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Where there's history, there are often haunts. Ghost tours offer thrills and chills, but also a unique insight into the history of a destination and the famous people who've lived there (and maybe still do).
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NOLA Ghost Riders
New Orleans
NOLA Ghost Riders offers New Orleans’s only nighttime cemetery tours, as well as daytime cemetery walking tours and ghost walking tours through the French Quarter. Those with an interest in scandal can opt for the Brothel & Bordello Tour to learn about the juicier side of New Orleans history.
Photo courtesy of iStock / Page Light Studios
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Boroughs of the Dead
New York
Locally owned and operated Boroughs of the Dead tours take visitors on walking journeys through neighborhoods like Manhattan, Queens and Roosevelt Island while uncovering the city’s strange, dark secrets.
Photo courtesy of Boroughs of the Dead
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Nightly Spirits
Washington, D.C.
Nightly Spirits are known for their hunted pub crawls at cities around the United States. One of the best is in Washington, DC, where visitors tour some of the capital’s most historic and haunted spots, drinks in hand.
Photo courtesy of Nightly Spirits
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Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours
San Antonio
San Antonio began as a Spanish settlement in 1691, and it’s acquired its fair share of ghosts and restless spirits since. Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours take visitors inside the Menger Hotel (the most haunted hotel in Texas), one of the city’s first hospitals, the San Fernando Cathedral and the Bexar County Jail.
Photo courtesy of iStock / jamespharaon
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Ghosts & Gravestones Tour
St. Augustine, Fla.
America’s oldest city certainly has its fair share of ghost stories, and you’ll hear all about them aboard a Ghosts and Gravestones trolley tour of St. Augustine. Costumed Ghost Hosts lead the way to help uncover the city’s paranormal history.
Photo courtesy of iStock / SeanPavonePhoto
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Spooked in Seattle
Seattle
Spooked in Seattle tours are led in partnership with Advanced Ghost Hunters of Seattle Tacoma (AGHOST), the oldest paranormal investigation group in the Pacific Northwest. This gives visitors the opportunity to hear real ghost stories from the mouths of real ghost hunters.
Photo courtesy of Spooked in Seattle
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Ghost Tours of Harpers Ferry
Harpers Ferry, W.V.
The Ghost Tours of Harpers Ferry in West Virginia centers around the 1977 book, A Ghostly Tour of Harpers Ferry. The hour-and-a-half-long tour claims to be the oldest ghost tour in the nation. Visitors learn about the unusual paranormal activity in Harpers Ferry, which some attribute to its violent history in the Civil War. Don’t expect any ghost hunting or attempts to talk to ghosts in this tour. Although it can be spooky, it’s even appropriate for many kids.
Photo courtesy of iStock / Wilsilver77
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Bar Harbor Ghost Tours
Bar Harbor, Maine
You’ll recognize Bar Harbor Ghost Tours by their distinctive blue lantern. These nightly excursions give an overview of New England paranormal history from a Native American perspective. The tour includes exclusive nighttime access to the 1932 Criterion Theatre.
Photo courtesy of Heather Anderson / Bar Harbor Ghost Tours
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Chattanooga Ghost Tours
Chattanooga, Tenn.
Chattanooga Ghost Tours in Tennessee claims to be the first ghost tour in the world to offer participants “ultimate ghost hunts” using the newest technology (the Xcam). This special camera can pick up images of ghosts, according to the tours, and has been seen on “Ghost Adventures.” The company runs nightly ghost tours, as well as an adult-only ghost hunt in the cemetery, using temperature guns, a KII meter, the Ovilus X and other ghost-hunting equipment.
Photo courtesy of iStock / Jens_Lambert_Photography
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French Quarter Phantoms
New Orleans
These tours are not scripted, and there are no costumes necessary. The French Quarter Phantoms tour guides are educated storytellers who have studied history and local lore. Visitors can sign up for a true crime tour, ghost and vampire tour, a trip through the cemetery or an unusual perspective of the French Quarter.
Photo courtesy of French Quarter Phantoms
The top 10 winners in the category Best Ghost Tour are as follows:
- NOLA Ghost Riders - New Orleans
- Boroughs of the Dead - New York
- Nightly Spirits - Washington, D.C.
- Sisters Grimm Ghost Tours - San Antonio
- Ghosts & Gravestones Tour - St. Augustine, Fla.
- Spooked in Seattle - Seattle
- Ghost Tours of Harpers Ferry - Harpers Ferry, W.V.
- Bar Harbor Ghost Tours - Bar Harbor, Maine
- Chattanooga Ghost Tours - Chattanooga, Tenn.
- French Quarter Phantoms - New Orleans
A panel of experts partnered with 10Best editors to pick the initial 20 nominees, and the top 10 winners were determined by popular vote.
Congratulations to all these winning ghost tours!
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10Best Local Experts provide users with original, unbiased, and experiential travel content of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world. No business pays to be listed. Our Local Experts are well-traveled and well-educated group who are not only experts in their fields - and their cities - but discriminating in their tastes. These local experts live in the city they write about, with constantly updated content.
10Best Local Experts
10Best Local Experts provide users with original, unbiased, and experiential travel content of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world. No business pays to be listed. Our Local Experts are well-traveled and well-educated group who are not only experts in their fields - and their cities - but discriminating in their tastes. These local experts live in the city they write about, with constantly updated content.