When we were in Scotland in August/September we went on various tours in Edinburgh that were really cool. Hints at bottom after links.
The first was with
Mercat Tours....we did the Haunted Underground Experience. You'll see it on the linked site. This was by far our favourite. I emailed them from Australia before we left to ask about the various tours, and it depends on what experiences you'd like to have.
**You
ARE allowed to take as many photos as you like, on this tour, down in the haunted vaults, and the guide takes along
EMF meters to hand out for people to try....in areas where activity is known to take place.
Link:
http://www.mercattours.com/home.aspAuld Reekie Tours offers much the same as Mercat, except its a bit more flambouyant, with tour guides dresses up in scarey outfits. This wasn't quite for us, as we were more into the 'real deal', rather than pantomime and special effects. I don't know whether they allow photos, but you can email and ask them.
Link:
http://www.auldreekietours.com/Mary Kings Close Tour was fun. I won't waffle about it, as you can see for yourself on the link below, with pics etc. They call themselves 'The Real' Mary Kings Close, because ( as one might expect) a few others have set up shop and are conning people with fake tours.
You
ARE NOT allowed to take photos. I found this tour was a bit less interesting, and a bit more parrot fashion from the guide. The stories were interesting enough, but I would recomment the Mercat Tours one, in preference if you only have time to do one tour.
Link:
http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/All of these tours leave from around the High Street area. You walk up The Mound, which is probably one of the easiest places to find in Edinburgh. The High Street is the main street that runs up to the entrance to Edinburgh Castle.
Auld Reekie and Mercat Tours meet at designated spots in the High Street. Mary Kings tours meets at their office in Warriston's Close, which is just off the High Street.
HINTS:**Plenty of cafes and eateries up in the High Street, so its fun to have dinner beforehand, then go on the tour.
**Go as late as you can at night, because it doesn't get dark in Scotland until much later than here.....and its much more fun to go on their tours at night, in the dark....
**Its not as cold underground as above (all the tours go down below the city streets to the haunted underground areas). Be sure you take some water, and have a jacket you can remove.
**If you plan to go there in August, during the Summer Festival, when the Tattoo is on at the Castle, please note that this is a busy (and fantastic!) time of the year for Edinburgh, so I found it was best to book our tour with Mercat, online, before we left Australia. We waited until we were there, to book the Mary Kings Close tour, and almost missed out because we had to wait a couple of days to get a place on a tour.
**The Haunted Underground Vaults of Edinburgh are not for the faint hearted. There is much paranormal activity down there, as recorded on numerous TV shows, new shows, doco's etc. Paranormal teams have spend nights down there and have recorded some very good evidentiary material. I believe you can book to stay down there overnight (sometimes) if that takes your fancy, but you'd need to enquire about that yourself from the tour companies.
Aside from these tours, there are many haunted castles and castle ruins in Scotland. We visited Stirling Castle, Hermitage Castle, Tantallon Castle, Craigmillar, and others....and of course Edinburgh Castle. Much fun, many great photos. The internet is the best source of info about any of these places. There is a site devoted to 'haunted Scotland'.
Bon Voyage!
