The 11 Best Ghost Tours in Salem MA (Updated for 2024)

Salem Massachusetts is well known for the infamous 17th-century Salem Witch Trials, but the city is more than just witches. Salem is overflowing with a dark, creepy and macabre history.

If you are looking for the best ghost tours in Salem MA, the Witch City has so many fantastic ghost tours to choose from.

Spend your evening wandering around Salem’s historic colonial streets under the cover of darkness. Trailing alongside a historian and paranormal investigator with only the flickering luminescence of a lantern lighting your way.

Salem is the best Halloween destination for lovers of dark and disturbing history. Spend it seeking out the ghostly spirits that call Salem home.

Four headstones in the haunted cemetery in Salem Ma

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Please see my Privacy Policy for more information.

The 11 Best Ghost Tours in Salem Massachusetts

Witch City Walking Tours

The History & Hauntings of Salem Guided Walking Tour is one of the best ghost tours in Salem.

This tour takes you along the haunted seaport and the McIntire District and through the Old Burying Point Cemetery. The tour guides are amazing! I felt like I had made a friend by the end of the tour.

The scariest story was at the Joshua Ward House, one of the most haunted places in Salem, where we heard all about the lady in black. Our guide even showed us a photo that was taken of the spooky spirit who is suspected to be an accused witch.

One of the best parts of this tour is you will meet real practicing witches along the way!

What you need to know

The tour will have a maximum of 40 guests
Book in advance so you don’t miss out because tours will book quickly!

Book here: History & Hauntings of Salem Guided Walking Tour

The Salem Night Tour

One of the best ghost tours in Salem is, hands down, the Salem Night Tour. This tour walks you through some of the most haunted places in Salem while telling you the haunted history behind them.

You will learn the history of the hysteria behind the Salem Witch Trials, go to cemeteries and Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church, and walk among the Puritans’ unmarked graves. This tour is directed more toward history, so you have to take this tour if you are a history buff.

All of the tour guides are fun, informative and passionate when they tell you all about the history behind America’s Witch City.

Book here: The Salem Night Tour

What you need to know

This tour/activity will have a maximum of 40 travellers
Book in advance so you don’t miss out because tours will book quickly!

Salem Voodoo, Vampires, and Ghosts Guided Walking Tour

Salem’s history isn’t just filled with witchcraft, pirates and ghosts! Did you know that Salem has a voodoo and vampire history?

Spend the evening with historians and paranormal investigators walking around Salem’s most haunted sites. Learn about the dark history behind the Salem witch trials and the ghosts that remain from those dark years.

If you want to know the real history behind Salem’s witchcraft, ties with voodoo, vampires that once roamed the street and Salem’s ghosts, be sure to take the Salem Voodoo, Vampires and Ghosts Guided Walking Tour.

The tour takes you to locations where witch history events took place, even if the original building is no longer standing. The tour guides take you to places other tours miss and share personal ghostly experiences and all about the history that took place hundreds of years ago.

The tour guides are really knowledgeable, enthusiastic and great storytellers. So, if you are looking for a solid tour with excellent tour guides, this is the tour for you!

Book here: Salem Voodoo, Vampires, and Ghosts Guided Walking Tour

What you need to know

There is a maximum of 40 guests on this tour.
Book in advance so you don’t miss out because tours will book quickly!

Witch City Walking Tours

Tired of hearing about the Salem Witch Trials and wanting to spend an evening hearing about the other side of Salem’s history, you must check out the ever-terrifying Mysteries and Murders of Salem Guided Night-Time Walking Tour.

On this tour, you will hear tales of a famous hitman and stories of the Boston Strangler. Find out if he ever stepped foot in Salem – and what gruesome crimes he committed!

If you are looking for great storytelling about all of the scandals, murders and mysteries in Salem’s history, be sure to book the Mysteries and Murders of Salem Walking Tour! You won’t regret it.

What you need to know

Adults only Tour
The tour has a maximum of 40 guests
Book in advance so you don’t miss out because tours will book up fast!

Book here: Mysteries and Murders of Salem Guided Night-Time Walking Tour

Haunted Footsteps & Salem Historical Tours

Want to visit all of the spooky spots in Salem under the cover of darkness with only a lantern lighting your way? Look no further than the Salem Haunted Footsteps Ghost Tour.

The tour is the perfect blend of history and ghosts that get you off the beaten path – you will visit cemeteries, buildings and homes riddled with supernatural history.

You will hit the streets and discover places where accidental deaths and murders took place – where the ghosts still roam the halls trying to find out what happened to them in life.

The stories are authentic and never embellished! If you want real history, be sure to take this tour. Listen to knowledgeable guides who know the history of Salem’s dark past inside and out.

One of the best things about the Haunted Footsteps Ghost Tour?

Many of the tour guides have their own spooky experiences they will share with you! You will hear so many rarely heard tidbits exclusive to this tour.

It’s incredibly fun, and it won’t be too dark to take tons of pictures of the haunted places in Salem.

What you need to know

Book in advance so you don’t miss out because tours will book quickly!

Book here: Salem Haunted Footsteps Ghost Tour

US Ghost Adventures

Known for hitting up all of the haunted cities around the United States, US Ghost Adventures have come to Salem!

The Salem: Ghosts, Witches, & Warlocks Guided Walking Tour takes you through Salem’s many haunted sites offering honest stories with real history – with the spooky twist of real paranormal tales that have occurred in areas in Salem.

If you want to experience theatrics, this is not the tour for you. The guides are real and offer firsthand stories about all of the terrifying unexplained events that occur at places like The Witch House and Ropes Mansion.

Something absolutely adorable about taking a tour with US Ghost Adventures? They offer up plush ghost souvenirs that you can take home with you. How cute is that?

What you need to know

Book in advance so you don’t miss out because tours will book quickly!

Book here: Salem: Ghosts, Witches, & Warlocks Guided Walking Tour

Tours for Touring Tourists

If you are looking for stories of murder and mystery, look no further! Salem’s Spooky Specters Walking Ghost Tour provides all that and more.

Check out all of the most haunted places in Salem by visiting such places as the Old Salem Gaol, super haunted Pickman House and Wicked Good Books.

If you are looking for more than just a ghost tour, the Spooky Specters tour provides you with tales from Salem’s darker history. There are so many more macabre stories in Salem’s history than the Witch Trials.

If you are planning on taking this tour, I recommend you ask for the tour guide Euni! She is energetic and fun and gives you all the details on Salem’s sordid past.

Tours for Touring Tourists also have other really fantastic tours to check out if you want a combination of tours. They have a Triple Threat Combination Pass, which includes all three tours. They also have a Double Trouble Combination Pass, which is for both history and ghost tours.

What you need to know

This tour/activity will have a maximum of 120 travellers!
Book in advance so you don’t miss out because tours will book quickly!

Book here: Salem’s Spooky Specters Walking Ghost Tour

Secrets of Salem Tours

Do you love dark history? You must check out Salem’s Dark History: Witchcraft Hysteria Tour to fill your dark tourism curiosities.

Get off the beaten path and explore Salem’s haunted and spooky side. Ask for Maria, the tour guide – she is captivating and phenomenal and spends time explaining the small details of each location.

If you want to step back in time and feel like the Witch Trials of 1692 are coming alive, be sure to book the Dark History: Hauntings and Witchcraft Hysteria Tour.

What you need to know

The tour has a maximum of 25 travellers.
Book in advance so you don’t miss out because tours will book quickly!

Book here: Salem’s Dark History: Witchcraft Hysteria Tour

Black Cat Ghostly Night Tour in Salem

Travel to Salem’s most haunted sites with one of the best ghost tours in Salem – The Black Cat Ghostly Night Tour in Salem.

Not only will you learn about Salem’s most haunted places, but you will also hear about some of the most famous gothic New England authors, including Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

The tour guides are what make Black Cat Tours so great. They come dressed to the nines and make sure you have loads of fun while listening to all of Salem’s dark history.

While all of the tour guides are incredible, I really loved taking tours with Daniel and Olivia – so if you get onto one of their tours, you will be talking about how great the tour is all night!

Book here: Black Cat Ghostly Night Tour in Salem

What you need to know

There is a maximum of 40 guests on this tour.
Book in advance so you don’t miss out because tours will book quickly!

Witchwood Tours

So, Witchwood Tours Salem Forest Lore Tour isn’t a ghost tour, but it is so cool I had to include it. If you are interested in Salem’s Witch History, you will love this tour.

This tour takes you through Salem Woods and teaches you about the history, folklore and science behind Salem’s flora and fauna. You will feel like a modern-day witch and learn the magic behind all of the plants and mushrooms that line the forest floors.

Make sure you wear your walking shoes!

Book here: Salem Forest Lore Tour

What you need to know

Tours do not run in the rain or snow due to trail conditions
The tour has a maximum of 15 travellers

WalknTours

If you are looking for a haunted walking tour where you can go at your own pace, you must take WalknTours Self-Guided Smartphone Ghost Walking Tour in Salem.

The tour guide on this ghost walking tour is your phone! WalknTours has an app that guides you from haunted location to haunted location, giving you the spooky history in an entertaining way.

The narrator is hilarious and entertaining, and the tour features theatrical and fun music to accompany your spooky adventure. You won’t get lost because the app guides you very clearly in the direction of the next location.

What makes this tour one of the best ghost tours in Salem? You can pause the tour and continue taking it any time you want, which means you can stop at museums like the Witch House and then resume the tour once you are done with your museum visit. Want to take this spooky ghost tour at 6 a.m. and beat the crowds? You can!

I recommend bringing your headphones to drown out the world around you and get the full immersive experience. Also, this is perfect if you want to stay socially distant from others while wandering around Salem.

Book here: Self-Guided Smartphone Ghost Walking Tour in Salem

What you need to know

1 purchase works on 4 smartphones
No physical tour guide – the tour is run on your smartphone.

More Spooky and Haunted Things to Do in Salem Massachusetts

More Ghost Tours around the USA