Outlander Jamie Fraser actor Sam Heughan’s favourite Edinburgh spot named as 'most haunted place in the world'

The ten most haunted places in the world have just been revealed – and a location in Edinburgh has topped the list
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

A creepy close underneath the streets of Edinburgh has been named as the ‘most haunted place in the world’.

After analysing data from TripAdvisor, travel experts at Planet Cruise have revealed that Mary King’s Close is the world’s spookiest spot.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It comes just weeks after Outlander actor Sam Heughan picked out the Capital attraction as his favourite place in Scotland, saying that a visit there as a teenager left him “terrified”.

Edinburgh's Mary King's Close has been named as the ‘most haunted place in the world’.Edinburgh's Mary King's Close has been named as the ‘most haunted place in the world’.
Edinburgh's Mary King's Close has been named as the ‘most haunted place in the world’.

The Scottish star, who plays highland warrior in the smash hit time-travel series, was asked for his favourite place in Scotland in a recent interview. And the 42-year-old opted for Mary King's Close.

Heughan, who went to James Gillespie's High School in the city as well as the Edinburgh Steiner School,, described his visit there as a “terrifying” experience. He added: “It's like something out of Harry Potter, it really is. And if you haven't been, please visit Edinburgh.”

It seems that Heughan isn’t the only one to be scared to death by the atmospheric Mary King's Close.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Situated under Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, it is a place where people lived and worked between the 1600-1800s. Coincidentally, it also happens to be the most haunted hotspot in the world, according to the new research. Not only does it have the greatest number of ‘scary’ and ‘spooky’ mentions (583 and 497 respectively), but it also has a TripAdvisor rating of 4.5.

The full list of the top ten most haunted destinations in the world, according to Planet Cruise, is as follows… 1: Mary King’s Close, Edinburgh, Scotland. 2: Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, USA. 3: The Stanley Hotel, Colorado, USA. 4: Crumlin Road Gaol, Belfast, Northern Ireland. 5: St Augustine Lighthouse, Florida, USA. 6: Bhangarh Fort. Pajastan, India. 7: Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, USA. 8: Myrtles Plantation, Louisiana, USA. 9: Catacombs of Paris, Paris. 10: Tower of London, London.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.