Let’s be honest, ghosts might not be the first thing that comes into your head when you think of San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge, Pixar, Alcatraz, and the first Chinatown in the USA are all icons of San Fran but in actual fact, San Fran has a very long history with Ghosts. Thanks to the devastation of the 1904 earthquake and fires followed by the danger and greed from the Famous Gold Rush era, there are a lot of Ghosts haunting San Francisco.
Whether you are a believer, skeptic, or somewhere in between, these Ghost Tours in San Francisco are a fun, unique way to spend a night in the city as well as deeply informative of its dark historic past. Here in our ‘Best Ghost Tours in San Francisco- Ultimate Guide, we review the top Ghost Tours available in San Francisco and if they are any good and worth your time and money.
Ghost Hunting?
In our opinion Ghost Hunting Tours are really just a form of entertainment. There is a huge range of beliefs that run amongst the people that may consider these tours, from true believers to devout skeptics. When our guide quizzed our group at the beginning of our San Fran tour, this range was evident, and often split between individual groups. The universal rating of thumbs up or down was asked to display your level of belief and it was roughly split 33-33-33% with equal numbers thumbing up, down, and horizontally, suggesting an open mind.
What is more universal is the fact the Tours are mostly about fun. You do not really have to 100% believe in the tales of the undead and the reading from any instruments, to get into the mood and feel the sense of creepiness from the eerie street and tales of dark times in the distant past. There is a definite energy going on in the streets, be it imaginary or very much real.
We joined our tour as one skeptic and one moderate, and while we left less convinced than when we started, our increased skepticism was more towards the methodology used by Ghost hunters, than to the existence of Ghosts themselves. However, we both left absolute converts to the fun and knowledgeable tour guides that provided us really entertaining and enlightening tour around the shadier parts of San Francisco. Did we see ghosts…No? Did we feel a presence… No. Did things happen we can’t explain…Yes, Does that automatically mean it was a ghost…No? But we had fun, that cannot be denied!
To be clear these tours are 100% real, as in nothing is faked. There are no jump scares and no one controlling things. No set pieces with people controlling lights or making noises. Instead, the guides are simply out on the real streets looking for events, clues, and anomalous readings on the tools by focusing on locations of past events to suggest the cause of these events and reading is infact supernatural.
There are no Seances’ or calls to the occult, outside of some small readings, that are referred to as spells. It’s all quite science rather than witchy although some would insist we say Psudo-Sciency…
Ghost Hunting Tools:
Some of these tours are Ghost hunts, and they use certain tools to try and contact or detect the spirits, others are more ghost walks with just tales of the dead and history about the dark past of the City. For those that use the tools, there are a few types.
EMF Detectors
These are nifty little tools designed for use by electricians to help detect electricity circuits in walls and faulty components. It is essentially a detector for all Electro Magnetic Frequencies which are given off by large-scale electric currents. However, these have been used by Ghost Hunters to detect energies from the other side.
These are really interesting, as you walk around the City the spike can be detected as you pass over subterranean Electricity Substations and such like. The guide helpfully points out when and where these expected readings will occur. But other times, in a totally benign location meter, will Spike heavily, and there is no obvious reason why.
Ghost hunters jump to the conclusion this is due to a presence, we are a little more open-minded, but it certainly adds to the feeling of unease as your EMF meter turns red and spikes right up to 100+ …
Divining Rods
At known sots or when the EMF Meters spike the guide often stopped and pulled out the Devinign rods, these are used to ask spirits yes or no questions with the movement of the rods used to indicate answers. When the Rods moved to yes when asked if the spirit wanted us to Go-Away…we duly obliged…
Ghost-Box
The Ghost-Bos or S-box was the most eyebrow-raising tool. This little box scans random radio frequencies and delivers short bursts of each to the speaker. This produces essentially a load of nonsense. However, every no and then that can form lumps of coherent dialog. For example, were got told “100 grant” when making a “spirit” where it was…we were stood at 100 Grant Street!
Whether this is our brains finding patterns where there are non or ghosts communicating with the living is beyond our pay grade (but we could hazard a guess) but we found this a little tenuous and “out there” as far as evidence went.
The Tour guides also used flickering Streat lights and strong feelings from the group as a way to channel the spirits but overall most of it felt circumstantial and well practiced…was the flickering street light a ghost or just faulty electrics?
If you go expecting full formed apparition or any kind of answers you will be disappointed. These tours are fun tours of the darker side of San Francisco’s past and jolly good fun. But they are definitely entertainment first and serious Supernatural investigation, if such a thing exists, second.
Best Ghost Tours In San Francisco:
5. San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour
- $30 plus tax
- $90- 2 hours
- No Ghost Hunting Tools are available
- www.sfghosthunt.com
The San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour is the oldest Ghost Walking Tour in San Fran, founded in 1998. Their founder Jim Fassbinder experienced several Ghost encounters himself and visited many Ghost Tours around America and in the U.K. before deciding he could do better and create one in his very own native San Francisco. Jim long since retired, the Tour is now in the capable hands of another San Fran native, famed magician Christian Cagigal.
The original San Francisco Ghost Hunt Tour is a walking tour of the Pacific Heights district of San Fran and allows you to visit the city’s famously haunted sites with a knowledgeable and entertaining tour guide. The tour is the standard 90 mins – 2 hours and operates 5- 7 days a week. During the tour, you will cover a distance of just over a mile and while the location does include a moderate-sized hill to walk up the pace is easy (this is San Fran after all, hills are common!)
It’s worth mentioning here that there are no bathroom breaks or entering any indoor locations while on this walking tour. This means any haunted sites you will visit are only to be viewed from the outside. This is a general rule of most Ghost Walking Tours as many of the locations are privately owned.
The San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour may be the original but is also the most expensive option for Ghost Tours in San Fran. This is despite its duration being the same amount of time as other tours available.
Also, the Tour names itself as a self-proclaimed ‘Ghost Hunt’ but unfortunately, is more of a historical information Tour of San Fran’s darker history while sprinkled with spooky stories and frightfully fun anecdotes. There are no Ghost hunting tools featured let alone rented or included in the ticket price so for us, it is less of a Ghost Hunt and more of a live-action Ghost storytelling- a fun-packed and entertaining ghost storytelling nonetheless!
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4. Ghosts, Boos, and Booze Haunted Pub Crawl
- $29
- 2 hours
- over 21’s only
- Haunted Pub Crawl – SF Ghosts
This is a traditional Ghost tour with a twist, or should we say tipple! This is US Ghost Adventures Adult-only Ghost tour of the haunted pubs in San Francisco. The itinerary is a combination of the non-boozy ghost tour where you will visit some of San Fran’s most affluent yet haunted areas Knob Hill and Union Square. The classy façade of Knob Hill hides a traumatic and frightening side of San Francisco’s history, most of which was flattened in the 1906 earthquake and fires.
As well as these many spooky locations, this tour also includes 3 stops at haunted bars or pubs. Enjoy a drink while listening to the stories of these ghosts that still haunt the buildings to this day. But drink quickly, each pub is limited to 15 minutes per location which is not a lot of time to enjoy a drink and seems quite rushed (maybe the tour guides really are afraid of ghosts?) The drinks purchased are also not included in the Ghost, Boos, and Booze Ghost Tour ticket price but this is standard with any guided pub crawl (haunted or otherwise).
For us, enjoying a drink while sitting comfortably in a warm location is one of the best ways to enjoy ghost stories. As you will be visiting the haunted pubs on the tour, bathroom breaks are provided, and let’s be honest, needed. One downside to watch out for is that the Tour aims to run at its 15-person capacity and if the capacity is not met then the tours do, unfortunately, get cancelled. They do offer to rearrange the tour for another date but when you are travelling this isn’t always an option.
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3. Walk with Spirits: A Haunted Pub Crawl in San Francisco
- $25
- 2 hours 30 mins
- over 21’s only
- Walk with Spirits: A Haunted Pub Crawl
- operated by Mick’s Bootique Tours
Another San Francisco Ghost Tour centered around the haunted Pubs and Bars of the City. Walk with Spirits is run by Mick’s Bootique Tours, a small business that exclusively sells its tickets through TripAdvisor.
Walk with Spirits is cheaper and longer than the other ghost and booze tours mentioned and you get longer in each pub or bar too. The drinks are not included in the ticket price but here is where the similarities with the Ghost, Boos, and Booze Ghost Tour end. Walk with Spirits starts off in downtown San Fran, in one of the only areas that was not destroyed by the 1904 quake and fires. Don’t let this fool you into thinking that the area doesn’t have a connection with the city’s dark and violent past, as the first 3 locations you visit were all popular haunts (get it?) back in the Gold Rush Era. The tour ends with a visit to old pubs in Chinatown, another area of the city that has witnessed a lot of crime, violence, and death.
This tour combines a great knowledge of San Fran’s history, Ghost Stories, and Good pubs with a great atmosphere with fab drinks. The tour is set at an easy pace and you are not rushed in any of the locations you visit. In fact, tours can last longer than the 2.5 hours as advertised which means you get a great tour experience (just be aware if you are on a tight time frame). Walk with Spirits is definitely our favorite San Francisco Booze and Ghost Walking Tour.
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2. San Francisco Ghosts, Gold, and Ghouls Tour
- $30
- 90 mins (extended tour optional)
- Haunted Pub Crawl – SF Ghosts
- Ghost Hunting Tools $7 extra (optional)
- Ghost Plush Souvenir Toy $6 extra (optional)
The San Francisco Ghosts and Ghouls Tour is US Ghost Adventures’ non-boozy Ghost Tour. So if a Ghost Tour is what you are looking for rather than a haunted pub crawl, US Ghost Adventures has this tour with you in mind.
The Tour is 90 minutes and includes several haunted stops. That’s a lot more haunting for your bucks! Just like the haunted pub tour, the tour focuses on Union Square, Knob Hill, and the affluent areas surrounding it, many of which were destroyed in the 1904 earthquakes and fires that followed.
If simply listening to ghost stories at famous haunted locations is not enough interaction with San Fran’s spooky residents for you, then you can choose to rent an EMF detector, which uses electromagnetic pulses to alert you to any possible paranormal activity. This is an added fee of $7.
However, if Ghost Hunting is more your thing than just listening to stories, then we really recommend the next Tour…
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1. The Haunt
- $55
- INCLUDED on Go City San Francisco Pass
- 90 mins
- Individual Ghost Hunting Tools included
- The Haunt
So far, the Ghost Tours on the list have mainly been learning about San Francisco’s dark history and the poor souls that still roam its streets. Even the Tours which claim to be Ghost Hunt Tours are still heavily focused on history and storytelling with very little ghost hunting going on.
This is where The Haunt comes in. Our number-1 San Francisco Ghost Tour choice was founded in 2008. It is a relatively new Ghost Tour which has quickly become Trip-Advisor’s Number 1 attraction in San Francisco. And it’s not hard to see why: The Haunt is so much more than a Ghost Tour, it really is a real-life Ghost Hunt.
The Haunt‘s team are themselves passionate paranormal investigators with an avid interest in ghost stories committed to not just talking ABOUT those who have passed but also TO them. That’s right, the main feature of this Ghost Tour/ Hunt is to try and connect with the poor souls of the ghost stories.
Starting in Downtown, you wander the old streets popular in the Gold Rush Era, the areas devastated by the 1904 earthquakes, hear stories of those who perished in the great fires, and learn about the city’s unsavory habit of exhumation. The guides are knowledgeable about the city’s dark history but also in its paranormal activity: or rather, the exact location of known and frequent paranormal activity. In several locations, the guide will use a Spirit Box or Divining Rods to make contact with the well know Ghosts in that area.
While on the Tour each of you will also have your very own Ghost hunting tool: each person will carry around your own EMF Detector for you to hunt down Ghosts yourself. As you walk around the city you will see the detector spike at different locations, if the signal is strong enough on many of the detectors then the guide will stop to try and make contact with the deceased soul nearby.
Audience participation is a must to fully enjoy The Hunt, as is an open mind. Not everyone fully believes in paranormal activity and even the die-hard enthusiasts may not be able to explain some of the experiences but The Haunt is so fun and entertaining that even the most hardened skeptics will have a good time and even walk away questioning their previous beliefs. You will find it hard to not keep watch on your EMF as you walk around the city, shouting out in excitement whenever the device spikes. This is why we chose it as the Best Ghost Tour in San Francisco for 2023.
The Tour concludes in Chinatown, another part of San Francisco with a violent and bloody history. After more ghost hunting, you will conclude the tour in Chinatown at a location with a tragic and devastating history and conduct a closing ceremony to honor all the spirits encountered.
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Now, you may be temporarily distracted by the price of The Haunt: at $55 per person, it is the priciest tour on the list. However, The Haunt is one of the attractions available on the Go City San Francisco Pass. The GO CITY SAN FRANCISCO PASS is $119 per person, which means you would only have to take advantage of a few of San Fran’s amazing attractions before The Haunt becomes free! We have included an Example Breakdown here:
Hop on Hop Off 1 day Big Bus Tour (including Golden Gate Bridge) $63
Escape From the Rock Trip to Alcatraz $47
The Haunt Ghost Hunting Tour is $55
= $165
Pass Price $119 = $46 saving!
Full Go City San Francisco Pass Review
This is a very basic use of the GOCity Pass, only using 3 attractions available to you. As you can see just by this small example, it’s very easy when using a GOCity Pass to save on lots of money on visiting Tourist attractions, and the more you do then the more you save! Check out our YouTube video below to see how much money we saved on our last Trip to San Francisco including our ghost hunting with The Haunt:
We would highly recommend The Haunt as the Best Ghost Tour in San Francisco, a must-do for your trip in 2023. While it is as informative as other Ghost Tours available, its interaction between participants and the paranormal makes this more than a walking tour: it’s a hunt! The Guides are so passionate that their excited energy rubs off on you and it’s hard to not have fun no matter the level of your belief in the supernatural. The fact that is available as an attraction on the Go City San Francisco Pass is an added bonus which means The Haunt Ghost walking tour simply HAS to be in your itinerary for your next San Francisco trip!
Have Your Say
Have you done a Ghost Walking Tour in San Francisco? Was The Haunt your favorite or did you prefer another tour we mention in the article? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
If you have any questions about The Haunt or any of the other Ghost Tours we mention, please ask us by writing in the comments box below.
