Boston Haunted History Self-Guided Walking Audio Tour

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. The majestic Old State House was built all the way back in 1713, but it isn't haunted in the traditional way. Instead, it houses what some call a cursed artifact. That artifact? A figurehead which may or may not have been responsible for more than one shipwreck. Note: The tour is over 2.5 miles long, with more than 40 audio stories, and takes about 1-2 hours to complete. New, Lifetime access, no expiry. Use it anytime, on any trip, as many times as you want.

   20 min

2. A circle of granite markers designate the site of the Boston Massacre. Here, in 1770, five men were gunned down by British soldiers during a protest. They became heroes of the American cause, but at great cost. Late at night, some people report hearing a man crying out in pain from this very spot.

   20 min

3. Built in 1927, the Omni Parker House is believed by many to be Boston's most haunted hotel. All manner of supernatural occurrences have been recorded here, from mirrors fogging up on their own to spectral figures standing at the end of guests' beds. Given the hotel's long history of unfortunate happenings, it's no surprise that every floor seems to harbor its own spirits.

   20 min

4. Your ghostly tour through Boston begins at Boylston Street Station, an unassuming landmark with a seriously dark past. When workers were digging to build this station, they encountered tons of bodies buried in unmarked graves. Afterward, things began to go terribly, sometimes lethally wrong on the worksite.

   Passes by

5. Though beautiful on the outside, there's some major ugliness hidden within the Boston Athenaeum. Among the collection here is a book bound in human skin. The Athenaeum also reportedly houses the ghost of a Harvard librarian, spotted by none other than author Nathaniel Hawthorne.

   Passes by

6. Among the most famous residents of the Granary Burying Ground is Samuel Adams. You might know him from the beer, but he's better known in Boston as a revolutionary hero and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

   Passes by

7. The Boston Common may appear to be little more than a pleasant park in the heart of the city, but it has been the site of some deeply unsavory things in its long history. In the 1600s and 1700s, the city used an old elm here to hang convicts. Some say their spirits never left the park, including one woman who is said to prowl the park after nightfall, looking for lost children.

   Passes by

8. John Hancock's grave marks the final resting place of this famous Declaration of Independence signer. According to legend, Hancock was buried with expensive rings on his fingers, and enterprising grave robbers took that as an opportunity. But did they actually dig up his body?

   Passes by

9. The Granary Burying Ground, founded in 1660, is among the city's oldest cemeteries. It holds the graves of famous revolutionaries, as well as thousands of unmarked graves. In the 1800s, the graveyard was rearranged to make it more aesthetically pleasing, but some suggest the disruption only angered those residents who have no gravestones to mark their final resting place.

   Passes by

10. King's Chapel Burying Ground is even older than the Granary Burying Ground. In fact, established in 1630, it's the oldest graveyard in the entire city. If you believe the local legends, they tell of a man who was buried alive here. Sometimes, at night, visitors say they still hear him scratching at his coffin.

    Passes by

11. Perhaps best known for his famous "Midnight Ride," Paul Revere's grave is also found in the Granary Burying Ground. Supposedly, Revere's grave is haunted, but not by Revere himself! Revere's friend Dr. Joseph Warren is said to linger around the gravesite to protect his longtime friend.

    Passes by

12. The Central Burying Ground is where all those unmarked bodies from Boylston Street Station were moved, but it's also the final resting place of Boston's undesirable dead, like British soldiers. Almost everyone who ventures through this graveyard reports a deep and inexplicable feeling of unease, like something terrible is about to happen...

    Passes by

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 1 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in Boston

• Its from-price is 85% below the median of the 476 experiences we list in Boston.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 287 of 476.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Boston

Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, is a compact harbour city of colonial history, red-brick streets, universities and seafood on the New England coast.

Boston was founded in 1630 and played a central part in the American Revolution, and its Freedom Trail, a red line on the pavement, links sixteen sites across the old centre, from Boston Common to Charlestown. Beacon Hill has gas lamps, cobbled streets and brick row houses, while the North End, the old Italian quarter, has the Old North Church and the Paul Revere House.

Top-ranked sights in Boston: Boston North End, Boston Old State House, Massachusetts State House.

See all 476 experiences in Boston