Covers the towns that sell their ghosts: the Deep South, the old Florida coast, Salem and Gettysburg.
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A ghost tour is a walk with a storyteller. That's most of it. A guide, a group, a route through the oldest streets in town and six or eight stops where somebody died badly or is said to have stayed on afterward.
We scored 107 of them across 23 of our cities, and the spread is wide. At the top you get a guide with a key: into the South Bridge vaults in Edinburgh, down to the cellar of the Jennie Wade House in Gettysburg with the lights off, through the gate of a New Orleans cemetery that's shut to everyone else after dark. At the bottom you get forty people on a corner at 7 p.m. in July, in full daylight, straining to hear a guide talk about a house they can't go into.
Same price, roughly. That's the problem.
The twelve below are the best by our Night Score, capped at three per city so London and Edinburgh don't eat the whole list. The score leans 40% on how much the dark actually matters to the tour, which is why a cheap walk with a locked door at the end can beat a famous one with 13,000 reviews. How it works is on our scoring page.
At a glance
Best overall
Jack the Ripper Evening Walking Tour, London, 8.1
Goes somewhere locked
City of the Dead's Double Dead, Edinburgh: vaults plus the Covenanter's Prison
Best in the US
Streets of Sin adults-only walk, New Orleans, rated 5.0
Cheapest good one
Barcelona's Ghosts, Legends & Dark History walk, $14.92 (€13.30) on sale
Best with kids
Spellbound's Salem walk or the Savannah candlelit walk, no minimum age
Skip
The comedy ghost buses, unless you want a show
On this page
The 12 best ghost tours, ranked
Ranked by Night Score across every city we cover, with no more than three from one place. Night Score = 30% rating, 10% review count, 20% price per hour, 40% how much the night is the point. How we score
The cheapest tour in the top twelve and the best rated, which is a rare combination. Meet the Street's walk starts at Aldgate Underground station and works through Whitechapel and Spitalfields for two hours. It was $20 (€17.90) today, marked down from $27 (€24), so it maxes out our value score at $10 (€8.90) an hour, and the guide's tip is included. What holds it back from a higher dark score is that it's a street walk: no doors, no cellar. Groups are large. If you only do one Ripper walk, do this one.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%8.4
Review countData · 10%8.2
Price per hourData · 20%10.0
After darkEditors · 40%7.0
What it is: A two-hour Ripper walk through Whitechapel and Spitalfields run by Meet the Street Tours, starting at Aldgate Underground station.
Good to know: Shown today at $20, struck through from $27. Guide and tips are included; moderate walking. The same operator sells a 90-minute version on Viator (4.9, 403 reviews, $34) that we did not record.
After dark: Sold and run as an evening walk, so the murder sites are seen under streetlight as the case files describe them.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on GetYourGuide on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
This is what a ghost tour should be. City of the Dead takes you into the South Bridge vaults and then into the Covenanter's Prison in Greyfriars Kirkyard, a locked section no other operator enters. The page caps groups at 6, so you're not peering over thirty heads in a stone room. It's rated 4.9 from 1,018 reviews and costs $35 (€31) for 1 hour 45 minutes. The catch is age: 12 and up only. It leaves from the tree beside St Giles' Cathedral and finishes at Greyfriars Bobby's Bar. More on the city's tours on our Edinburgh page.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%8.2
Review countData · 10%7.6
Price per hourData · 20%8.0
After darkEditors · 40%8.0
What it is: A 1 hour 45 minute City of the Dead Tours walk into the South Bridge vaults and the locked Covenanter's Prison in Greyfriars Kirkyard.
Good to know: Small groups (the page states a maximum of 6); minimum age 12. Leaves from the tree beside St Giles' Cathedral and ends at Greyfriars Bobby's Bar. The operator sells a separate daytime vaults tour, so this is its evening product.
After dark: Combines the South Bridge vaults with the locked Covenanter's Prison in Greyfriars, a section only City of the Dead tours enter.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on Viator on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
A dark-history walk around London Bridge, Borough Market and Southwark Cathedral that ends with a staged murder inside the George Inn, a 17th-century coaching inn on Borough High Street. It starts there too, two minutes from London Bridge station's Borough Market exit. At $27 (€24) for two to three hours it's strong value, and the 4.9 rating holds up across 932 reviews. Not for children 12 and under, and groups go up to 35, which is the weak spot. Pick it over a second Ripper walk.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%8.1
Review countData · 10%7.5
Price per hourData · 20%9.5
After darkEditors · 40%7.0
What it is: An interactive dark-history walk around London Bridge, Borough Market and Southwark Cathedral, starting and ending at the George Inn on Borough High Street.
Good to know: Meet at the George Inn, two minutes from London Bridge station (Borough Market exit); up to 35 per group. Not recommended for children aged 12 and under.
After dark: A night walk along the South Bank's darkest history that finishes with a staged recreation of a murder inside a 17th-century coaching inn.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on Viator on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
A perfect 5.0 from 2,164 reviews, the best rating on this page by a distance. Streets of Sin meets at the Jackson Square fence opposite St. Louis Cathedral and sticks to the darker French Quarter blocks for 1 hour 45 minutes. It's 17 and up, and they turn away anyone already drunk. What stops it ranking higher is the dark score: no building is entered, so it's stories on the street. $38 (€34), up to 28 people, drinks on sale at the last stop. If it rains hard they reschedule you rather than walk you through it.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%10.0
Review countData · 10%8.7
Price per hourData · 20%7.7
After darkEditors · 40%6.0
What it is: An adults-only true-crime and ghost walk by Streets of Sin, meeting at the Jackson Square fence opposite St. Louis Cathedral.
Good to know: Ages 17 and up; intoxicated guests are turned away. Drinks are sold at the last stop, no buildings are entered, and the tour is rescheduled for bad weather; up to 28 per group.
After dark: Murder and ghost stories told on dark French Quarter streets land harder than the same stops by day.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on Viator on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
The most-proven tour in the top twelve: 3,939 reviews at 4.8. SANDEMANs starts at 130 High Street, crosses South Bridge and climbs Calton Hill to the Old Calton Burial Ground, with the city lit up below, then comes down Jacob's Ladder to Canongate Kirkyard. Two hours, $32 (€29). No vaults, which is the difference from the Double Dead. Recommended for 10 and up, groups to 35, and it finishes at a pub on the Royal Mile where drinks are on you.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%7.1
Review countData · 10%9.6
Price per hourData · 20%8.9
After darkEditors · 40%7.0
What it is: A two-hour SANDEMANs ghost walk from 130 High Street via South Bridge, Calton Hill and Jacob's Ladder to Canongate Kirkyard.
Good to know: Recommended for ages 10 and up; up to 35 per group. Ends on the Royal Mile at a pub, where drinks are at your own expense. Also on GetYourGuide (t136052, 4.8, 1,497 reviews); we kept Viator for its review count.
After dark: An evening walk that climbs to Calton Hill and the Old Calton Burial Ground after dark, with the city lit below.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on Viator on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
One of the few tours here with a published start time: 8:00 p.m., from All Hallows by the Tower to the steps of St Paul's Cathedral. The City of London empties when the offices close, so the lanes in between are quiet in a way Whitechapel isn't. It's Meet the Street again, rated 4.9 from 952 reviews, $34 (€30) for two hours. Groups go up to 40, which is big. Not wheelchair accessible. You end outside St Paul's, so work out your way home before you start.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%8.1
Review countData · 10%7.5
Price per hourData · 20%8.7
After darkEditors · 40%7.0
What it is: A two-hour ghost-story walk by Meet the Street Tours from All Hallows by the Tower church to the steps of St Paul's Cathedral.
Good to know: Up to 40 per group; moderate walking, not wheelchair accessible. Ends outside St Paul's, so plan your own way home. Also sold on GetYourGuide (t56795, 4.9, 810 reviews); we kept this listing for its review count.
After dark: An 8 p.m. walk from the Tower to St Paul's through City lanes that empty out once the offices close.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on Viator on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
Savannah's best-proven walk: 4.9 from 3,565 reviews. Savannah History & Haunts carries candles through the squares from Chippewa Square, 17 W McDonough Street, and finishes at the gates of Colonial Park Cemetery. Gates, not inside: the city closes the cemetery at 5 p.m. in winter and 8 p.m. in summer. At $39 (€35) for 90 minutes it's the priciest hour in the top twelve, and tips aren't included, which is what drags its value score. Kids go with an adult at kid rates. Arrive 15 minutes early.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%8.8
Review countData · 10%9.5
Price per hourData · 20%7.0
After darkEditors · 40%6.5
What it is: A candlelit 90-minute ghost and history walk by Savannah History & Haunts from Chippewa Square (17 W McDonough Street) to Colonial Park Cemetery.
Good to know: Arrive 15 minutes early; gratuities are not included. Children with an adult, kid rates; up to 30; runs in all but severe weather.
After dark: Carried by candlelight through the squares, it needs the dark, and it ends at the gates of Colonial Park Cemetery.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on Viator on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
The late one. Ghostwalker starts at 9:00 p.m. from the southwest corner of Madison Square and hands out K2 EMF meters for a two-hour walk and hunt. It's 16 and up with no exceptions, capped at 16 people, and alcohol isn't allowed. $35 (€31). It ties the candlelit walk on score: a smaller review count (733) costs it, a later and darker start pays it back. Tips and any building entry aren't included. Pick this one if the candles sound too gentle.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%7.9
Review countData · 10%7.1
Price per hourData · 20%8.5
After darkEditors · 40%7.0
What it is: A two-hour ghost walk and hunt from the southwest corner of Madison Square, using the operator's K2 EMF meters.
Good to know: 16 and up, no exceptions; maximum 16. Guide tips and entry to homes, cemeteries or museums are not included; no alcohol or animals.
After dark: A 9 p.m. ghost hunt with K2 EMF meters, which only makes sense in the dark.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on Viator on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
Carpe Diem Tours meets under the Giordano Bruno statue in Campo de' Fiori, which is a good start for a walk about executions, and goes down Via Giulia to Castel Sant'Angelo. Those back lanes are close to empty after dark. Groups are capped at 20, you get a ghost-hunter kit, and it's $34 (€31) for two hours. Rated 4.9, but on 702 reviews, so the proven score is lower than the British tours. Late arrivals get no refund. The same walk also sells on GetYourGuide with more reviews.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%7.8
Review countData · 10%7.0
Price per hourData · 20%8.6
After darkEditors · 40%7.0
What it is: A Carpe Diem Tours ghost and dark-history walk from Campo de' Fiori through Via Giulia to Castel Sant'Angelo, with a ghost-hunter kit.
Good to know: Meets under the Giordano Bruno statue in Campo de' Fiori and ends at Castel Sant'Angelo, capped at 20; late arrivals get no refund. The same tour sells on GetYourGuide with more reviews, but that page could not be read today.
After dark: The back lanes of Via Giulia and Via di Monserrato are near empty after dark, which is what makes the executions and plague stories land.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on Viator on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
Spellbound's 90-minute walk leaves from the Revere Bell outside the Salem Visitor Center at 2 New Liberty Street, every evening, plus weekend afternoons. Rated 4.9 from 2,056 reviews, $28 (€25) here and $25 (€22) on GetYourGuide. Gratuities are included and children can come with an adult. The dark score is held at 6 because it's a street walk and because of those afternoon slots: book the evening one. Groups go to 40, and in October that's a lot of people around one guide. See our Salem page before you go in October.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%8.6
Review countData · 10%8.7
Price per hourData · 20%8.3
After darkEditors · 40%6.0
What it is: A 90-minute ghost, vampire and voodoo walk by Spellbound Tours from the Revere Bell outside the Salem Visitor Center, 2 New Liberty Street.
Good to know: Gratuities included; free cancellation up to 24 hours. Children must be with an adult; up to 40 per group. GetYourGuide sells the same tour from $25 with fewer reviews.
After dark: Run as a daily evening walk, when the old houses around the Common are dark and the stories carry.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on Viator on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
Forty-five minutes inside the Jennie Wade House after hours, down to the cellar with the lights switched off, then 45 minutes outside. Jennie Wade was the only civilian killed in the battle. That interior is why it has the joint-highest dark score here, and at $20 (€17.90) with admission included the value is excellent. The rating (4.8) and the smaller review count (390) keep it at eleventh. Capped at 10. Start at 778 Baltimore Street, not the gift shop. Reviewers say it repeats the daytime house tour, so do one or the other.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%5.8
Review countData · 10%6.1
Price per hourData · 20%9.6
After darkEditors · 40%8.0
What it is: A night ghost tour by Gettysburg Battlefield Tours that spends 45 minutes inside the Jennie Wade House, the home of the only civilian killed in the battle, then 45 minutes outdoors.
Good to know: Capped at 10; Jennie Wade House admission included. Starts at 778 Baltimore Street, not at the Jennie Wade gift shop; steps inside the house, not wheelchair accessible. Reviewers say it repeats the daytime house tour, so do one or the other.
After dark: You go inside the Jennie Wade House after hours, down to the cellar with the lights switched off, something a daytime museum visit does not give.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on Viator on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
Runner Bean times this one to nightfall, so the start moves with the season, and it means it: the execution sites and Inquisition stories of El Born and La Ribera are told in the dark. It meets under the Arc de Triomf, runs in all weather and uses a projector to show old images on the walls, with headsets so the back row can hear. $25 (€22) for two hours. Only 353 reviews, which is what keeps it last of the twelve. Not for children under 14.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%6.9
Review countData · 10%6.0
Price per hourData · 20%9.9
After darkEditors · 40%7.0
What it is: A Runner Bean Tours dark-history night walk through El Born and La Ribera, starting under the Arc de Triomf, with a projector for old images.
Good to know: Not suitable for children under 14. Runs in all weather; headsets are provided. The same tour sells on Viator (33923P1, 4.9, 191 reviews); I kept GYG for its larger review count.
After dark: It is timed to nightfall, so the execution sites, old cemeteries and Inquisition stories of El Born are told in the dark.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on GetYourGuide on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
Reserve links go to GetYourGuide or Viator. Booking through them can earn us a commission at no cost to you; it never changes a score or a rank. How we make money
What a ghost tour actually is
Ninety minutes to two hours on foot, usually. A guide meets you at a statue, a church or a bar, often with a lantern or a sign, and walks you between stops. At each stop you hear a story. Some guides lean on history and true crime, some lean on the supernatural, and the adults-only versions can go further into what actually happened to the people involved.
Most never go indoors. That's fine in a city where the street is the set, like the French Quarter or Whitechapel. The tours that rise to the top here are the ones that get you through a door that's locked after dark:
Edinburgh: the South Bridge and Blair Street vaults, and the Covenanter's Prison in Greyfriars.
Gettysburg: the cellars of the Jennie Wade House and the National Soldiers' Orphanage, both run by Gettysburg Battlefield Tours and both capped at 10.
New Orleans: the After Dark cemetery bus, which walks you into a cemetery (usually Odd Fellows Rest) for about 35 minutes.
Charleston: the Unitarian Church graveyard, Bethany Cemetery and the Old City Jail.
Prague: a 13th-century cellar and dungeon under the Old Town.
Then there are ghost hunts, where you carry an EMF meter around and wait for it to flicker, and ghost buses, which are mostly theatre on wheels.
What separates a good one from a dud
Is it actually dark? Sounds obvious. It isn't. GetYourGuide pages hide start times behind the booking calendar, and plenty of ghost tours run in the afternoon too. Salem's History and Hauntings walk is rated 4.9 from 16,502 reviews, but it runs day and evening departures, and only the lantern-light one is a ghost walk. Auld Reekie's vaults and graveyard tour in Edinburgh also runs earlier in the day. Pick the latest slot that suits you.
Does it go anywhere you can't? In a lot of ghost towns the cemeteries lock before the tours start. Savannah closes Colonial Park at 5 p.m. from November to March. Gettysburg's battlefield and National Cemetery close 30 minutes after sunset. Charleston's churchyards lock at dusk too. So the walk that "ends at the cemetery" usually ends at the gate. Read the itinerary for the word "inside".
How many people? City of the Dead caps at 6. Ghastly Ghosts in London takes up to 40, and so does Spellbound in Salem. In a vault or on a narrow close, forty people means the back row hears about a third of it.
Big review counts aren't everything. New Orleans' Premier Ghost, Voodoo and Vampire walk has 13,885 reviews and sits at 6.0 on a 4.6 rating. The adults-only walk on the same streets scores 7.8.
And the ghost buses. London's comedy horror bus is a one-hour show on a converted Routemaster, rated 4.4, and scores 4.8. Edinburgh's version does a bit better at 4.5. They're fun. They're not ghost tours.
Where ghost tours are best
Edinburgh first, for the vaults. Then the American South: Savannah for walks under the oaks, New Orleans for the cemeteries and the adults-only walks, and Charleston, where the peninsula is small enough to cover on foot. Gettysburg has the most ghost tours of any city we scored, 11 of them, and the two $20 (€17.90) house tours are the best night value in town.
London is the Ripper city and has a good Southwark walk too. Salem and St. Augustine have eight each, and both are walks past locked graveyards. Prague is the best of mainland Europe, with the underground tour, and Barcelona and Rome each put one walk in the top twelve.
Thin spots. Vienna has one, an English walk from the Albertina to St. Stephen's. Berlin's only one is in German. Amsterdam, Tokyo and Mexico City have nothing that cleared our bar, and the Venice walks we checked rated 3.8 and 3.9. Lisbon's only entry is in Sintra, not Lisbon.
What ghost tours cost
Most cost $20 to $40 (€17.90 to €36) a head, for 75 minutes to two hours. That covers all twelve of the top twelve. The cheapest decent one we found is Travel Bound's Gothic Quarter walk in Barcelona at $14.92 (€13.30) on sale, rated 4.7.
Florence has an odd one. The Dark Side of Florence shows $3.43 (€3.10), but that's a booking fee: it's a tip-based walk and the page says people give 10 to 50 euros. Budget for the tip.
Inside access and gear cost more. Savannah's indoor ghost hunt is $86 (€76) for 90 minutes. Gettysburg's midnight Devil's Hour investigation is $70 (€63) and finishes around 3 a.m. The Goodsprings ghost hunt from Las Vegas is $160 (€143), with dinner and transport. Cemetery buses run $46 to $56 (€41 to €50).
Check whether the tip is in. Meet the Street and Spellbound include it. Savannah History & Haunts and Ghostwalker don't.
Ghost tours with kids
Age limits are the real filter, and they're all over the place:
No minimum: Meet the Street's Ripper and Ghastly Ghosts walks, Spellbound in Salem, the Savannah candlelit walk, the Jennie Wade night tour, Carpe Diem in Rome.
From 5 or 6: Edinburgh's World Famous Underground Ghost Tour and Mercat's vaults (5), Prague's underground tour and Boston's Ghosts and Gravestones (6).
10 to 14: SANDEMANs Darkside (10), City of the Dead (12), Cloak and Dagger (13), Charleston Ghosts and Gravestones (13), Runner Bean in Barcelona (14).
Adults: Ghostwalker (16), Streets of Sin (17), Auld Reekie's Terror Tour and Savannah's Spirits and Scoundrels (18).
No minimum doesn't mean gentle. Reviewers say Charleston's Old City Jail tour is too gruesome for small children, and they're split on taking under-12s down the orphanage cellar stairs in Gettysburg. For a first one, I'd pick an early slot and a walk that stays outside.
Safety, and when not to bother
You're walking in the dark on old streets. Wear real shoes. Vault and cellar tours mean steep stairs and uneven floors, and the page for Auld Reekie's Terror Tour warns off anyone with claustrophobia. Ghost hunts that caravan between sites, like Gettysburg's After Dark Investigations, need your own car. In Gettysburg, don't park in the Brickhouse Inn lot; the researcher's notes flag towing there. Our night tour safety guide covers getting home.
Skip summer in the far north. Edinburgh isn't dark until 11:01 p.m. in June, so an evening graveyard walk there is a daylight walk. The vaults don't care. The graveyards do.
Think twice about Halloween week in Salem. Groups of 40, non-refundable Witch City tickets booked weeks ahead, and one Halloween-night reviewer of a Salem pub crawl never found the guide at all. Come the week before.
And if a city's ghost tours are all street walks past locked gates, one is plenty. Don't stack two.
Every other ghost tour we scored
The rest of the 107 ghost tours we scored, best first. They cleared our bar but lost out on score, or on the three-per-city cap. The 55 lowest scorers are on their city pages.
By our Night Score, Meet the Street's Jack the Ripper Evening Walking Tour in London (8.1), rated 4.9 and $20 (€17.90) on sale today. For a tour that gets you somewhere locked, City of the Dead's Double Dead in Edinburgh (8.0) goes into the vaults and the Covenanter's Prison.
Are ghost tours worth it?
The good ones are, and they're cheap: $20 to $40 (€17.90 to €36) for two hours with a storyteller. They're worth it most where the tour unlocks something you can't visit alone at night, like the Edinburgh vaults or the Jennie Wade House cellar. A big group on a street corner in daylight isn't.
Do ghost tours go inside cemeteries at night?
Rarely. Savannah's Colonial Park and Gettysburg's National Cemetery close before most tours start, so walks stop at the gates. The exceptions are New Orleans' After Dark cemetery bus, three Charleston tours, Boston's Ghosts and Gravestones trolley and City of the Dead in Edinburgh. Greyfriars Kirkyard itself is open 24 hours.
Are ghost tours scary for kids?
Depends on the tour. Many have no minimum age and pitch early slots at families. Others are 12, 13 or 16 and up, and a few are strictly 18+. Check the age limit before the theme; it tells you more about how graphic the guide will get.
Do you tip on a ghost tour?
Usually, yes, unless the listing says it's included. Meet the Street, Spellbound and Tour Charleston's graveyard walk include gratuities; Savannah History & Haunts and Ghostwalker don't. Tip-based walks like Florence's Dark Side charge only a booking fee and expect you to pay the guide.
