Experience Salem's History & Hauntings: Witch City Walking Tours This October
Join Witch City Walking Tours for Their “History & Hauntings of Salem” Tour This October
If Salem Haunted Happenings is a bucket list destination, you’ll probably want to see as much as possible while you’re here. Witch City Walking Tours can help with that!
We recently joined them for their “History & Hauntings of Salem” tour and were surprised to see just how much ground we covered during a single walking tour. If you are hoping to learn a stories from the Salem Witch Trials to the Spice Trade and Age of Sail, to present-day ghost stories, and everything in between, this tour is for you!
The “History & Hauntings of Salem” Tour (and the rest of the tours offered by Witch City Walking Tours) depart from Old Town Hall (the side of the building facing Front Street by the three doors.) There, we met our guide, April who started our tour with some information about herself and her passion for telling Salem’s stories, and soon after we were off to learn about Salem’s historic Old Town Hall (which you may recognize from a certain Salem-based Halloween movie…)
At 120 minutes, our tour covered nearly 400 years of Salem’s history, and April was especially skilled at tying it all together and reinforcing the important points that guests on the tour should walk away with to have a complete understanding of Salem’s past and present. Early stops in the tour focused on Puritanism and the climate of 17th century Salem that led to the Witch Trials, giving context for later stops on the topic including the Witch House and Salem Witch Trials Memorial.
We don’t want to give the story away, but there is a tragic tale and ghost story associated with the brick building pictured above that we had never heard until taking this tour, so even locals may learn something surprising and new from a walk around Salem with Witch City Walking Tours! This mysterious brick wall isn’t the only piece of impressive architecture we saw during our tour. Some of our favorite stops were in Salem’s McIntire Historic District, where we learned about the Ropes Mansion, Hamilton Hall, and more.
When we reached the statue of Samantha from Bewitched, we learned about Salem’s more recent history, as April discussed why this statue exists in Salem and how we came to be known as Witch City (and the story may not be as simple as you are expecting.)
We believe the “History & Hauntings of Salem” Tour is a great introduction to our historic seaport, as you can hear stories of Salem’s maritime past, the Salem Witch Trials, architectural gems, and even a little bit of Hocus Pocus in just two hours. The tour is also suitable for all ages, making this a great option for kids and families this October!
Witch City Walking Tours has lots of other tours, too, covering nearly every aspect of Salem’s history, so if you are looking for something more focused on one area be sure to browse their website before booking. Their “Mysteries & Murders” tour is perfect for those looking for the darker side of Salem’s history, and they even have a “Hocus Pocus Movie Locations of Salem” tour for fans of the 1993 film.
Know Before You Go:
- We stopped at 12 sites (or maybe even more…) during our tour, so pack comfortable walking shoes and and your camera!
- The tour is approximately two hours long, and our guide April was happy to stay after the tour to finish up answering questions.
- The tour runs on multiple days and times throughout October, you can find a full calendar on their website.
- If you prefer a later tour, the “History & Hauntings” tour also runs at 6 pm!
