That mix is what makes a ghost walk in Edinburgh feel substantial rather than silly. If you want to deepen the experience, combine it with a daytime visit to Greyfriars Kirkyard or St Giles' Cathedral, so that you have seen the places in daylight before you meet them in the dark.

A sensible plan is to do the tour on your first or second evening, when you are still getting your bearings in the Old Town. Eat first, because the walk is long enough to make you hungry, and finish in a Grassmarket or Cowgate pub for a nightcap. In August, around Halloween and at Hogmanay the streets are busy and tours sell out, so book early.

If you would rather be underground than outside, compare it with the vault and close tours; if you want comedy rather than horror, look at the Mountebank walk. Whichever you choose, a ghost tour is one of the most characteristic things to do in Edinburgh after dark.