We head back to Old Town, where we take the Haunted Underground Tour, which takes us through some of Ediburgh's famous South Bridge Vaults. 

In brief, at the center of town is a massive valley called Cowgate Gorge. This is now the beautiful Princes Street Gardens, but used to be a massive lake / cesspool.  Wealthy and middle-class folk lived in New Town and worked in Old Town; they had to cross the putrid lake to get to work.  So in the 1780s, two bridges were built to connect Old Town to New Town directly. 

The bridges were built to be shopping plazas, and the arches supporting the bridges were enclosed, to be used as storage and work areas for the merchants.  The bridges were built over the existing buildings, streets, and closes, so these were enclosed, too. 

Eventually the vaults were abandoned by the merchants, and they became the home and workplace of the poorest residents of Edinburgh.  They vaults contained to at least one illicit bar and one serial killer.  They were the scene of much violence, brutality, and suffering.  After a massive fire killed hundreds of residents, the vaults were sealed up and forgotten until they were re-discovered in 1985.

The vaults we tour are very dark, dank, and creepy, and are, needless to say, haunted.