• Visit authentic 18th century vaults beneath the South Bridge
  
• Find out why they were created
  
• See the unaltered conditions in which real people lived and worked
  
• Learn the origin of the Scottish ‘midden’
• Discover links with the city’s notorious Bodysnatchers
  

…If walls could talk, these are the stories they would tell!

A great bridge is built on 19 stone archways spanning a deep valley to the south of the Royal Mile. Under these archways there lies a dark, quiet, forgotten place, a catacomb of vaulted chambers, where trades, first legal and then illegal, flourished.

The underground vaults were created in the late 18th century, abandoned by the 1830s and only opened again to the public in 1994. The labyrinths of corridors and chambers you visit have remained unchanged for over two hundred years. Our guides will tell you stories of the people who inhabited these dark rooms and you will have the opportunity to visit our Interpretation Centre and see, touch and feel the artefacts that were discovered when the Vaults were excavated in the late 20thc. This unique attraction captures a very special moment in the evolution of Edinburgh.

TOUR DAY

2PM Daily all year long