Halloween in Edinburgh: Which Ghost Tour to Book This Year

Halloween falls on a Saturday in 2026, so the night itself lands on the weekend. The walks and vault tours run as normal that weekend, and the Old Town is dark by the time the first evening tours set off. If you want a tour on Halloween itself, book now, and check the cancellation terms on each listing if plans might change.

For most people the right booking is the Dark Secrets of the Old Town walk, two hours through the closes and two old burial grounds with a local guide, from $27 per person and rated 4.6 out of 5 from 2,834 reviews (checked October 2026).

Ghost tours on Halloween weekend

The same operator lists a Halloween edition of its Old Town walk for the last nights of October, from $33, which starts on the High Street opposite St Giles’ Cathedral. It has far fewer reviews than the everyday walk (43, rated 4.4), so check its dates and pick whichever fits your evening.

Prices, ratings and review counts from GetYourGuide, checked May 2026; operators change prices by season, so treat them as the shape of the market, not a quote.

The Samhuinn Fire Festival

Samhuinn is the Beltane Fire Society’s celebration of the Celtic new year, a night of drummers, fire and costumed performers marking the end of summer. In 2026 it is on Saturday 31 October on Calton Hill, from 6:30pm to 10:45pm, with last entry at 9pm and the bonfire lit at about 7:45pm. Entry is from the bottom of Regent Road. Tickets are sold only through the society’s own box office, and when we checked on 22 October it showed every ticket type sold out, with a waiting list open. Do not buy from resale sites: the society says resold tickets are not valid. Under-16s need to be with an adult who holds a ticket.

If you have tickets, an early-evening ghost tour still fits: a walk that ends by about 7pm leaves time to reach Calton Hill before last entry. If you do not, Friday or Saturday evening on a ghost walk is the next best way to spend Halloween in the Old Town.

Halloween with children

• The ghost bus is the easiest choice for younger children: actors, jokes and a seat, with no stairs or cobbles. See the Comedy Horror Ghost Bus.
• The daytime vaults tour without the torture exhibition is suggested for ages 5 and up. See the Underground Vaults Tour.
• The Real Mary King’s Close admits children from age 5 and is a history tour rather than a scary one. Tickets and times.
• The Late-Night Vaults Terror Tour is strictly 18 and over, Halloween or not.

Dark early, cold late

The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October, and on Halloween the sun sets at about 4:35pm, so a tour at 5pm already starts in twilight and anything later runs in full darkness. Late-October evenings are often wet and cold, and tours go ahead in the rain. Wear shoes with grip for the wet cobbles and bring a waterproof; the what to wear guide has the details.

The Halloween story that is true

Some of the history the guides tell on Halloween happened on Halloween. On 31 October 1828, William Burke and William Hare killed Margaret Docherty, an Irish woman Burke had invited back to his lodging house in the West Port. Other lodgers found her body the next day and went to the police, and that ended the killings, which had taken at least 16 lives. Burke was hanged on the Lawnmarket in January 1829. The guides on the Old Town walks tell it as what it was: a murder, with a victim who had a name.

For other months, see the best time of year for a ghost tour, and for the tours side by side, the homepage comparison.