Ghost town

When you’re done with fine views and fresh cocktails, there’s a dingier, creepier, side to Edinburgh that must be explored. Just underneath the bustling Old Town lie warrens of underground streets and relics; a dark reminder of the living conditions in Edinburgh’s past. Tour guides jump out all along the Royal Mile by day, frantically signing up as many tourists as possible to their late night shows, and excited rabbles of ghost spotters glide along at. I sampled The Real Mary King’s Close Tour, which involved a wander around one of Edinburgh’s oldest, and most notorious, closes with a costumed character relaying tales about the plague and indulging me with ghost stories. The close itself has been admirably retained, and is the closest thing you’ll get to Edinburgh as it was in the 1630s. This tour is more historical in focus than some of the other orchestrated ‘ghost walks’ on offer, but if, like me, you think that real history is stranger than a man walking round with a white sheet over his head, then you’ll get a real buzz as the drama of the historical close is unravelled to you by candlelight.