Salem Ghost Tour/at night
For most people the best Salem ghost tour after dark is the Salem Night Tour: Haunt and History. It carries more reviews than any other tour on this page — 724 at 4.5 out of 5 — and it is 1.5 hours that ends in the centre of town rather than out at the edge. Everything below is the case for it, and the honest cases against.
This hub is about the clock, not the tone. Which of the after-dark tours is a walk, which is a pub crawl with a drink in hand, which hands you equipment in a burying ground, and how much darkness you actually get on the date you are booking. For choosing between the walks by what they talk about, the ghost walking tour hub compares them on that.
Cheaper alternative: Voodoo, Vampires and Ghosts, from $25
Key takeaways
every tour that runs after dark
Thirteen Salem tours run after dark. The eleven below are the ones this page compares; History and Hauntings and the true-crime Mysteries & Murder lead the ghost walking hub instead. They differ in three things that matter at night: the format, the age rule, and how long you are on your feet. Start times are the one thing no listing publishes as a timetable — GetYourGuide shows them per date in the calendar — so this page compares what is published, and the booking panel below answers what is running tonight.
Evening walk, stories
from $30 · rated 4.5 · 724 reviews
nightstoriesThe shorter evening, and the easiest first night. Stories first, and it ends downtown. It is also the busiest, so October dates go early; History and Hauntings is the longer walk over the same streets.
Kids Not statedAdults Not statedRain Rain or shineStroller Not statedOn foot Not statedBroader lore, vampires and voodoo alongside the ghosts. Thin on the trials; pair it with a daytime 1692 walk if you want both.
Kids Not statedAdults Not statedRain Not statedStroller Not statedOn foot Not statedStories between bars. Adults only, so a family evening needs the Night Tour; a group of friends needs nothing else.
Kids 21+Adults 21+ onlyRain Rain or shineStroller Not statedOn foot Not statedEvening walk, theatrical
from $24 · rated 4.3 · 446 reviews
nighttheatricalMost theatrical of the set, a costumed guide and staged moments. Not for anyone wanting the record; for that, cross to the 1692 walks.
Kids All agesAdults Not statedRain Rain or shineStroller Not statedOn foot Not statedQuieter streets, mansions and gardens. Less downtown bustle, which also means fewer landmarks; the Night Tour covers more center.
Kids Not statedAdults Not statedRain Not statedStroller Not statedOn foot Not statedStraightforward classic. Route overlaps heavily with the others, so pick it by time slot rather than by content.
Kids Family-friendly, dark themesAdults Not statedRain Rain or shineStroller Not statedOn foot Not statedLate-night walk
from $26.06 · rated 4.3 · 37 reviews
nightlateLatest start of the set, emptiest streets. Late means cold in October; the pub crawl is the warm late alternative.
Kids Not statedAdults Not statedRain Not statedStroller Not statedOn foot Not statedExtended evening walk
from $30 · rated 3.8 · 45 reviews
nightlongThe longest of the after-dark walks, with props and costume. Long on foot; for tired legs the standard-length Night Tour is the alternative.
Kids Not statedAdults Not statedRain Rain or shineStroller Not statedOn foot Over a mileGhost hunt, equipment
from $36 · rated 3.9 · 21 reviews
nighthuntingEquipment in hand, a burying ground at night. Slower and quieter than a stories walk; if you want narration, this is not it.
Kids Not statedAdults Not statedRain Not statedStroller Not statedOn foot Not statedEvening walk, waterfront
from $34.99 · rated 4.4 · 10 reviews
nightharborOnly walk built around the waterfront. Wind off the harbor is real; dress for it or stay inland with the Night Tour.
Kids 16+Adults Not statedRain Rain or shineStroller Not statedOn foot Not statedWalk, objects shown
from $32 · rated 4.8 · 12 reviews
vampireobjectsObjects passed around make it tactile. Runs in daylight slots too, which weakens the mood; take an evening slot.
Kids Not statedAdults Not statedRain Not statedStroller Not statedOn foot Not statedSelf-guided · dusk or daylight
Free · no guide, no booking
Verdict · The memorial, the old burying ground and the Witch House exterior are open air. Go at dusk and you have the mood for free. You do not get the stories, the order, or a guide who knows which door to stop at.
Kids YesRain Your callStroller Brick sidewalksOn foot As far as you likeKids, adults-only, rain policy, stroller access and distance on foot come from each listing and are shown as written there. Where the listing is silent, we say so on the review page rather than guess.
Evening walk, stories · best for A first night in Salem
The walk most people mean when they say a Salem ghost tour. Ninety minutes, stories told rather than staged, and a route that comes back to where it started, at 127 Essex Street, rather than leaving you at the edge of town. It carries more reviews than any other after-dark listing in Salem: 724.
Against it: it is the busiest, so October dates sell out first and the group is rarely small. If you want a quieter evening, the Haunted Footsteps walk covers the residential streets instead.
Pub crawl, stories · best for Adults, late start
The only after-dark listing with a drink in it: four of its eight stops are pubs, and the guide tells the haunted history of each between rounds. Two hours, and the listing states a Devil’s Touch cocktail and drinking games along the way.
Against it: the listing lists people under 21 as not suitable and says you must bring valid ID to buy alcohol, so it is not an option for a family evening. At 4.1 it also rates below the best of the walks, though above several of them.
Ghost hunt, equipment · best for Hands-on, small group
A ghost hunt rather than a guided walk: the listing sells equipment in your hands rather than a route, and it runs an hour and a half from 32 Derby Square — the corner History and Hauntings and Mysteries & Murder also use.
Against it: 21 reviews at 3.9 is the thinnest evidence of anything on this page, and a hunt is a slow format — if you want a guide who narrates for ninety minutes, the Night Tour is that and has 724 reviews behind it.
Late-night walk · best for The latest start
The shortest after-dark listing in Salem at one hour, and the only one whose name sells the late slot rather than the subject. It starts at 210 Essex Street, the downtown end, so it is an easy add to an evening that already has something in it.
Against it: 37 reviews, and the listing publishes no stop list, so there is no way to know the route before you book. An hour is also short for the price beside the ninety-minute walks.
Extended evening walk · best for Wanting the longest walk
The longest on this page: two hours and, in the listing’s own words, over a mile on foot. If ninety minutes has felt thin on a previous visit, this is the listing that answers that, and it runs rain or shine.
Against it: 3.8 from 45 reviews is the lowest rating of the after-dark set, and over a mile after dark on brick is a real ask. For tired legs the Night Tour covers the centre in half the time.
One listing in Salem sells a ghost hunt rather than a guided walk: Specters and Apparitions Ghost Hunting Tour, an hour and a half with equipment in your hands, from 32 Derby Square. It has 21 reviews at 3.9 out of 5 — the thinnest evidence on this page — so it is here because it is what the search asks for, not because we would send you to it first.
If what you want is narration rather than instruments, the ghost hunt is the wrong booking: take the Salem Night Tour: Haunt and History instead, or cross to the witch trials hub for the daytime record.
booking for this evening
If you are in Salem now and want something this evening, the calendar in the booking panel below is the only live answer: it shows the slots actually running today, on today’s date, and a tour that is full simply does not appear. That is worth two minutes before you walk to a meeting point, because the listing for our pick says in its own words that space is limited and advance booking is strongly suggested.
Any evening slot from about seven onward is dark through October — sunset in Salem falls from 18:24 on 1 October to 17:37 on the 31st, and the clocks go back on 1 November. An earlier slot is not a worse tour, it is a different one: you see the houses and the carved dates, and the dark arrives during the walk.
Every tour on this page meets in the centre, within a few minutes of each other and of the commuter rail station, so a late decision costs you a short walk rather than a taxi. Walks run in most weather; brick sidewalks are uneven and wet leaves make them slick, so wear shoes you can walk a mile in. On an October weekend, book before you travel rather than tonight — that is when the after-dark slots go first.
If nothing above changed your mind, this is the one to book. It is ninety minutes, the most reviewed of the evening walks, and it ends in the centre rather than out at the edge of town. If your date shows sold out, Voodoo, Vampires and Ghosts is the cheaper evening over much the same streets.
from $30 · rated 4.5 · 724 reviews
Or the cheaper alternative →None of the listings publishes a fixed timetable: GetYourGuide shows the times that are actually running on the date you pick, and they change through the season. What does not change is the sky. In Salem the sun sets at 18:24 on 1 October and 17:37 on 31 October, with full dark about half an hour later, so an evening slot booked for late October is dark from the first stop. On 1 November the clocks go back and sunset falls to 16:36.
Yes. The Boos and Brews Haunted Pub Crawl lists people under 21 as not suitable, and the listing states you must bring valid ID to buy alcohol. Every other after-dark tour on this page is a walk with no drink attached.
The listings do not publish their last slot, so this page will not rank them by it. Two are named for the late end of the evening — the Edge of Twilight Dead of Night Ghost Tour and the Ghosts of the Witch City Ultimate Extended, which is also the longest on foot. The calendar on either listing is the only honest answer for a given date.
Where a listing states an age rule it is in the table above, and most of them state nothing at all. The pub crawl is the one hard limit: 21+. Most of the walks are told rather than performed — Witches & Wicked Whispers is the one that stages it, with a costumed guide — and the ghost hunt is an hour and a half of standing and waiting, which suits some children and not others.
None of the listings publishes a fixed timetable: GetYourGuide shows the times that are actually running on the date you pick, and they change through the season. What does not change is the sky. In Salem the sun sets at 18:24 on 1 October and 17:37 on 31 October, with full dark about half an hour later, so an evening slot booked for late October is dark from the first stop. On 1 November the clocks go back and sunset falls to 16:36.
None of the listings publishes a fixed timetable: GetYourGuide shows the times that are actually running on the date you pick, and they change through the season. What does not change is the sky. In Salem the sun sets at 18:24 on 1 October and 17:37 on 31 October, with full dark about half an hour later, so an evening slot booked for late October is dark from the first stop. On 1 November the clocks go back and sunset falls to 16:36.
None of the listings publishes a fixed timetable: GetYourGuide shows the times that are actually running on the date you pick, and they change through the season. What does not change is the sky. In Salem the sun sets at 18:24 on 1 October and 17:37 on 31 October, with full dark about half an hour later, so an evening slot booked for late October is dark from the first stop. On 1 November the clocks go back and sunset falls to 16:36.
Pictured · Salem Night Tour: Haunt and History review →
