The Real Mary King’s Close

Mary King's Close is an old Edinburgh close (narrow street) under buildings in the Old Town area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It took its name from one Mary King, daughter of advocate Alexander King. A tour of The Real Mary King's Close, will reveal the highs and the lows of sixteenth century living, show the truth about how the Edinburgh Council dealt with the plague epidemic of 1644-1646 and see some of the best examples of seventeenth century housing in Scotland.

The opening to find the attraction has a sign above the close that says 'Mary King's Close' and is about 1600 feet down High street (the Royal Mile) from the Edinburgh Castle moat entrance between St. Giles street and Parliament square on the north side of the street. This opening in the building is small and is barely visible from High Street (the Royal Mile). There may be street vendor booths/tents obscuring the entrance. Look at the Mary King's close sign above and next to the close entry point to enter. Once you enter the close, you must go through the restaurant in front of the attraction and turn right to enter the shop. When you go into the reception area you will find the machine just on your right hand side, it may be behind the door you just entered in.

No admission fee is required to use the penny machine. If you want to take the great underground tour, the admission prices are: Adult £13.25, Senior (60+) £11.75, Student (ID required) £11.75, Child (5 - 15 years) £7.75. This tour is not recommended for children under 5 years old.
Hours of operation: November 1st - March 29th Sunday - Thursday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm (17:00 last tour). Friday & Saturday 10:00 am - 9:00 pm (21:00 last tour). March 30th - October 31st Monday - Sunday 10:00 am - 9:00 pm (21:00 last tour).
Parking is non-existent.

This machine is within easy walking distance (round trip 1 mile) to the Edinburgh Castle, Camera Obscura, Edinburgh Old Town Weaving, Edinburgh Dungeons, National Museum of Scotland, and Museum on the Mound (Bank of Scotland) penny machines.

Both machines take cards only.
Both machines are now located in the gift shop which can be accessed via an alleyway close to the main entrance. No ticket purchase required

Machine 2 There are four designs available. Designs all have a beaded border:
1) (V) A thistle and a horseshoe with 'My Lucky Penny'.
2) (H) A person wearing a cape and plague mask behind the Mary King's Close logo with 'Edinburgh'.
3) (H) Mary King's Close logo with 'The Real... Edinburgh'.
4) (H) Edinburgh Castle on a hill with 'Scotland'.

Token Machine 1 is a National Tokens Token machine that costs £2 per token. Tokens are:
1) Rats
2) Plague Doctor

G.P.S. coordinates: Latitude 55° 56' 59.6364" Longitude: -3° 11' 26.6712"

2/17: Scan added. GSY.

7/8/2024: penny machine had a sign saying out of order but I took the risk and gave it a go and it was working perfectly, pressed four great coins.
11/24/24 - machine out of order and no power, staff didn’t know when it would be fixed. Token machine still works fine though.
21/04/2025 penny machine out of order even though it's turned on and flashing, shop assistant told me it's broken for the last 6 months and no one came to repair it.
I took a risk, payment accepted, preloaded coins were in the funnel, started spinning the wheel but nothing after happened neither did I got the pressed penny

9/9/26 - Walk down steps towards gift shop. Machine just outside the gift shop.