The Real Mary King's Close

We booked to visit in October several months ago when the situation with Covid appeared to be getting better. We were meant to be travelling next weekend and this was one of several activities we had pre booked.

Unfortunately the situation has rapidly declined with our home town being placed into tier 3 and the further restrictions in Edinburgh. I contacted the company straight away however they have refused to offer a refund (as usual hiding behind terms and conditions rather than what is right and wrong).

Although they offered a voucher for the next 12 months, I have lost money on train travel as well as this experience and have little confidence in booking in the near future.

Just be very aware if you book and things change with Covid that they won’t offer a refund, even if you can’t travel within current guidelines in your area.

Really disappointed with the behaviour of this company.

Guided tour of a now covered street just off the Royal Mile, this offers a glimpse into the more personal history of some of the "everyday" residents from Edinburgh's past. Our guide was very knowledgeable and the story was always interesting and entertaining. The tour takes about an hour but I would suggest booking, as you couldn't guarantee turning up and getting a space on the next tour. Only think I felt was missing was a better feel for how the street came to be covered. There is a model and a couple of maps, but there isn't long to look at them before the group moves on

I had Adam as the guide for my group and he was spectacular. Wildly amusing and clearly a master of Edinburgh history. This tour is well worth the experience and provides great insight into the city’s past in an unusual tour.

This tour is excellent, and well worth the money, very informative and interesting and the guide played the character well which made it far more engaging. If you're going to Edinburgh then this is a must..

Much better than the castle

fascinating trip to see the conditions people lived in in the old town before the New Town was built. The fact that the last building was vacated only 120 years ago shows you how far we have come in living conditions since then. Spooky in a nice way and very atmospheric. Think the tour guide could have toned down his act a bit to make sure that everyone understood him, especially as there are multiple nationalities visiting.

I had been really looking forward to this attraction while planning our trip to Edinburgh. Overall I enjoyed it and found it informative, however, it was very drawn out. Had it been half of the price for a 30 minute tour, or a self guided walk around with reading plaques, my rating may have been higher. The staged photo at the end seemed like a nice addition… until you realise that it comes at a price of £10 at the end of the tour! At £38 a couple to then expect a further £10 for a photo print made the whole experience feel commercial and greedy.

We heard stories of rooms finishing with “but this would have been 4 levels up/ down” which made it difficult to understand the placement of where we were. At the end of the tour upon seeing Mary Kings Close it started to make a bit more sense, this context would have been more helpful at the start of the tour.

Glad I did tour, was very interesting and to think you were standing where people had lived hundreds of years before. Only criticism was that it was very hard to understand guide as Spanish accent and talked very fast so missed some info. Kids got bored as they also struggled to understand what was being said, and a bit pricey !

Having seen Mary Kings Close in a recent tv programme we knew we had to visit on our trip to Edinburgh, the visit didn’t disappoint.
Booking in was easy via the tickets on our phone, clean toilets available for use & a short wait for our time slot with Caroline.
Caroline for our guide for the tour who was really informative, the history of the place is amazing.
So much to see, I fully understand why but unfortunately you can’t take photos on the way around.
To think that people actually lived in those conditions 200 years ago - crikey!!
There was the chance to purchase our staged photo from the shop afterwards which was £25.
There is also a small gift shop on site.
I’d definitely recommend this tour if you’re visiting Edinburgh and best to book to avoid disappointment.
Ps: lots of the tour is conducted in dim lighting with steps & slopes so sensible shoes & sure footing.

We enjoyed our visit to Mary Kings‘ Close, especially the final part in the Close itself which gave a good idea of what life was like in that time. The early parts of the tour are more general and at times a little silly with the use of costumes and puppets. However, for a short visit to Edinburgh or for families with smaller children this is very entertaining.

Went the week before Christmas, last tour of the night. A very small group, and it was chilly. That being said I found the tour very interesting. Great insight as to life in the underbelly of Edinburgh. Our guide did say that the tours become quite crowded during the summer months, and I would not recommend that. Very tight rooms.