Get Into the Spirit(s): A Guide to Savannah's Ghost Tours
Savannah has been called the most haunted city in America for long enough that the claim has stopped feeling like marketing. The city was built on burial grounds, fought over, burned, quarantined, and flooded, and very little of that history was tidied up afterward. Colonial Park Cemetery holds far more bodies than headstones. The squares you walk through on the way to dinner were staging areas for the dead during yellow fever outbreaks.
Which is to say the stories have material to work with. There are dozens of ghost tours running most nights of the week, and the differences between them matter more than the marketing suggests. Some are history-forward. Some are theater. One of them puts you in a hearse.
Here are six of our favorites, and how to think about which one suits the evening you have in mind.
The best-known ghost tour in the city, and the one to book if you want the full production. Run by Old Town Trolley Tours, it boards what the company calls the Trolley of the Doomed and covers the Historic District after dark with costumed guides working the stories hard.
What separates it from a walking tour is the access. The route includes after-hours entry into the Perkins & Sons Ship Chandlery on River Street and a stop at the Andrew Low House, where staff have reported apparitions for decades. Being inside those buildings at night, rather than standing on the sidewalk hearing about them, is the point.
The tone leans theatrical rather than academic. Guides go by names like Dementia and Miss Violet, and the delivery is closer to performance than lecture. If you want atmosphere and a little camp, this is the one. If you want a straight history tour, look elsewhere.
Good for: First-time visitors, groups with mixed interest levels, anyone who would rather ride than walk.
Exactly what it sounds like. You ride through the Historic District in an open-air hearse, one that genuinely served a funeral parlor before it started carrying the living. Each vehicle seats up to eight, and tours run in the evening from pickup points at Franklin, Oglethorpe, and Telfair squares.
The signature tour runs about thirty minutes and moves quickly, which is part of the appeal. It is short, strange, and funny. The guides lean into dad jokes as much as dread, and the open air means you are visible to everyone on the street, which becomes half the entertainment.
There is also a family version built for kids thirteen and under, where young guests solve mysteries and watch for surprises across a forty-minute route. During October the company runs Halloween editions, including a private hearse adventure with a trick-or-treat bag at the end.
Good for: Repeat visitors who have done the standard tours, families with older kids, anyone who wants a story to tell rather than a scare.
Savannah's oldest haunted pub tour, and the reason the format exists here at all. It departs nightly from the Six Pence Pub on Bull Street and runs roughly two hours on foot, covering up to a mile and a half of historic district sidewalk with stops at several bars along the way.
Savannah's open container rules in the Historic District mean you can carry a drink between stops, which changes the character of the evening considerably. Guides tell ghost stories at each location while you work through the route. Drinks are not included in the ticket, and you will need valid photo ID. The tour is twenty-one and up.
Worth noting that non-drinkers are welcome and the tour holds up without a drink in hand. The storytelling is the draw.
Good for: Adults-only evenings, couples, anyone who wants the tour to double as a night out.
One of the oldest walking tours in the Historic District and the one with the deepest current review base. The company has been guiding here for more than two decades, is woman-owned, and won a Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice award placing it in the top ten percent of attractions worldwide. Aggregated booking platforms show north of a thousand reviews averaging around 4.7 out of 5.
The signature Sixth Sense tour runs about two hours on foot and works the southern end of the Historic District: Old Candler Hospital, the Espy House, Taylor Square, the Corson Mansion, and 432 Abercorn. The approach is research-forward, digging into what actually happened inside these buildings rather than leaning on folklore, and some guides carry EMF equipment for anyone who wants that side of it.
Start times run from 7 p.m. for all ages through later departures at 8, 9:30, and 10 p.m. restricted to sixteen and up, which makes this the most flexible option here for families and adults alike. Tours meet at Abercorn and Jones near Clary's Cafe, run rain or shine, and require advance booking. No walk-ups.
Good for: Families with older kids, paranormal enthusiasts, anyone who wants research over theater.
The most consistently ranked ghost tour in the city. Tripadvisor built a national list of the spookiest ghost tours in the country using attendee reviews, and this was the Savannah entry alongside tours in Salem and New Orleans. It also appears on Tripadvisor's Savannah-specific list and among Viator's top-rated tours here.
The format is deliberately simple. Ninety minutes on foot behind a costumed guide with a lantern, moving through the historic squares and cobblestone streets. What distinguishes it is how far it goes into the actual history underneath the hauntings, covering war, executions, and murder cases rather than staying with the familiar apparition stories. Tickets start around twenty-five dollars, which makes it the most accessible option on this list.
Good for: First-time visitors who want the well-reviewed default, anyone who prefers history to theater, travelers on a budget.
A smaller operation with one meaningful technical advantage. Every guest gets wireless earbuds and the guide wears a mic, which solves the problem every walking tour has on a busy Saturday night, when River Street noise and passing traffic swallow half the stories.
The route covers the Sorrel-Weed House, Madison Square, Colonial Park Cemetery, and 12 Oglethorpe Avenue, which is a strong list of the city's most documented locations rather than a loop of convenient stops. The delivery is conversational and the group sizes stay manageable.
Good for: Anyone who has been on a tour and struggled to hear it, visitors who want the well-known haunted addresses covered properly.
A Few Practical Notes
Book ahead in October. Weekend spots fill well in advance during the fall, and the closer you get to Halloween the tighter availability becomes.
Check the walking distance. The pub tour covers real ground on uneven brick and cobblestone. Wear something you can walk in.
Know the age limits. Pub crawls are twenty-one and up. Trolley and hearse tours accommodate families, with dedicated kids' versions available.
Consider the weather. Hearse tours are open-air, which is lovely in October and less lovely in a downpour.
Start later than you think. Most tours run between 7 and 10 p.m. Plan dinner early.
Reserve, don't walk up. Several of these require advance reservations outright, and the rest fill on weekends.
Where to Stay
Nearly all of this happens within walking distance of one another, which is the argument for staying in the Historic District rather than driving in for the evening. Our homes put you inside that radius, so you can finish a tour on River Street and be back in a courtyard fifteen minutes later without moving the car.
There is also something to be said for coming home to a house with some history of its own.
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Published on Monday, September 14, 2026