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BOO!
Don’t you just love to be scared…listening to horrifying tales of ghosts and spirits roaming the earth?
Years ago, I took a ghost tour in Dublin. We were ushered into a bus, transformed to have the appearance of a hearse. Our tour guide regaled us with ghost stories and took us to some of Dublin’s most haunted locations. It was great fun!
Our first night in Edinburgh, I noticed a large, double decker bus parked on the Royal Mile…The Ghostbus. Gathering information from the ghastly dressed gentlemen trying to entice willing “victims” to take the tour, my son and I decided that it might be something we would like to do during our stay. On our last night, we walked over to the starting point on the Waverly Bridge to purchase tickets.
Boarding the bus, we were seated on the upper level…after our tour guide decided to jump out from behind a curtain to give us a scare! The interior was created to look a bit like a cross between a funeral home and a hearse and was dimly lit.
Realizing a few minutes into our presentation, that our tour guide was more of a paid actor, we were a little confused as to what the tour would entail. Beginning our drive, he started with a tale of a ghost that purportedly resides on the street near Jenner’s Department store. Stating that we were looking for a woman, dressed in white on the street corner, I really expected that this was more of a show and we would actually see a ghostly apparition on the corner.
More tales ensued as he pointed out different buildings along the way that were allegedly haunted. Finally, our bus pulled to the curb and we disembarked at St. Cuthbert’s Kirkyard.
Now, most people will be a little creeped out by being in a cemetery during the night and I must admit, it was a bit eerie. Our tour guide stood before us on the steps and revealed tales of grave robbers and murder. A couple of times, we did notice that he seemed to look off into the cemetery as he appeared to have seen or heard something…or maybe he was just a better actor than we thought! However, a couple of people within our group said that they kept hearing noises behind us. Again, because this seemed to be more of a production, I truly expected that there was some crazy surprise waiting behind a tomb.
Departing from the cemetery, we drove through the Grassmarket area and on near Greyfriar’s Kirk Cemetery. The tales continued.
Finally, we pulled into a narrow lane and the bus stopped…was something wrong? Engine trouble?
The tour guide/actor began the “finale” of the tour. He became “possessed” as a spirit “entered” the bus and entire vehicle began to shake while loud noises came over the speakers.
Oh? Okay.
Quite ready to be back in my hotel room watching “Most Haunted” on my television, we weren’t displeased when the bus parked along the curb on the Waverly Bridge to allow us to disembark.
While I enjoyed the historical aspect of the tour and the many haunted stories that accompanied it…we could have been spared the theatrics…unless they were serving drinks…then…maybe we would have appreciated it a little bit more.
My advice? Take the tour in Dublin!
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Ghostbus Tour
- http://www.theghostbustours.com/edinburgh/
- Departure Point: Waverly Bridge, near Princes Street Gardens, opposite Princes Mall exit of Waverly Station
- Tours depart: Sunday-Thursday, 1800, 1930, Friday-Saturday, 1800, 1930, 2100
- Admission: Adults, £16.00, Child £12.00, Student £14.00, Under 5, free (no seat), Family ticket (2 adults, 2 children, 5-15 years), £45.00
- Getting There: By Train, Waverly Bridge train station, By Bus #s, 1, 4, 10, 11, 15, 16, 19, 25, 34, 101, 102, 104, 106, 113, 124 – Princes street, #100 – Waverly bridge