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Escape The Past

Escape The Past

Escape The Past
5
About
Award-winning historical escape rooms set on the edge of Edinburgh's old surgical district, 5 minutes from the Royal Mile. Immerse yourself in Edinburgh's dark past as you descend into a world of grave robbery, mystery and malpractice. Dare you enter the study of a 19th Century anatomist or take on the cunning Deacon Brodie - Edinburgh's original Jekyll & Hyde? Truly immersive experiences for friends, families and colleagues alike. Suitable for groups of 2-14 people, ages 12+. Advanced booking required.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Southside & Holyrood
Many of Edinburgh’s student hangouts gather around university buildings in Southside, the sort of neighbourhood that supports a long string of second-hand shops and eateries serving ethnic food for just a few pounds. In August the student population is replaced by vast numbers of boisterous visitors here for the Fringe, Edinburgh’s world-class comedy and arts festival which headquarters itself here. Flanking Southside are two great parks. The Meadows is a vast flat and sporty space where football, rugby, tennis, cricket, croquet, and golf often all take place side by side. Kids in its big playgrounds add to the joyful noise. Far bigger and much wilder, Holyrood Park extends to the east and provides a real hike up Arthur’s Seat, but the district is best known as the site of Scotland’s Parliament and its premier Royal Palace—and their steady stream of sightseers.
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See what travellers are saying
  • madsim68
    Stirling, United Kingdom3 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great Escape room!
    Fantastic from start to finish ( probably helped by the fact that we “escaped”in reasonable time!). Sandy was an engaging host, explained the premise for the one in our group of six who hadn’t done an escape room before. The set was well thought through, and clues catered for all age groups. Would highly recommend and would love to do it again!
    We are so glad you enjoyed your time with us, and will be sure to pass on your kind words to Sandy, thank you for the 5 stars!
    Written 13 October 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 11 October 2023
  • Axel Carlsson
    9 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Now THIS is a fantastic Escape Room
    I have been to dozens of escape rooms, and used to work in one. This one is up there. It's clear the game designers adore escape games. The puzzles were creative, had good difficulty, and most notably: They worked the way they should! From my previous experiences, I have to stress how rare that is. Our game master was Beth, and she was an absolute star. Both theatrically immersive, and very helpful and informative. It's a tough skill to make guests feel both at ease, yet on their toes at the same time. Beth definitely managed it!
    Thank you for taking the time to leave us such a wonderful review, your feedback means a lot to us especially as an experienced games master and game player. We shall be sure to pass on your kind words to Beth :)
    Written 21 October 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 16 October 2023
  • Josephine A
    11 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Best Escape Room Ever
    We absolutely loved this escape room. The clues were difficult but not so much that we struggled with the two of us. Beth was an absolutely amazing host, and the theming of the room was wonderfully spooky. I would definitely recommend this to anyone visiting Edinburgh. I have done a fair few escape rooms before, and this is my absolute favourite by far.
    Thank you for taking the time to leave us such a fantastic review, we are so pleased to hear you loved our room and will be sure to pass on your kind words to Beth.
    Written 29 October 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 21 October 2023
  • Jonathan N
    2 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A cut above
    I have done three escape rooms prior to this one and completed them all, but this one bested us! It is certainly the most well crafted escape room I have ever been in and I also thought - despite not completing it in time - it was the most fun. There are just lovely details to the production and the story is great too. Clever puzzles that are just the right level of difficulty, and we would have been ok if we hadn’t just run out of time. Beth was a brilliant host, in and out of character. She set the mood perfectly and supported us throughout and brought the whole thing to life really well. Would definitely recommend for enthusiasts and newbies alike. Jo
    Sorry to hear that you got caught by Doctor Malcolm, we are glad you seem to have gotten away safely enough to leave us such a wonderful review! We shall be sure to pass on your kind comments to Beth :)
    Written 29 October 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 22 October 2023
  • NorthStar23467269653
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    We will be back !!
    The two of us went to The Anatomist escape room. We were a bit apprehensive as we’ve never been to an escape room! Beth the caretaker was excellent,putting us at ease, explained the setup in the room. She was really good fun and helpful during our time in the Escape Room. The room was amazing ,the special effects were great without giving away to much detail. I did manage to dismantle somewhat that wasn’t part of a puzzle ! Beth was very relaxed . She told us we had done well compared to other newbies who had been before and walked us thro the room after we ran out of time . Beth s caretaker character was brilliant and an excellent games master. Highly recommended experience. Thanks Beth , Ann&IainMay
    Thank you for taking the time to write us a 5 star review! You are more than welcome to return and we will be sure to pass on your kind comments to caretaker Beth :)
    Written 29 October 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 26 October 2023
  • Robert J
    Glasgow, United Kingdom6 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    The best Escape Room experience I have ever had!
    We had an awesome time solving the inventive and challenging puzzles! Very well done. Julia our host was very engaging and attentive. Would highly recommend this as a fun 1 hour family outing especially as a add on to the surgery museum nearby.
    Thank you for taking the time to leave us a 5 star review! We shall pass your lovely feedback onto Julia
    Written 31 October 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 30 October 2023
  • Manon W
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A fantastic, immersive experience into the history of Edinburgh!
    This was our first escape room and it was so much fun! I loved that it was specific to the history of the city—the clues, tasks, and puzzles, and ambiance were really well done. Our gamemaster, Oran, was really fantastic and dynamic. They were great to chat with and helpful with subtle clues when we were struggling! Customer service was also amazing from the team. We had to reschedule our booking due to rail works, and they were generous in rebooking us.
    Wow, what a kind review! We're so glad you enjoyed your experience with us and we will be sure to pass your kind words along to Oran!
    Written 10 November 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited November 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 8 November 2023
  • Jessica S
    Cincinnati, Ohio50 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    I LOVE e-rooms!
    Perfect escape room, location, in a basement! Beth, our gamemaster, was perfect! She provided guidance, but didn’t give us the answers! Great theme, love that it was not linear! Great for small and large groups! Thanks to Chris, the manager, for his assistance in scheduling!
    Thank you for taking the time to leave us a 5 star review! We are so pleased you enjoyed your experience with us today and will be sure to pass on your kind words to the team.
    Written 17 November 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited November 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 17 November 2023
  • Lucinda P
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Excellent quality challenge.
    My third Escape room in Edinburgh - the Anatomist was extremely enjoyable and suitably challenging. High quality props and Beth our ‘host’ was an excellent 17th century housekeeper. Just the right amount of prompting when we were struggling. Although I remembered my glasses the lighting was dim to create atmosphere, which I occasionally struggled with. There was also a bit of crawling in a confined space for one of the team.
    Thank you for taking the time to leave such a lovely review! Glad you had your glasses, and we will be sure to pass this along to Beth!
    Written 10 December 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited December 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 10 December 2023
  • Pete1962
    70 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Brilliant fun team event
    Brilliant event, cleverly structured to test your detective skills. Rooms were well designed with lots to do. Lots of opportunities for both team and individual puzzle solving. Great host “Julia”, excellent briefing and helpfully let us know when we had solved a clue.
    Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this lovely review, we will be sure to pass it along to Julia!
    Written 16 January 2024
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited December 2023
    Travelled on business
    Written 11 December 2023
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles401 reviews
Excellent
393
Very good
7
Average
2
Poor
0
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0

Mike
7 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2022 • Couples
As a pair we have done a number of escape rooms. The game was non linear which isn’t usually one that we would go for but from the reviews we had seen online we decided to give it a go as part of our holiday. We we greeted by Bliss who was warm, welcoming and got to know us before starting to explain the room. The room was very good, greatly themed and with a lot of puzzles which were mixing in complexity. Would strongly recommend to anyone who’s either seasoned at escape rooms and wants one which is nice and not super taxing. I would also highly recommend it to anyone who was looking to try and escape room without doing one which is super hard first up.

Thanks,

Mike and Sam 👍
Written 13 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wow, thank you for such a lovely and detailed review! We really appreciate the kind words, especially for our Games Masters. We're so glad you enjoyed your visit to The Anatomist.
Written 15 April 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

HarleyQuinnDav
Sete, France10 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2020
We had such a great time! The atmosphere is spooky, the decoration is gorgeous and the puzzles were so clever and diverse. Amy/Gerogie was an amazing game master and she brought us back in time to make the experience fully immersive.
You know this feeling when you finish a book and wish you could forget it to read it for the first time again? That is what Escape the past made me feel like!
Written 18 November 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi, What an incredible review! Thank you so much for your kind comments, we are so glad you enjoyed your experience with us. In these strange times we are very glad we could transport you back in time, thank you for brining your imagination and code cracking skills to the table! You were a joy to have. Congrats on your escape! - Georgie
Written 20 November 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Simon H
8 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021
As a team of five escape room newbies, we had no idea what to expect. A couple of us were sceptical about the whole idea, but from the moment our guide went into character we were hooked. The Anatomist is beautifully set up - atmospheric and clever, with lots of puzzles. You can work on several in parallel, so your team can split into smaller groups, but many of them are linked into a bigger puzzle - the threads come together at the end.

While some puzzles were easy, several were quite challenging and involved. Overall there's enough here to challenge everyone. We thought we were doing great, but we escaped with less than five minutes left on the clock!

Also a shout out to our guide, who was brilliant: really welcoming and encouraging throughout. We had a great experience from start to finish, and would recommend it without hesitation.
Written 6 July 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi, thank you so much for your great review and wonderful comments about your experience. We are so glad that you enjoyed our set-up and had fun solving our wide variety of puzzles. Congratulations to you and your team on a successful escape!
Written 24 October 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

shahinc
Greater Manchester, UK2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2020
The whole thing is brilliant- the theme, the props, the sights, sounds and even the smells. Very authentic. The attention to detail is superb ,the great variety of puzzles are well thought out ,enjoyable and challenging. Would highly recommend to friends and family. Staff are great too professional and engaging. A great way to spend an afternoon.
Written 13 September 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for such a lovely review! We're so glad you enjoyed the experience, good nose on those smells! Well done for taking on the challenge and making your escape! Georgie
Written 19 October 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Scottish Wanderer
5 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2022 • Couples
Loved this escape room! One of the lesser known ones in Edinburgh, I think because this location offers just the one room, but it was brilliant. The decoration was elaborate and immersive, the puzzles were diverse and true to the story. Our games master was wonderful (I sadly can't remember her name, but she had red hair and looked like Willow from Buffy!) and gave us just the right amount of help. The only thing I would change is having a clock somewhere to show how much time we had left, even a grandfather or carriage clock, just so we could refer to it. I would love to do it all again if we could!
Written 17 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you so much for the lovely review! We're so glad you enjoyed your experience. I believe we know who that games master was, and will pass on the kind words. Thanks for the suggestion on time-keeping, as it happens, Dr Malcolm's grandfather clock should have been counting down the remaining time. Apologies if this wasn't the case for your group, but we're delighted to hear you had an excellent time nonetheless!
Written 19 March 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Lara Brown
3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2021
We were looking for some fun things to do in the lead up to Hallowe'en, and finally booking this escape room seemed like a no brainer - especially after it'd been so highly recommended. I've visited most escape rooms in Edinburgh and this one stands out as having one of the best themes I've seen - I loved the historical side to it and it was really nicely put together. We stumbled over a few things but all the puzzles made sense once it'd clicked, and it only added to the tension!

The staff were also fantastic - I had a few worries over a certain phobia of mine so emailed in advance, and the response was super quick and friendly. Sophia was great and stayed in character the whole time, which I loved. Thank you so much for being a lovely host and hopefully we get to return one day to try a new room!

Team "Knife Finds a Way".
Written 25 October 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi, Thank you for taking the time to leave such a lovely review. We're so glad that you enjoyed the room and its historic theme!
Written 17 December 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

nikkitukatz
Manchester, UK4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2023
We stayed in Edinburgh for 3 days and did loads of things but this was by far our top favourite thing all weekend! ITS SO GOOD! My daughter has done escape rooms before but it was my first one and it did not dissapoint. Julia was our gamesmaster and was brilliant!! The minute you walk through the door and meet the gamesmaster you feel instantly in the story and the gamesmaster is right in character the whole time. I didnt know what to expect - but I enjoyed it so much! The theme was perfect and the level of difficulty was really challenging and exciting! We were actually getting distracted by how beautiful the room, historical props and puzzles had been designed :) So good! Transports you right into the grizzly past of Edinburgh!
Written 5 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wow, thank you so much for such a lovely review! We will be sure to pass your compliments along to Julia.
Written 6 June 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Donald W
3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Friends
This was my first visit to an escape room and I wasn’t disappointed. It was slick and professional from start to finish, with just the right balance of difficult but solveable puzzles. I don’t want to give the story away but it is rooted in the murky history of Edinburgh’s medical past and was both intriguing and a bit scary without being terrifying! There has clearly been a huge amount of care put into developing this challenging and fun experience and I would recommend it to anyone.
Written 9 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for taking the time to leave us such a wonderful and detailed review, we are so pleased that you enjoyed your time within Edinburgh's murky past.
Written 9 August 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

anatomic
Kinross, UK320 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2021
A fantastic experience heightened by a great GM and fantastic authentic location. We love escape rooms and have done lots in Edinburgh and this is currently in our top three. It was challenging and fund and immersive, everything you want from a great escape room. The GM was in character throughout which was great, and she also took us through the room at the end, chatting about different aspects of it. Very impressed.
Written 3 October 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you so much for your lovely review. We're very happy to have made it into your top three! Our GMs put a lot of work into making the experience immersive for our players, so we really appreciate this feedback!
Written 6 December 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Scott G
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2024 • Friends
Rosie was fantastic, she helped make our first visit to an escape room fantastic. I would recommend anyone visit when they can, we went with 3 players and only just managed to figure it out in time! Rosie is funny, in character and wants the best for the players while letting them struggle and figure it out in their terms.
Written 27 July 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for taking the time to leave us a 5 star review! We will be sure to pass on your kind words to Rosie
Written 29 July 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

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ESCAPE THE PAST (2025) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

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