This Boston Ghosts and Gravestones Tour review is 100% my opinion. I received a complementary ticket to the tour for myself and a guest. This post contains affiliate links, which earn me a small income so I can continue offering free family travel advice.
When I was a kid, my dad and I watched scary movies every chance we got. We formed the “Spook Club,” complete with a secret handshake and weekly scary movie screenings. So when I recently traveled to Boston, it felt like Young Me’s dream come true to go on a real-live ghost tour.
The Boston Ghosts and Gravestones Tour was not only majorly creepy; it was also historically accurate. I ended up learning about Boston’s dark past: serial killers, grave robbers, haunted lighthouses and more!
If you’re looking for weird things to do, this ghost tour in Boston review has all the details you need—the good, the bad, and, yes, the scary!
Ghosts and Gravestones Tour Boston: The experience
This Boston Ghost Tour starts out on the Trolley of the Doomed, an open-air trolley that takes its passengers to some of the city’s darkest spots. A totally creepy tour guide—in the full-on persona of a murdered character—gets you in the spooky spirit.
My friend Eugenia and I made the mistake/totally awesome decision to sit right in the front of the Trolley of the Doomed. Why was it a mistake? We were the closest, easiest “victims” to our tour guide.
Dressed as a murdered gravedigger, our Boston Ghost Tour guide stalked around the trolley—and at one point pulled out a gift for me: an eyeball!
Although making eye contact with a seemingly deceased, definitely crazy tour guide was risky, it made the experience a lot more fun. The cast members of the Boston Ghosts and Gravestones Tour all committed to their personas!
A Boston ghost graveyard tour: What to expect
On the trolley, you’ll travel to several spooky sites in Boston. Expect to get out of the trolley to walk a few blocks to each location on this Boston haunted tour.
Your tour guide will tell true stories about the grisly happenings of days gone by—and you’ll be right in the midst of where they happened!
Our tour guide was engaging—and hilarious. He got everyone involved and made us crack up with clever, and sometimes off-color, jokes.
The tour lasted an hour and 40 minutes, leaving us back where we started.
Ghosts tour in Boston: The good and the bad
The storytelling on the Ghosts and Gravestones Boston tour was terrific: We were hanging on every word, waiting to hear the end to each haunted tale. This certainly makes it one of the best ghost tours in Boston and I definitely came away a lot smarter about Boston’s history.
I noticed that one woman, who was older, had a hard time keeping up with the group as we walked from the parked Trolley of the Doomed to the haunted Boston houses and sites. To get to all the sites within the tour’s time, we walked rather quickly, and she looked worn out by the end. So I couldn’t recommend the Ghosts and Gravestones Tour to people with mobility issues.
This Boston ghost tour also doesn’t allow children under the age of 6 for clear reasons: The tour is definitely scary, and it involves a few jump scares (someone popping out unexpectedly). The company recommends that kids under 13 stay at home, and I totally agree. I wouldn’t have felt comfortable bringing littles or pre-teens in part because of suggestive and grisly jokes, as well as the occasional swear word.
Ghosts and Gravestones Tour: Boston logistics
If you’re intrigued by the idea of joining one of these ghost tours in Boston, and touring haunted sites with a murdered gravedigger, here are the details you need:
- You’ll need to make a reservation for most haunted tours in Boston. On the weeknight I went on the tour, two of the three tours were sold out. You can buy Ghosts and Gravestones tickets here.
- The tour leaves from Boston’s Long Wharf. Look for the Old Town Trolley Tours green and orange sign, next to Tia’s, at 200 Atlantic Ave.
- Tickets cost $42 for adults and $37 for kids 6-12. (Remember my caveat above, on who I don’t recommend the tour to). A portion of each ticket sale goes to the Boston Historic Burying Grounds Initiative, which preserves the landmarks you’ll visit on the tour.
The bottom line: I would definitely do another ghost tour in Boston! I hope my Ghosts and Gravestones Tour review helped you decide if you’re ready to be terrified on a tour—or would rather stay on the safer tourist track.
If you’re in Boston and like things off the beaten path, check out my post on weird things to do in Cambridge, too!
I LOVED all of the historical ghost stories (so many amazing ones!) when I lived in Boston and can’t wait to go back and take this tour! Love that the cast members were all full IN for the tour you went on. So much of the success of a tour relies on how much the tour guide(s) are into it!
They were SUPER into it! And it doesn’t hurt that Boston has such a creepy history!
I think I would stay on the safer tourist track, lol. Though a haunted tour could be interesting…if I’m in a big group.
It was a big group! But if you’re not into being scared, probably not for you. 🙂
I love ghost tours and I LOVE Boston, but surprisingly I have not done a ghost tour IN Boston. Hope to get back soon and change that!
It’s such a good combo! I hope you get to do it soon.
What a fun and unique way to see the city! Boston is one of my favorites.
Yes! It’s definitely an off the beaten path activity in Boston.
This would be a really cool tour. I’ve not been to Boston yet, but I’m adding this to my bucket list for when I do go!
It’s a really good way – and different way – to see the city. I learned a TON about Boston.
This sounds like so much fun! It’s definitely not something I would think of to do while in Boston but I feel like those more unique excursions are the most fun 🙂
Oh, I completely agree. I like to explore what makes a city unique or different. A haunted trolley ghost tour is definitely something that’s a little unusual!
What a cool Boston experience! My brother is headed there this summer, so I’m definitely forwarding this on to him!
Perfect! I hope your brother likes the Ghosts and Gravestones tour!
I’ve never taken a tour like this when I travel, but I really should because you get to see so much more of the city and it’s history this way. Sounds like a fun night!
I’m usually not a tour kind of gal either, but this was such a nice change of pace for me.
I love scary movies too and basically anything scary so I know I’m gonna enjoy this tour.
Yes! A fellow scary movie lover! You’d definitely like this tour then.
Was it strange to take a tour like that in the middle of summer instead of Halloween? My wife is into that sort of thing but wonder if the mood is thrown off by green leaves and warm weather?
I didn’t notice a difference! When I went in summer, it didn’t get dark until the second half of the tour, but it was spooky nonetheless. If you are interested in taking this Boston ghost tour around Halloween, definitely get your tickets EARLY: They sell out fast in mid to late October!