Mercat Tours — Attraction in City of Edinburgh

We did two tours with Mercat.

One was the Small Group Ghostly Underground Tours and the other was the Small Group Royal Mile + Edinburgh Castle. They were very different and we liked each one.

The Small Group Ghostly Underground Tour was lead by Ross, who was very animated and did a fun job of bringing some spooky ghost stories of Edinburgh to life. This tour was about an hour long. You learn a bit about what life was like in Edinburgh in the 1600-1800s, visit two locations on the street and get to see some underground vaults as well. These are supposedly haunted. We didn't experience much, our tour guide's flashlight went out and my 'tour talker' device acted up down in the vaults. So, a little creepy, but I never really felt scared or unsafe. It was a fun time!

The other tour which was the Royal Mile and Edinburgh castle was much more educational. Scott was our guide for this tour and it was about two hours long and we went to several more locations along the Royal Mile as well as getting to go into Edinburgh castle and learn about some history all along the way. We even got to see a location where they filmed some scenes from Outlander and I got to learn the origin of some famous stories like A Christmas Carol and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Both tours and guides were great and you can tell the guides are really passionate about the history and their city. One really cool thing that they did was have each of us have a little receiver unit on a lanyard with headphones and the guides have the microphone, so even if you're standing in the back or the street is really busy, I could hear every word of the tour, which was awesome! I would absolutely recommend a tour from this company if you're...

I did a History Tour of the vaults as it was recommended by a cousin’s partner. What I didn’t realise was it was directly outside my hotel window (Ibis South Bridge) and it was where another family member was disgusted by her partner when he abandoned her mid-tour. They took part in a ghost tour at her request and it was he who had his hand grabbed mid-tour by a ‘child’!! The tour meeting location at Mercat Cross is straightforward, you are issued with a headset for the tour commentary so check it works and know signal can get weak with distance in the vaults. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and relatable and in around the third vault something interesting occurred when the volume on the commentary ‘background noises’ (ambient theme like sounds) kept increasing in volume and was turned off by the guide….I also sensed a woman in a green coat and a child sitting on a rock in another vaulted area along with the sensation of being watched. It was later the guide added additional information about who that woman was… So even on the history tour expect interesting energy to be present. When exiting the vaults there are information displays offering more detail….and later I discovered certain areas are well known for their ‘energetic presence’. Allow 2hours plus, there will be steps both up and down (you go into vaults on the vault tours) and even if you are not open to certain aspects of the vaults chances are you will notice that aspect anyway. Fantastic history - right...

I took 2 tours with Mercat Tours, both absolutely great. I loved the use of headsets to clearly hear the guide, in what can be a bustling area of the city.

The first tour was the "Ghostly Underground Vaults tour", led by Madge. She was amazing, incredibly enthusiastic, vibrant, and lively, I think I can say one of the best guides I've ever had. The tour is interesting, with some great stories, and not too much walking if that's not for you. The vaults are dimly lit adding to the spooky vibe. If you are not good on your feet this part of the tour could be a challenge for you as the floors are quite uneven in places. I really loved this tour, so much so that I booked another slightly different tour with Mercat for the following evening.

The second tour was the Late night haunted underground vaults tour, led by Margret-Ann. Again another brilliant guide, she was really into the character role and a great storyteller. It was a similar tour but with different stories, and we had the opportunity to go somewhere that the public don't normally get to go, I don't want to say what we did here as I don't want anyone to get into trouble 😂

Having had a tour with a rival tour company, I would highly recommend Mercat as it was streets ahead more entertaining and engaging that the other company. I will be doing more tours with Mercat on future visits, all the staff bot just the guides were incredibly friendly.

Thank you Madge,...