Salem Ghost Tour/from Boston
Six listings run to Salem from Boston. The one to book is the From Boston: Salem Witch Trials History Tour: 4.8 out of 5 across 32 reviews, 8 hours, from $190, leaving from North Station. It is the only one of the six that combines a full day with more than a handful of reviews behind it.
Before any of them: Salem is a commuter-rail stop. The train runs from North Station and the ride is 36 minutes on the September 2026 timetable, which is why the honest version of this page has to say what a guided day trip is actually buying you. Sometimes it is worth it. Often the answer is a $10 weekend pass and a local walk from $24 — and the ghost walking tour hub lists those.
Cheaper alternative: Boston to Salem by Train, from $135
Key takeaways
every guided trip from Boston
Six listings, from $135 to $385, and the spread is not about quality. What separates them is transport (coach or train), group size, whether Hammond Castle in Gloucester is bolted on, and how much of the day is yours. Three of the six carry fewer than fifteen reviews and one carries none at all, which the table shows as it stands.
Day trip, coach
from $190 · rated 4.8 · 32 reviews
bostonOur pick from Boston. Transport in, the trial sites, time free, transport back. The train is the free-form alternative; we lay out both.
Kids 5+Adults Not statedRain Not statedStroller No strollersOn foot Not statedCommuter rail in, guided walk in town. Timetable-bound; the coach tours are door to door.
Kids Not statedAdults Not statedRain Not statedStroller Not statedOn foot Not statedPrivate day trip
from $157 · rated 5.0 · 2 reviews
bostonprivatePrivate, flexible, castle included. Priced accordingly; the small-group day tour is the shared alternative.
Kids Not statedAdults Not statedRain Not statedStroller Not statedOn foot Not statedDay trip, two stops
from $225 · rated 4.6 · 12 reviews
bostonSplits the day with Hammond Castle. Less Salem time; the History Tour stays in town.
Kids Not statedAdults Not statedRain Not statedStroller Folding only; none at the castleOn foot Not statedPrivate history tour
from $354.69 · rated — · 0 reviews
bostonprivatePrivate guide, your pace. Costs more than a shared walk; the 1692 Walk is the public equivalent.
Kids Not statedAdults Not statedRain Not statedStroller Not statedOn foot Not statedDay trip, October
from $385 · rated 5.0 · 1 reviews
bostonoctoberBuilt for the October crowds, small group. Seasonal only; outside October take the History Tour.
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.
Day trip, coach · best for Sleeping in Boston
The only full day on this page with real evidence behind it: 4.8 out of 5 from 32 reviews, eight hours, from $190, meeting at citizenM by North Station. It is the witch-trials day trip rather than a general sightseeing run, which is what most people searching this actually want.
Against it: eight hours is the whole day, and $190 a head is more than five times the price of getting there yourself and booking a local walk — about $34 on a weekend. 32 reviews is respectable for this page and thin against the 858 the best local walk carries.
Day trip, train + walk · best for Rail over road
The train, sorted: it meets outside the Starbucks at North Station, rides the commuter rail out, and walks Salem for the rest of two and a half hours. From $135, 4.5 out of 5, and 59 reviews — more than any other listing on this page.
Against it: two and a half hours is a short day, and from $135 you are paying $125 over the weekend fare for the guiding and the not-thinking. If you are comfortable buying a rail ticket, the same day costs a great deal less.
Private day trip · best for A private car
A private day from $157 — which, oddly, is less than the semiprivate trip below it. Seven hours, Salem and Hammond Castle in Gloucester, meeting in the North End. If a private guide is what you want, nothing else here is close on price.
Against it: two reviews. That is not enough to tell you anything, and it is the reason this sits fourth on the page rather than second despite the rating. Hammond Castle is also in Gloucester, not Salem, so a good part of the day is the drive.
Day trip, two stops · best for Salem plus the castle
Small group rather than a coachload, eight hours, Salem plus Hammond Castle, from $225, meeting at the HI Boston hostel. Twelve reviews at 4.6, which is modest but real, and the semiprivate format is the difference people notice most.
Against it: from $225 is the third-highest price here, and the private trip above covers the same two places in seven hours from $157. Twelve reviews is thin evidence for the money.
Day trip, October · best for October from Boston
The only listing built for the season: a small-group Halloween-period day trip from Boston, eight hours, with pickup available. If you are coming for October specifically and do not want to sort the logistics of the busiest month, this is the one product aimed at you.
Against it: from $385 a head, and only one review so far — not enough to judge it on. That combination is the hardest sell on this site, and we would want to see it run a season before recommending it.
One of the six does not use a coach at all: Boston to Salem by Train meets outside the Starbucks at North Station and takes you on the commuter rail, then walks Salem for the rest of its two and a half hours. It is the shortest of the six and the cheapest, and it rates 4.5 across 59 reviews — more reviews than any other listing on this page.
What it does not give you is the full day: two and a half hours against eight for From Boston: Salem Witch Trials History Tour. If you want to be shown Salem and returned to Boston without thinking about it, take the full day; if you want the train sorted and the afternoon free, take this one and pick a local walk from the ghost walking hub.
the honest alternative
Salem is on the MBTA commuter rail, on the Newburyport/Rockport line out of North Station, and the ride is 36 minutes on the September 2026 timetable. The station is a ten-minute walk from the downtown grid where almost every local tour meets. When we checked, a weekend commuter-rail pass was $10 for unlimited travel across Saturday and Sunday; weekday single fares are higher, so check the MBTA’s own page for the day you are travelling.
So the arithmetic, for two people on a Saturday: $20 of train against $380 for the pair on our pick here, the full-day witch trials trip from $190 each. Add a local walking tour from $24 a head and you are at $68 for the day with a guide in Salem itself, against $380 for a guide who is with you from Boston and back. The cheapest listing on this page, the train trip, is $270 for two.
What the guided day buys, then, is not access — it is not having to plan it, a guide for the whole day rather than ninety minutes, and in two cases a second stop at Hammond Castle in Gloucester, which is genuinely awkward to reach without a car. On an October Saturday it also buys a seat: the trains fill and the town is at capacity.
If nothing above changed your mind, this is the one to book. It is the only full day on this page with a rating above 4.7 and more than a handful of reviews behind it, and it leaves from North Station. If the price is the problem, Boston to Salem by Train gets you there by train for less than three quarters of the price, and leaves the afternoon yours.
from $190 · rated 4.8 · 32 reviews
Or the cheaper alternative →It depends what you are buying. Salem is 36 minutes from North Station on the commuter rail, so a day trip is not buying you access. It is buying a guide for the whole day, no planning, and — on two of these listings — Hammond Castle in Gloucester, which is hard to reach without a car. If those are not what you want, the train plus a local walk from $24 does the same day for a fraction of the price.
36 minutes by commuter rail from North Station on the September 2026 timetable, on the Newburyport/Rockport line, and the Salem stop is a ten-minute walk from the downtown grid where the local tours meet. By road it depends entirely on the day: the guided trips here run seven to eight hours door to door, which tells you how much of that is the journey.
Two: the semiprivate day trip from $225 and the private one from $157. Hammond Castle is in Gloucester, not Salem, and it is the reason those two run eight and seven hours. Note the oddity in the prices — the private trip lists cheaper than the semiprivate one, though it carries two reviews against twelve.
Only one comfortably: the full-day witch trials trip at 4.8 from 32 reviews. The train trip has the most reviews of any listing here at 59, rating 4.5. After that the evidence thins fast — twelve reviews, then two, then one for the $385 October trip and none for the private history tour. We show them because they exist, not because we would send you to them first.
It depends what you are buying. Salem is 36 minutes from North Station on the commuter rail, so a day trip is not buying you access. It is buying a guide for the whole day, no planning, and — on two of these listings — Hammond Castle in Gloucester, which is hard to reach without a car. If those are not what you want, the train plus from $24 does the same day for a fraction of the price.
It depends what you are buying. Salem is 36 minutes from North Station on the commuter rail, so a day trip is not buying you access. It is buying a guide for the whole day, no planning, and — on two of these listings — Hammond Castle in Gloucester, which is hard to reach without a car. If those are not what you want, the train plus from $24 does the same day for a fraction of the price.
It depends what you are buying. Salem is 36 minutes from North Station on the commuter rail, so a day trip is not buying you access. It is buying a guide for the whole day, no planning, and — on two of these listings — Hammond Castle in Gloucester, which is hard to reach without a car. If those are not what you want, the train plus from $24 does the same day for a fraction of the price.
Pictured · From Boston: Salem Witch Trials History Tour review →
