Wednesday World Travel - Edinburgh, Scotland's Many Ghosts

image from Flickr member Paulus Maximus!

I spent a wonderful week in Edinburgh last year. So far, it is my favorite city. It has a large reputation for being the most haunted city in Europe. We didn't have any supernatural experiences during our stay, but we didn't seek them out either. There are plenty of places to visit in the city to get your fill of spooky stories or occurrences, though.

image from Wikipedia

The first place, and possibly most haunted area of Edinburgh, is Mary King's Close. A close, for us Americans, is like an alley off a main road with houses and businesses. Mary King's Close is famous for supposedly being walled up, with all its inhabitants still alive, in order to stop the spread of plague. Pictures taken in the Close show weird orbs and streaks of light, and people have reported seeing and even feeling all sorts of spirits in the area.

image from my flickr account

Edinburgh Castle is also a very haunted spot. With centuries of history behind it and a dungeon on site, it's had ample opportunity to attract spirits. My favorite story is the ghost of the dog that wanders the grounds. They say he was buried in the on site pet cemetery, which is in a beautiful spot overlooking the city.

image from Flickr member LucaAlbricci

The Last Drop Tavern was the last bar on the way to the old city gallows. Surprisingly, according to here, the tavern's ghost is a little girl.

"The Last Drop Tavern ghost appears as a young lassie who wears medieval clothing. Sightings of her hauntings have been witnessed in the bar and the cellar.

Customers are not left alone in the pub, but staff who are in the bar or cellar alone when drinkers are long gone have noticed that the girl ghost comes out to play! She whispers out the employee name when there is no-one else in the building - well no-one still alive!"

image from The Royal Terrace Hotel

Finally, you can bed down in the haunted rooms of The Royal Terrace Hotel. It's home to a ghostly nurse, several spectral children, and a dead man who still likes to drink at the bar. However, the hotel's sumptuous rooms might make up for the possibility of a supernatural encounter.