The Dark Side of Edinburgh

The Dark Side of Edinburgh is a walking tour through Edinburgh Old Town on Wednesday 18 November, and it's one of those nights that works best when the early winter dark has properly set in. The whole thing is built around the city's grimmer side—crime, punishment, and the notorious figures who left their mark on the streets. It's not just ghost stories, though; the tales are rooted in real history, and you'll be walking the same ground where the events actually happened.

The route starts on the Royal Mile, where public punishment was once a common sight, and then takes you beneath the arches of South Bridge into the vaulted chambers that used to house the city's poorest and some illegal whisky stills—the legendary 'Mr Boots' is one of the names that comes up down there. From there, the tour climbs Calton Hill to bring in the Scottish witch trials, and Old Calton Cemetery, opened in 1718, where you'll find headstones carved with skulls and hourglasses. Jacob's Ladder, the steep stairway cut right into the hillside, and the Canongate Tolbooth—a courthouse and prison built in 1591—are also on the way.

The walk ends at Canongate Kirkyard, where the guide tells the story of the West Port murders of 1828. Two men killed sixteen people to sell their bodies to an anatomy school, a scandal that eventually forced through the Anatomy Act of 1832. It's a grim bit of local history that fits the whole mood of the evening.

Practical details: the tour starts at 18:30 from 130 High Street on the Royal Mile, on the corner with Stevenlaw's Close (EH1 1QS), and runs for about two to two and a half hours. Tickets start from £39 per person, with a child rate for ages 6 to 13. It's not suitable for wheelchair users or people with mobility impairments, and it's recommended for ages 10 and up.