What stories do these places hold? National Storytelling Week is a perfect time to spotlight those that tell Edinburgh's stories 📖

Happy Hogmanay! 🎆 Tonight, Edinburgh will be full of lights, ceilidhs and echoes of Auld Lang Syne (and hopefully far less rain than last year...) #NewYears

Welcome to Edinburgh in winter ❄️ You’ll never run out of corners to explore or hidden gems to discover.

The process vs the shot 🎥 Behind the scenes of Frankenstein (2025) filming in Edinburgh last September. #Frankenstein #Edinburgh

Is it too early for Christmas? 🎅❄️ This weekend marks the opening of the Edinburgh Christmas Market in Princes Street Gardens. Soon, winter lights will be dotted all around the city, like these snowflakes on Victoria Street.

#LivingHours accreditation ensures everyone has the secure working hours they need to thrive, giving employees the security to better plan their lives and budgets and get the hours they need to get by. youtu.be/w24rIgUX0n8

Edinburgh + autumn + rain = the best combination There's no such things as bad weather in such a beautiful city 🍂

According to Scottish Samhuinn tradition, Halloween is the time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is thinnest. Would you dare explore the haunted Canongate Kirkyard during this time?

Edinburgh's graveyards are beautiful year-round, but there's something special about autumn. 📍 #Edinburgh, Scotland

436 years ago, King James VI of Scotland set sail to bring his new wife, Anne of Denmark, to Scotland. #history

Much of Edinburgh’s history (especially the dark history) is right out in the open, if you know where to look for it. What should you look out for on a tour about the Scottish Witch Trials? #Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s most beautiful building? One of the most stunning Gothic buildings along the Royal Mile in Edinburgh is St Giles. Though it is often referred to as a cathedral, it is actually a High Kirk, meaning it’s a parish church of the Church of Scotland.

When we talk about witches today, you might picture a tall pointy hat, a broomstick, even green skin. 🧙 But these fantastical depictions of ‘witches’ are far from the historical truth. #ScottishWitchTrials #WitchTrials

And just like that, it’s officially autumn in Edinburgh 🍂 📍Edinburgh Castle, seen from Princes Street Gardens #Scotland

Soon, Edinburgh will look like this again 🍂 📍Canongate Kirkyard, Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh Castle

The Witches' Well is a memorial to those accused during the Scottish Witch Trials, found just before the entrance to Edinburgh Castle. 🏰

"...it’s still about one storyteller sharing a cracking tale with a group of strangers from all over the world.” We're thrilled to be celebrating 40 years of storytelling. 🧡

Ever wondered what Edinburgh’s landmarks looked and sounded like 150 years ago? In honour of Sir Walter Scott’s birthday, we’re recreating this 1880s photograph of the Scott Monument and comparing it to today. #Edinburgh

Like Paris, Edinburgh has an underground system of tunnels beneath its streets. Unlike Paris, they aren't catacombs but vaults.

Sometimes, it’s like Edinburgh hasn’t changed at all over the centuries. Stand at Edinburgh Castle and you can picture the centuries of sieges, conquests and royals.

📍St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh Fun fact: despite its name, St Giles' is not a cathedral but rather a parish church of the Church of Scotland. It's also known as the High Kirk. It did serve as a cathedral at various points in its 900-year history.

The Blair Street Underground Vaults have a long history, hidden away beneath the streets of the city centre. After they were built in the 1780s, they were swiftly abandoned by the legitimate businesses of the area and taken over by everyone from criminals to the city’s poor.

The Cowgate area of Edinburgh used to be known as 'Little Ireland.' In the 19th century, it was home to a large number of Irish immigrants, where it got its name. At one point, some of the poorest citizens even lived in the Blair Street Underground Vaults, which you can still visit today.

Our third @mercattours.bsky.social‬ tour went from cobbled closes to castle views! We wandered the Royal Mile, heard stories from guide Mally, and ended at Edinburgh Castle. Huge thanks to Mercat Tours for making it happen through their Our Stories, Your City project. 🏰 #ourstoriesyourcity

In honour of this week’s new graduates, these are the first women to graduate from Edinburgh Uni. 🎉 Women first enrolled in 1869, but the university did not award women degrees until 1893!! 😤

There's nothing quite like a genuine, overly dramatic y2k advert 💀

Exactly 100 years after it was reconstructed, we began using the Mercat Cross as the start point for all our tours. 4 decades on and we’re still following in the footsteps of the city’s original caddies.

What’s with that heart in the middle of the road in Edinburgh? 🧡 It’s the Heart of Midlothian. Weirdly, it’s connected to both witchcraft and taxes.

Who was Dr James Barry, trans historical figure? 🏳️‍⚧️ It can be hard to apply modern understandings & terminology to someone from the past. We can’t ask Barry how he would identify today but we can respect how he identified during his life, which is why we use he/him pronouns in this video. #Pride

📍 Queen Mary’s bath house, near Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh This is a 450-year-old stone building that was once part of a boundary wall and is attributed to Mary, Queen of Scots.

Edinburgh: 1800s vs today 📍John Knox House, Old Town

Happy Friday the 13th 👻💀 Celebrate with some of Edinburgh’s most haunted sites: 🕯 Edinburgh Vaults ☠ Graveyards (also known as kirkyards) ⚔ Gallows 💀 Parliament Square, the former graveyard# 👻 Royal Mile closes

We’re celebrating our 40th birthday this year, which means the world as a family-owned business. 4 decades of history, hidden gems, ghost stories and Edinburgh secrets. Here’s to 40 more! 🎂

💀 Did you know? Edinburgh’s Old Town once had so many body snatchers (or ‘Resurrection Men’) that cemeteries had watch towers, mortsafes and families guarding graves. Grave danger, indeed... #TrueTales #ScottishHistory

D-Day was almost spoilt by a Scottish witch (or so the War Office thought)... Only, Helen Duncan was no witch at all. #witchtrials

Who was Edinburgh’s rock legend? James Hutton. But he was more a legend of the boulder/cobblestone/pebble variety than the guitar variety 🪨🤘

If you're an Outlander fan visiting Edinburgh, add these to your itinerary: 🕯️ Tweeddale Court 📖 Bakehouse Close 📚 Signet Library 🦄 Holyrood Palace 🏰 Edinburgh Castle #edinburgh #scotland #outlander

The national animal of Scotland is the unicorn (yes, really). 🦄 It's been a heraldic symbol in Scotland since at least James I, depicted with a collar and chain around its neck. This represents faithfulness and trustworthiness.

A late 19th-century photo of Edinburgh, taken from Edinburgh Castle. Photographed by George Washington Wilson, a pioneering portrait and landscape photographer from the latter half of the 19th century. #Edinburgh #History

Whisky has a long history in Scotland. Here are some things you might not know (a 🧵) 👇

The underground network of rooms and corridors underneath Edinburgh were forgotten for over 100 years. Built within South Bridge in the 1780s, they’re known as the Edinburgh Vaults. Pictured here are the Blair Street Underground Vaults, the deepest section. They were abandoned around the 1860s.

There are so many secrets hidden away in Edinburgh's most prevalent places. Some are forgotten history, while others are common misconceptions.

What was the weirdest thing to once live in an Edinburgh tenement building? Here's a contender. Abraham Sever and his Indian elephant used to live in Old Fishmarket Close. Tempting to think the story is just an urban legend, but the letter from his downstairs neighbour still exists.

One of the best things about museums is being able to draw connections between seemingly disconnected displays. Like, what connects interrogation devices, a tomb effigy and an oak cradle? At the National Museum of Scotland, the answer is (inexplicably?) the Scottish Witch Trials.

Hello, Bluesky! 👋 We’re Mercat Tours—storytellers of Edinburgh’s closes, vaults, ghosts and all. We can't wait to start sharing some of the history that lingers in the city… 👻