Underground Unlocked
- 1st Oct 2026
- Entry times 19.00 | 19.10 | 19.20 | 19.30 | 19.40 | 19.50
- 2 hours
- £40 per adult
- No under 5 year olds
- This experience is in English and Audio guides are not available
1 October 2026
For one unforgettable evening, step beyond the surface and experience The Real Mary King’s Close as it once was. Beneath the Royal Mile, the streets stir with life once more… voices echo, footsteps linger, and history unfolds around you.
A one-night-only immersive journey
This is not a guided tour.
Instead, you are free to roam the Close at your own pace, just as residents once did in the 1600s. Wander through narrow streets alive with activity, where merchants trade, poets recite, and plague doctors move silently through shadow.
Step inside homes and businesses, preserved in time yet filled once more with the people who lived and worked here. Around every corner, a story waits to be discovered.
Raw, real and strikingly human, this is your chance to experience history as it might have been.
What to expect
What to expect
- Explore the underground streets freely for up to 2 hours
- Encounter up to 15 historical residents, each with their own story to tell
- Step inside preserved homes and workplaces
- Experience a fully immersive, living environment beneath the Royal Mile
Who will you meet?
Who will you meet?
As you wander, you may encounter:
- Patrick Byrne, the leather tanner, demonstrating his craft
- Euphame MacCalzean, reclaiming her voice after the North Berwick Witch Trials
- Mary King, running her bustling market stall
- Deacon Brodie, lurking in the shadows of his double life
- John Craig, anxiously awaiting the plague doctor
- Dr John Paulitious, battling the Foul Pestilence
- Lang Meg and the Foul Clengers, tasked with cleansing the city
- Marie Maitland, sharing poetry hidden for centuries
- Jonet Nymmo, offering a glimpse into daily life
- Janet and Andrew Chesney, recalling the Close’s final days
No two journeys are the same. Each visit reveals different encounters, different voices, different moments in time.
A fleeting moment in time
The Close will not stay this way for long.
For one evening only, the past returns in full voice and colour. Then, just as quickly, it fades back into silence.
Will you step inside before it disappears?
Book now
This is an exclusive, limited event and tickets are expected to sell quickly.
Secure your place and experience The Real Mary King’s Close like never before.
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