There’s a lot to do while in Edinburgh. There’s shopping and castles and gardens and tours of pretty much everywhere, but if there’s one place you absolutely have to do a tour of, it’s The Real Mary King’s Close Tour.
Back when Edinburgh fit into a one square mile area in the 16th and 17th Centuries, there used to be hundreds of narrow streets called a Close leading off the Royal Mile. When the old parliament building was constructed, they just built on top, using the many closes below seemingly as foundations for the construction above.
The Read Mary King’s Close Tour takes you under the current city and into the the old streets beneath the Royal Mile.
If you ever watched the TV show or read the books Horrible Histories as a kid, you’re bound to find this tour absolutely fascinating. There are stories about the plague, murder, sewage and the upper/lower classes and how they were all crammed into the tiny areas known as a Close. Closes were generally also named after prominent people at the time, which you learn more about on the tour.
Our guide Andrew was in character and absolutely fantastic. He made many jokes along the way and was super knowledgeable.
They warn you at the beginning about claustrophobia or ask if you’re scared of the dark but none of the spaces are tight and the ceilings have all been heightened due to the building above so if you were worried, it doesn’t feel like a very enclosed space. Every effort seemed to have been made on this tour for historical accuracy and it was a very enjoyable and fascinating experience.
Would definitely recommend!
For more, check out their website here!
Aaah I did this a couple years ago and LOVED it!!
So jealous, I miss Scotland so much. Did you get there by plane or train?
I got SUCH shivers of amazement when I first got there just seeing the castle up on the hill and the little cobbled streets. Was like being inside a Harry Potter book xD
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It was so awesome! We flew in from Geneva last Saturday and did a road trip from Edinburgh, to Oban, to Mull (Tobermory), to Fort William, to Inverness, to Aberdeen and back to Edinburgh from Sunday to Wednesday. The castle looks incredible, hoping to get up there today! The tour was also epic (as you could probably tell from my blog!). Definitely Harry Potter-esque!
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Dear god – you covered a lot of ground 😀 haha That’s awesome! Any chance you’ll have time for Glasgow as well? Either way, make sure you have some scotch before you leave :]
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It was a long few days, that’s for sure! Unfortunately not on this trip but hopefully I’ll get back to Scotland sometime this year! We sampled some whiskey in Tobermory (still not a fan, but I’m sure to a whiskey drinker it’s great) 🙂
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Oh tbh I don’t like it either that much. We went on a jameson tour in Dublin last year, and I was selected with 3 others to try some in front of a group of like 30 who all obviously wished they’d been picked. haha felt so guilty considering it turned out to be a tasting of like bad taste, to even worst xD But ya know, when in Rome ^^
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Bahaha When in Rome, exactly! I tried Guinness in Dublin last year and it was surprisingly way better than expected!
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Aaah, got your Guinness pouring certificate I hope? 😀
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