Ghost Tours Edinburgh ScotlandEdinburgh Witches Tour: Witches and Haunted History Walking Tour
This Edinburgh witches tour is the Witches and Haunted History Walking Tour run by Enthral Experiences and sold on Viator for $24.23 per person. It lasts 70 to 75 minutes and covers the closes and wynds of the Old Town with a character guide who tells the stories of Scotland's accused witches and the injustices they faced. The walk finishes at the Grassmarket, where public executions took place and where the story of Half-Hangit Maggie began. The listing says you may also pick up facts about Outlander and Harry Potter characters along the way. It is one of several Edinburgh ghost tours on the site, and this page sets out what the price buys, who it rules out and when a different walk would serve you better. Compare it with the other ghost tours Edinburgh.
About This Tour
Enthral Experiences runs a character-led walking tour through the Old Town about Scotland's accused witches, their lives, the accusations they faced and the injustices they endured. The guide blends history and storytelling on the closes and wynds off the Royal Mile. The listing says you may learn facts about characters from Outlander and Harry Potter.
The walk finishes at the Grassmarket, the site of public executions, and ends with the story of Half-Hangit Maggie, one of Edinburgh's most legendary characters. The route has cobbles, steep streets and steps, so the operator advises a moderate level of fitness and warns against push-chairs and infant prams.
$24.23 per person, sold on Viator. No extras, drinks or entry tickets are included.
70 to 75 minutes on foot. No start time is printed on the listing, so times show when you check availability.
Outside Caffe Nero, 1 Parliament Square on the Royal Mile. Arrive 5 to 10 minutes early to check in and show your ticket to the guide.
Up to 30 travellers. The guide language is English and no other languages are stated.
None. The includes list names only the professional character guide and the fully guided walking tour. You do not go inside any building, museum or underground site.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure for a full refund. There are no refunds for no-shows, so contact the operator if you will be late.
Check Dates and Availability
The listing states no fixed start times, so departure times show when you check availability. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure.
You'll confirm the exact date and time on the secure booking page.
Quick answer Price, length and what to expect
This Edinburgh witches tour costs $24.23 per person, lasts 70 to 75 minutes and takes up to 30 people through the Old Town closes with a character guide, finishing at the Grassmarket.
Key takeaways
- The listing names no underground or indoor stop. If you want to go underground, the Haunted Underground Vaults and Graveyard Tour enters the Edinburgh Vaults for $34.
- It rates 4.9 from 716 verified reviews. If you want a longer and wider dark history walk, the Edinburgh Dark History Tour runs 2 hours for $24.23.
- You finish at the Grassmarket, where Maggie Dickson was hanged in 1724 and survived, the story of Half-Hangit Maggie.
- The route has cobbles, steep streets and steps. See the full ghost tours Edinburgh before you book.
What the Price Actually Covers
The includes list on the listing is short and honest. You pay $24.23 for a guide and a walk, and nothing else comes with the ticket.
What Is Included
Two things are included: a professional character guide delivering immersive storytelling, and a fully guided walking tour of Edinburgh's Old Town. That is the whole list. There is no entry to any building, no underground section and no drink. The tour is on foot, outdoors, for 70 to 75 minutes, in groups of up to 30.
On the day you may want to budget for tips, which the listing does not mention either way, and for anything you buy before or after.
What Is Not Included
The listing names no exclusions, but it names no inclusions beyond the guide either, so treat everything except the walk as your own cost. You do not enter a museum, a graveyard enclosure or the vaults. If a witch trial story or a nearby site interests you, visiting it costs extra.
The Witches' Well on the Castle Esplanade, a bronze fountain linked to executions between 1479 and 1722, is free to see and is not on the stated route. Edinburgh Castle above it charges 23.50 pounds for adults online, 19 pounds for ages 65 and over and 11.50 pounds for children 7 to 15.
How It Sits Against Similar Walks
The table compares this walk with the two closest alternatives in the set, using each listing's own figures. These are walking tours above ground, so the real differences are length, theme and group size.
| Line | In the price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Witches and Haunted History Walking Tour (Enthral Experiences, Viator) | Character guide and a 70-75 minute Old Town walk | $24.23 per person, up to 30 travellers, no entries, finishes at Grassmarket |
| Edinburgh Dark History Tour (All-Star Guides, Viator) | A 2 hour guided dark history walk | $24.23 per person, up to 30 travellers, wheelchair accessible, no entries stated |
| Edinburgh Dark Secrets of the Old Town Ghost Walking Tour (Scotland City Tours, GetYourGuide) | A 2 hour walk through Old Town alleyways and two kirkyards | $26 per person, runs in English, French and German, meeting point varies by option |
Data Currency
The figures above come from the listings on Viator and GetYourGuide.
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
The listing gives a route description rather than a numbered stop list: the closes and wynds of the Old Town, ending at the Grassmarket. Here is what the walk covers and the history attached to each part.
Meeting Point: Parliament Square
You meet outside Caffe Nero at 1 Parliament Square on the Royal Mile and arrive 5 to 10 minutes early. The square sits beside St Giles' Cathedral, traditionally founded in 1124, and next to the Mercat Cross, where executions and public punishments took place, including that of the Marquis of Montrose in 1650. The Heart of Midlothian mosaic nearby marks the site of the Old Tolbooth, the prison that held the accused witch Agnes Sampson and Major Thomas Weir among its famous prisoners.
The Closes and Wynds
The walk moves through the steep alleys running off the Royal Mile between tall tenement buildings called lands. This is the landscape of the witch trials. The Witchcraft Act of 1563 made witchcraft a capital crime in Scotland and was not repealed until 1736. An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 people were tried, more than 1,500 were executed, and about 75 percent of the accused were women. King James VI attended the North Berwick trials and published Daemonologie in 1597. Most of the convicted were strangled at the stake before being burned. In 2022 Scotland's First Minister formally apologised to people accused under the Act.
The listing says the guide may also mention facts about Outlander and Harry Potter characters. Harry Potter fans will recognise the territory: the tomb of Thomas Riddell, who died in 1806 aged 72, stands in Greyfriars Kirkyard a short walk away and may have inspired the Tom Riddle name.
Finish: the Grassmarket and Half-Hangit Maggie
The tour ends in the Grassmarket, a market place from 1477 and Edinburgh's site of public execution. More than 100 Covenanters were hanged there between 1661 and 1688, and the Covenanters' Memorial marks the spot. The Porteous Riots of 1736 ended with a mob lynching Captain John Porteous here.
The story the tour finishes on is Maggie Dickson, hanged in 1724, who survived the drop and lived, earning the name Half-Hangit Maggie. The listing calls her one of Edinburgh's most legendary characters and says her story began at the Grassmarket.
The Incredible Hidden History Of Witches In Edinburgh
BBC Scotland on the witch hunts and the places in Edinburgh tied to them. Third-party video by BBC Scotland. This site did not shoot it and has no relationship with the creator.
Who This Tour Rules Out
The listing carries several hard warnings. Read them before you book, because the route itself decides most of them.
Mobility and Health
The operator says travellers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness and advises against anyone who cannot manage the cobbles, steep streets and steps of the Old Town. The listing names spinal injuries and poor cardiovascular health as reasons not to book. Push-chairs and infant prams are also advised against.
No wheelchair information is stated at all, so ask the operator before booking if access matters. If you need a step-free walk, the Edinburgh Dark History Tour is listed as wheelchair accessible on Viator.
Ages and Language
Viator lists children 5 to 15, adults 16 to 64 and seniors 65 to 105, so the youngest age band starts at 5. The guide speaks English and no other languages are stated. If you need French or German, the Edinburgh Dark Secrets of the Old Town Ghost Walking Tour runs in all three for $26.
What the Tour Is Not
This is an above-ground history and storytelling walk with a serious subject, real accusations of witchcraft and public executions. It is not a scare tour, not an underground vaults visit and not a graveyard tour. If you want the vaults, look at the Evening Underground Ghost Tour at $25 or the vaults and graveyard combination at $34.
If you want scares after dark, the Late-Night Underground Vaults Terror Tour admits only over 18s.
The Witches' Well on the Castle Esplanade commemorates women accused of witchcraft. Photo: Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Could You Do It Without a Tour?
Yes, in part. Much of what this walk covers is public street you can walk any day for nothing, and the sites tied to the witch trials are free to see.
What Is Free
The Royal Mile, its closes and the Grassmarket are public streets. The Royal Mile runs almost exactly one mile from the castle to Holyrood and falls from 358 feet to 138 feet along the way, so you can retrace the walk's territory on your own. The Witches' Well, a bronze fountain on the Castle Esplanade commissioned in 1894 and mounted in 1912, is free to look at and its water spout is dry today.
Historians criticise its inscription for implying that those killed had real magical powers, which is worth knowing before you read it.
What Costs Money Alone
Nearby paid attractions you can visit without a tour include Edinburgh Castle at 23.50 pounds for adults online, open daily 9:30am to 6pm from April to September and 9:30am to 5pm from October to March. The Real Mary King's Close, the only underground close in the city at 2 Warriston's Close, opens 9:30am to 10:30pm seven days a week with a standard one hour tour, but no price is shown on the official pages, so check the official site. Surgeons' Hall Museums on Nicolson Street charges 10 pounds for adults and opens 10am to 5pm daily, and holds Burke's death mask and the pocketbook said to be made from his skin.
What You Cannot Do Alone
The vaults are entered only on a tour, and each operator claims its own section, so there is no walk-in option underground. The Covenanter's Prison in Greyfriars Kirkyard is locked and can be entered only with City of the Dead or by arrangement with the kirk, though the Friends of Greyfriars run set open days. What a guide adds here is the stories themselves: the witch trial history, Half-Hangit Maggie and the Outlander and Harry Potter details, told in one route with a professional character guide.
If you are happy reading a plaque and walking the streets, doing it alone costs nothing. If you want the narrative delivered, this walk costs $24.23 for 70 to 75 minutes. The guides to the Edinburgh Vaults and Mary King's Close cover the paid sites in more depth.
How the Walk Runs
The listing gives no clock times, so the steps below use phases. The whole walk lasts 70 to 75 minutes.
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Meeting point
Check in outside Caffe Nero
Arrive at 1 Parliament Square on the Royal Mile 5 to 10 minutes early and show your ticket to the guide. There are no refunds for no-shows, so contact the operator if you are running late.
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First stop
Out into the Old Town
The character guide leads the group of up to 30 off the square and into the closes and wynds, setting up the world of 16th and 17th century Edinburgh where the Witchcraft Act of 1563 had made witchcraft a capital crime.
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Middle of the walk
The accused witches
The guide tells the stories of Scotland's accused witches, their lives, the accusations they faced and the injustices they endured. Estimates put the number tried in Scotland at 4,000 to 6,000 and the number executed at more than 1,500, with about 75 percent of the accused women.
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Middle of the walk
Outlander and Harry Potter facts
The listing says you may learn facts about much-loved characters from Outlander and Harry Potter as you move through the lanes. Thomas Riddell's 1806 tomb in nearby Greyfriars Kirkyard may have inspired the Tom Riddle name.
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Last stop
The Grassmarket
The tour finishes at the Grassmarket, the site of public executions from 1477, where more than 100 Covenanters were hanged between 1661 and 1688.
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After the tour
Half-Hangit Maggie
The closing story is Maggie Dickson, hanged here in 1724, who survived the drop and lived on as Half-Hangit Maggie.
Pros and Cons
An honest reading of the listing, including the parts the operator would rather you skimmed.
What we genuinely like
- At $24.23 for 70 to 75 minutes it is one of the cheaper ways to get a professional guide on the Royal Mile
- A 4.9 rating from 716 verified reviews on Viator and Tripadvisor
- A clear single theme, the accused witches, rather than a scatter of unrelated ghost stories
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure
- The walk finishes at the Grassmarket, the site of public executions
The honest downsides
- No entry to anything: no vaults, no museum, no graveyard, just the streets
- The route has cobbles, steep streets and steps, and the operator warns against push-chairs, prams, spinal injuries and poor cardiovascular health
- Groups run up to 30
- No start time is printed, so you must check availability and plan around what is offered
- No refunds for no-shows, so lateness costs you the ticket
Who it's NOT for: Not for anyone who cannot manage steep cobbled streets, anyone needing wheelchair access, families with prams, or travellers who want to go underground or inside a graveyard.
Questions About This Tour
How much does the Edinburgh witches tour cost?
$24.23 per person on Viator, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure. That covers the character guide and the walk only. For comparison, the Edinburgh Dark History Tour costs the same $24.23 but runs 2 hours.
Where does the witches tour start and finish?
It starts outside Caffe Nero, 1 Parliament Square on the Royal Mile, and finishes at the Grassmarket, the site of public executions. Arrive 5 to 10 minutes early.
Is this Edinburgh witches tour suitable for children?
Viator lists children from 5 to 15. Push-chairs and infant prams are advised against because of the cobbles and steps. The Afternoon Old Town and Underground Ghost Tour bills itself as suitable for children and costs $21.53.
Do you go underground or into any buildings?
No. The includes list names only the guide and the walking tour, and the route stays on the closes and wynds above ground. If you want underground chambers, the Haunted Underground Vaults and Graveyard Tour enters the Edinburgh Vaults for $34.
Who was Half-Hangit Maggie?
Maggie Dickson was hanged in the Grassmarket in 1724 and survived the drop, which earned her the name Half-Hangit Maggie. She is the story the tour finishes on, and the Grassmarket's history of public executions stretches from 1477 through the hanging of more than 100 Covenanters between 1661 and 1688.
How fit do I need to be for this tour?
The operator asks for at least a moderate level of fitness because of the cobbles, steep streets and steps of the Old Town. The listing advises against booking with spinal injuries or poor cardiovascular health and states no wheelchair information, so ask before booking or choose the wheelchair accessible Edinburgh Dark History Tour instead.
How many people were tried as witches in Scotland?
An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 people were tried between the Witchcraft Act of 1563 and its repeal in 1736, and an estimated 1,500 or more were executed, with about 75 percent of the accused women. Estimates differ, and the witch trial history is one of the core threads of this walk.
Prices, availability and terms are set by the operator and confirmed at checkout.
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