Ghost Tours Edinburgh ScotlandEdinburgh Ghost Bus: The Comedy Horror Tour
The Edinburgh Ghost Bus is the odd one out among the city's ghost tours: instead of walking closes and descending into vaults, you sit on a midnight black vintage double-decker and watch a comedy horror show roll past Edinburgh Castle, the Grassmarket, Greyfriar's Kirk, Holyrood Palace and the Royal Mile. It runs 75 minutes, costs $28 per person and carries a 4.5 rating from 4,776 verified GetYourGuide bookings. A live conductor, billed as a strange employee of the fictional Necropolis Bus Company, tells stories of grave robbers, plague victims, executions and the women burned as witches. This page sets out what the price covers, where you board and who should book a different tour instead. Compare it with the other ghost tours Edinburgh.
About This Tour
The Ghost Bus Tours runs a theatrical sightseeing ride through the Old Town and New Town on a refurbished vintage double-decker painted midnight black. The show's story is that the bus belonged to the Necropolis Bus Company, that the whole fleet was destroyed in a mysterious fire in 1967 and that only this one bus survived. A conductor in character tells stories of murders, tortures, executions, the grave robbers Burke and Hare and the hundreds of women drowned or burned as witches.
This is entertainment first and history second. You stay on the bus for the whole 75 minutes, you do not get off at stops, and you do not enter any building or underground site. The listing says the tour is likely to sell out, so booking ahead matters, and the bus cannot wait for late arrivals.
$28 per person, sold on GetYourGuide. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure for a full refund, with reserve now and pay later available.
75 minutes on the bus. Starting times are not printed in advance, they show when you check availability.
7-9 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EG, just outside the Edinburgh Central Library. Arrive on time, late arrivals cannot join once the show has started.
No group size cap is stated. The tour is conducted in English only.
Included are admission fees, the bus tour and a live guide. Not included are food and drink other than bottled water, and no hotel pickup is offered.
Free cancellation until 24 hours before departure for a full refund.
Check Dates and Availability
The listing states no fixed start times, so check availability for the departure slots on your date. The operator says the tour is likely to sell out.
Quick answer Quick facts
The Edinburgh Ghost Bus tour lasts 75 minutes and costs $28 per person, boarding outside the Edinburgh Central Library at 7-9 George IV Bridge. It is a comedy horror show on a vintage double-decker, rated 4.5 from 4,776 reviews. You stay on the bus throughout and do not enter any buildings.
Key takeaways
- You ride past the Castle, Grassmarket, Greyfriar's Kirk, Holyrood Palace and the Royal Mile without getting off.
- Want to actually go underground? Compare the haunted vaults and graveyard tour instead.
- Travelling with children? The afternoon family ghost tour costs $21.53 and runs in the afternoon.
- Free cancellation applies until 24 hours before departure. See how it compares on the tour comparison table.
What the Price Actually Covers
The Includes list on the listing is short, so it is worth being clear about what your $28 buys and what it does not.
Included
Three things are included: admission fees, the bus tour and the live guide. The conductor performs the whole show in character as an employee of the Necropolis Bus Company, the fictional firm whose fleet supposedly burned in 1967. That story is part of the show, not a documented history.
There is no hotel pickup and no stop where you leave the bus.
- Bus tour of 75 minutes through the Old Town and New Town
- Live guide performing as the strange conductor
- Admission fees as listed, though the tour names no building you enter
Not Included
Food and drink other than bottled water are not permitted on the bus. Luggage and large bags are not allowed, smoking and video recording in the vehicle are not allowed, and the operator takes no responsibility for items left on board. Personal items are carried at the owner's risk.
- Food and drinks other than bottled water
- Luggage or large bags
- Hotel pickup, which is not offered
- Entry to any museum, close or vault
What You Might Pay on the Day
Nothing extra is required by the operator and no mandatory extras are stated. The bus passes attractions you could visit separately if you want to go inside. Edinburgh Castle's official online price from Historic Environment Scotland is £23.50 for adults, £19 for ages 65 and over and £11.50 for children aged 7 to 15.
The Ghost Bus drives past the Castle but does not enter it.
| Line | In the price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 75 minute bus tour | Yes | Vintage double-decker through Old Town and New Town |
| Live conductor | Yes | Comedy horror performance in English |
| Admission fees | Yes | The listing names no site you enter |
| Food or drink | No | Only bottled water permitted on board |
| Castle, palace or museum entry | No | Visit separately, Castle adult tickets are £23.50 online |
| Hotel pickup | No | Not offered |
Sources: Old Town, Edinburgh on Wikipedia, Edinburgh Vaults on Wikipedia
The Grassmarket below the castle was Edinburgh's execution site for centuries. Photo: Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Route, Stop by Stop
This is a ride, not a walk. The bus loops through the Old Town and New Town past the landmarks below, and you never get off.
Boarding at George IV Bridge
You meet at 7-9 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EG, just outside the Edinburgh Central Library. Arrive on time, because the listing is blunt about latecomers: the tour cannot wait for them and they cannot be admitted once the show has started. Starting times show when you check availability.
Edinburgh Castle
The bus passes the Castle, which stands on Castle Rock, a volcanic plug about 130 metres above sea level. The fortress has survived 26 sieges across some 1,100 years, including the Lang Siege of 1571 to 1573. Legends attached to the rock include a headless drummer reportedly seen in the courtyard in 1650 and a lost piper said to have vanished in tunnels running towards Holyrood, both folklore with no contemporary record.
The Grassmarket
The Grassmarket was a market place from 1477 and a place of public execution, with more than 100 Covenanters hanged there between 1661 and 1688. It is also the scene of the story of Maggie Dickson, hanged in 1724 who survived, earning the name Half-Hangit Maggie. For scale, Wikipedia estimates that 4,000 to 6,000 people were tried in the Scottish witch trials and more than 1,500 executed, and about 75 percent of the accused were women.
Greyfriar's Kirk and Kirkyard
Greyfriars Kirkyard was established in 1561 to 1562 on the grounds of a former Franciscan friary. It holds the graves of Greyfriars Bobby, the dog, usually given as a Skye Terrier, said to have guarded his owner's grave for 14 years, and the Covenanters' Prison, where about 400 prisoners were held after the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in 1679. The bus does not stop here, so if the kirkyard is your priority, a walking tour that enters it, such as the haunted vaults and graveyard tour, serves you better.
Burke and Hare
The conductor tells the legend of Burke and Hare, and the documented history follows. William Burke and William Hare killed 16 people over about ten months in 1827 and 1828, smothering victims in the West Port and selling the bodies to the anatomist Robert Knox, who paid around 8 to 10 pounds per body. Burke was hanged on 28 January 1829 before a crowd estimated at 25,000.
Holyrood Palace and the Royal Mile
The listing also names the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the bottom of the Royal Mile and the mile of street itself. In the palace, Mary Queen of Scots' secretary David Rizzio was murdered in her apartments on 9 March 1566. The Royal Mile runs almost exactly one mile from the Castle to Holyrood and falls from 358 feet to 138 feet along the way.
The Ghost Bus Tours: Everything You Need to Know
The operator's own guide to how the ghost bus show runs. Third-party video by The Ghost Bus Tours. This site did not shoot it and has no relationship with the creator.
Who This Tour Rules Out
The Ghost Bus is a specific kind of show. Several common traveller types will do better with a different listing.
Anyone Who Wants to Go Underground
You never leave the bus, so there are no vaults, no closes and no kirkyard gates opened for you. If going underground is the point, the haunted vaults and graveyard tour at $34 includes entry to the South Bridge Vaults, and the City of the Dead Double Dead Tour caps groups at 6 and holds the key to the Covenanter's Prison.
Families with Small Children
The tour is a horror comedy with actors, and the operator itself says it is generally not suitable for children aged 1 to 5. No minimum age is stated on the GetYourGuide listing, so judge your own children. For a gentler option, the afternoon family ghost tour costs $21.53, runs 60 minutes and its listing says children are welcome.
Travellers Who Need a Firm Meeting Point and Plenty of Notice
The bus will not wait. If your schedule is tight or you struggle with punctuality, a walking tour is more forgiving. The evening underground ghost tour, at $25 for 75 minutes, also reaches the vaults on foot.
Non-English Speakers and Hungry Travellers
Tours are conducted in English only. No food or drink other than bottled water is permitted on board, so eat before you board. If you want a drink built into the tour, the vaults ghost tour with whisky ends in a candlelit cellar with a whisky, beer or soft drink for $41.
History-first Visitors
The tone is comedy horror, not scholarship. If you want the documented past without the scares, the Edinburgh Dark History Tour bills itself as history rather than a ghost tour and holds a 5.0 rating from 917 reviews.
Edinburgh Castle, home to the lone piper and the prisoner of war vaults of ghost lore. Photo: Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Could You Do It Without a Tour?
A bus ride through traffic is the hardest part of this tour to replicate, but much of what it shows can be seen on foot.
What You Can Do Free
You can stroll the Royal Mile from the Castle to Holyrood, look at the Grassmarket and its 1937 gibbet memorial, and walk the open part of Greyfriars Kirkyard. Old Calton Burial Ground and Canongate Kirkyard are also there to visit, and Canongate holds Adam Smith's grave. Entry to Greyfriars Kirk itself is free, with donations encouraged.
What Needs a Ticket or a Guide
Some places cannot be done alone. The vaults under South Bridge are visited on a guided tour. The Covenanters' Prison in Greyfriars is kept locked and can be entered only with City of the Dead tours or by arrangement with the kirk or council, though the Friends of Greyfriars Kirkyard run set open days that need no booking.
Edinburgh Castle costs £23.50 for adults online and is open daily 9:30am to 6pm from April to September and 9:30am to 5pm the rest of the year, with last entry an hour before closing. Surgeons' Hall Museum on Nicolson Street costs £10 for adults and opens 10am to 5pm seven days a week.
What the Guide Adds
What you pay $28 for is the show and the vehicle: a live conductor working a script of murders, plague and witches as you ride, plus the bus itself with its Necropolis fire backstory. A DIY walker gets the buildings but not the performance. On the other hand, a self-guided day gives you the Castle interior, the closes and the kirkyard gates that the bus cannot open.
The guides to Greyfriars Kirkyard, Burke and Hare and the haunted places in Edinburgh cover the free route in detail.
How the Ride Runs
The listing states no clock times or running order, so the phases below follow the landmarks in the order the listing names them and the boarding rules.
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Before departure
Check your time and arrive early
Starting times show when you check availability. Get to 7-9 George IV Bridge outside the Edinburgh Central Library with time to spare, because the bus cannot wait for late arrivals.
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Boarding
Board the Necropolis Bus
You board the midnight black vintage double-decker. Luggage and large bags stay behind, and only bottled water comes on board.
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First stretch
Out past Edinburgh Castle
The conductor begins the show as the bus rides through the Old Town and New Town, passing the Castle on its volcanic rock.
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Middle of the ride
Grassmarket and Greyfriar's Kirk
The script covers executions at the Grassmarket, the Greyfriars Bobby legend and the Burke and Hare murders of 1827 and 1828.
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Middle of the ride
The witches
The conductor tells of the hundreds of women drowned or burned as witches, set against the Scottish trials in which an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 people were tried.
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Last stretch
Holyrood Palace and the Royal Mile
The loop closes out past Holyrood Palace, where David Rizzio was murdered in 1566, and along the Royal Mile.
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After the tour
Back at George IV Bridge
The listing states no return point or return time, so confirm where the ride ends when you check availability.
Pros and Cons
An honest read of the listing and the things travellers flag.
What we genuinely like
- A 75 minute bus tour, the only format here that covers the Old Town and New Town without walking
- Strong track record at 4.5 from 4,776 verified GetYourGuide bookings
- Free cancellation until 24 hours before departure, and reserve now and pay later
- A live conductor leads the comedy horror show
- Good value at $28 compared with walking tours that cost up to $41
The honest downsides
- You never get off the bus, so there is no vault, close or kirkyard entry
- The bus will not wait and latecomers cannot join once the show has started
- Food and drink other than bottled water are banned, and video recording is not allowed
- Some travellers say the audio is hard to hear or follow at times
- No group size cap is stated and the tour is likely to sell out
Who it's NOT for: Not for anyone who wants to go underground, needs a gentler family pace, or does not travel well in English.
Ghost Bus Questions
How long is the ghost bus tour in Edinburgh?
75 minutes on the bus, covering the Old Town and New Town. Starting times are not published in advance and show when you check availability on the booking page for this tour.
Where does the Edinburgh Ghost Bus leave from?
From 7-9 George IV Bridge, EH1 1EG, just outside the Edinburgh Central Library. Arrive on time, since latecomers cannot join once the show has started.
Do you get off the Ghost Bus at any stops?
No. You stay on board for the whole 75 minutes and see the Castle, Grassmarket, Greyfriar's Kirk, Holyrood Palace and the Royal Mile through the windows. If you want to stand inside the sites, the haunted vaults and graveyard tour enters the South Bridge Vaults.
Is the Ghost Bus suitable for children?
The operator says the show is generally not suitable for children aged 1 to 5, and no minimum age is stated on the GetYourGuide listing. For a calmer alternative, the afternoon family ghost tour at $21.53 says children are welcome.
What is included in the $28 ticket?
Admission fees, the bus tour and the live guide. Food and drink other than bottled water, luggage and large bags are not permitted, and no hotel pickup is offered. Full details are on the what the price covers section above.
Can you visit the sites on this route without a tour?
Yes, most of them. The Royal Mile, the Grassmarket and the open part of Greyfriars Kirkyard can be walked on your own, though the vaults are visited on a guided tour and the Covenanters' Prison is kept locked and opened only for guided groups. The Greyfriars Kirkyard guide covers the free route.
Can I cancel the Ghost Bus booking?
Yes. Cancel up to 24 hours before departure for a full refund, and reserve now and pay later is available. Compare this and other listings on the tour comparison table before you book.
What Travelers Said
Thoroughly enjoyed this tour and highly recommend. Fun, comedy and serious facts .. loved the ambiance of the bus and the comedy element too. A must do when visiting Edinburgh.
Great ride, very sca.., funny. A ghost ride you have to make when you in Edinburgh.
AMAZING TOUR!! It was sooo funny and spookie, Tommy was amazing, funny and an amazing tour guide, lovely person! hope I'll be able to do this again soon! Loved every second of it!
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