Salem · Massachusetts
Salem Tours
Salem is a city best seen on foot — and after dark. From candlelit ghost walks through the old burying grounds to the narrated trolley, harbor cruises out of Pickering Wharf, and guided food & drink crawls, here are all 23 ways to tour Salem, MA, grouped by the kind of tour you're after.
New to the city? Pair a tour with where to eat in Salem and what's happening on the events calendar.
Featured Tour
Wicked Awesome Tours
Wicked Awesome Tours brings Salem’s spooky history to life with guided walking tours of the witch trial sites, plus a Hocus Pocus movie-location tour. Tours run daily at 11 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM, 6 PM, and 8 PM, departing from outside Not Ya Mama’s Vegan Cafe at 7 Church Street. Call (978) 907-4151 to book.
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1692 Before and After
1692 Before and After runs two-hour walking tours from 272 Essex Street (the Botanica of Salem). The History Tour covers the 1692 trials through court documents and firsthand accounts, while the Ghost Tour moves into hauntings and true crime. Licensed local guides build the routes off 30 years of research.
5★ (227) · Facebook -
Bewitched Historical Tours
Bewitched Historical Tours leads walks covering Salem's 400-year history — colonial roots, the seaport era, and the 1692 trials — departing from the Halloween Museum at 131 Essex Street. Licensed professional historians guide the route. Recipient of a TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice award; featured in Travel Channel, Boston Globe, and other major outlets.
4.9★ (450) · Facebook -
Forest Lore Tour
Forest Lore Tour is a ~75-minute guided walk through Salem Woods led by a practicing witch, focused on the crossroads of science, history, and folklore. The walk identifies plants and mushrooms across seasons, mixing ancestral knowledge with modern sustainability. Companion workshops cover herbalism, felting, natural pigments, and basketry.
4.9★ (33) · Facebook -
Salem Ghosts: Ghost Tours & Haunted Pub Crawls
Salem Ghosts runs nightly ghost tours and adults-only haunted pub crawls in Salem, departing year-round from Essex Street. The company has held a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence multiple years running and was named the #1 Cultural & Historical Tour in the U.S. in 2023 and 2024.
4.8★ (2304) · Facebook -
Salem Historical Tours
Salem Historical Tours is a family-owned walking-tour company operating since 1997, departing from 8 Central Street rain or shine. They run several tours including the 1692 Witchcraft Walk, Haunted Footsteps Ghost Tour, Salem 101 history overview, and specialty walks covering film locations and paranormal sites.
4.5★ (506) · Facebook -
Salem Kids Tours
Salem Kids Tours runs walking tours of Salem built for kids ages 6–14, founded by middle school history teacher Alicia Diozzi. The format leans on interactive storytelling and pitches witch-trial and local history at an age-appropriate level — different from standard adult ghost tours.
4.9★ (100) · Facebook -
Salem Uncovered Tours
Salem Uncovered Tours runs two 90-minute walking tours led by local guides — 'The Salem Witch Trials' covers the 1692 executions, while 'Dark Stories of Salem' moves beyond the trials into murder, mystery, and macabre lore. Both tours run multiple times daily at $30 per person.
4.9★ (757) · Facebook -
Salem Witch Walk
Salem Witch Walk runs guided walks through Salem at multiple times daily, mixing local witch history with a participatory ritual and spell honoring the victims of 1692. Operated by Crow Haven Corner on Essex Street.
4.6★ (354) · Facebook -
Specters & Apparitions Ghost Hunting Tour
Specters & Apparitions is a 1.5-hour ghost hunting experience that hands visitors a Spirit Box, EMF reader, temperature sensors, and laser grids to investigate paranormal activity at Salem's most haunted outdoor sites. Visitors bring fully charged phones to capture evidence — the tour skips cemeteries and buildings and leans into hands-on investigation rather than passive storytelling.
4.9★ (1265) · Facebook -
Spellbound Tours
Spellbound Tours is Salem's longest-running paranormal walking tour, founded in 2000 by a certified parapsychologist. Routes cover the 1692 trials, New England vampire folklore, and modern paranormal activity at haunted Salem sites. All guides are trained paranormal investigators and licensed by the City of Salem.
5★ (464) · Facebook -
Vampire Ghost Adventures
Vampire Ghost Adventures runs a walking tour from the Hawthorne statue led by a vampire guide, featuring real haunted objects and exclusive access to the Chambers of Terror — a historic building interior other Salem ghost tours don't enter. The route covers paranormal stories collected across two centuries.
5★ (83) · Facebook -
Wicked Awesome Tours
Wicked Awesome Tours brings Salem’s spooky history to life with guided walking tours of the witch trial sites, plus a Hocus Pocus movie-location tour. Tours run daily at 11 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM, 6 PM, and 8 PM, departing from outside Not Ya Mama’s Vegan Cafe at 7 Church Street. Call (978) 907-4151 to book.
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Witch City Walking Tours
Witch City Walking Tours is a Salem-based tour operator ranked the #1 Cultural & Historical Tour in the U.S. by TripAdvisor in 2024. They run a wide menu of guided walks — witch trials, maritime history, ghost hunting, true crime, and architecture — led by local historians, year-round from Old Town Hall. They also donate $1,000 monthly to local nonprofits.
4.9★ (1265) · Facebook
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Hocus Pocus Trolley Tour
A Hocus Pocus–themed trolley ride through Salem's iconic 1993 film locations — a new collaboration between the award-winning Salem Night Tour and Salem Trolley. Board a classic trolley and roll from site to site (no long walks), stopping for photos while your guide shares behind-the-scenes stories, movie trivia, and the local folklore that inspired the film. Weekends at 6 PM. Fun for all ages — perfect for families and film buffs.
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Salem Trolley
Salem Trolley has run narrated one-hour sightseeing loops through Salem since 1982, covering an eight-mile route past the Charter Street Burial Ground, House of the Seven Gables, Witch Dungeon Museum, and Chestnut Street. Drivers double as local guides, mixing 1692 trial history with the city's literary and maritime past.
4.3★ (647) · Facebook
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Salem Food Tours
Salem Food Tours has been running award-winning culinary walks since 2012, with multiple tour formats — full-day food tours, morning walks with breakfast tastings, afternoon strolls, private and corporate trips, and a spirits trolley option. Each combines tastings at top local restaurants and shops with the history of Salem's spice trade and maritime heritage.
5★ (109) · Facebook -
Tipples and Mash
Tipples and Mash is a Salem walking tour that visits local breweries, cideries, and distilleries, mixing tastings with the history of brewing in town. Departs from 185 Essex Street.
4.8★ (98) · Facebook
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Essex Heritage Lighthouse & Harbor Tours
Essex Heritage runs lighthouse and harbor tours from Salem June through September — visits to Bakers Island Light, Misery Island, plus specialty tours and overnight camping at Bakers Island Light. Operations run out of the Salem Armory Visitor Center at 2 New Liberty Street, open Wed–Sun 10am–4pm.
4★ (3) · Facebook -
Mahi Harbor Cruises & Private Events
Mahi Harbor Cruises runs public and private boat experiences out of Salem from Congress Street, with summer cruises, themed runs (including haunted-happenings sailings), and private event charters for groups from 10 up to 150+. Waterfront dining and beverages are part of every cruise.
4.7★ (257) · Facebook -
Salem Ferry
The Salem Ferry connects Salem to Boston's Long Wharf in under an hour, running spring through fall. Passengers see Salem Sound, lighthouses, and harbor islands along the way — half transit, half sightseeing.
4.7★ (526) -
Schooner Fame of Salem
The Schooner Fame is a full-scale replica of the first American privateer commissioned for the War of 1812, sailing public tours and private charters out of Pickering Wharf from Memorial Day through Halloween. Guests can pitch in raising sails on cruises around Salem Sound. The ship was a three-time TripAdvisor 'Best of the Best' winner before being sold to Liberty Fleet in April 2026.
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Sunset Sail Salem
Sunset Sail Salem runs sunset cruises, daysails, and private charters on two historic schooners — Malabar X (built 1930) and When and If (1939). Vessels carry up to 28 guests and serve boutique wines, select beers, and RTD cocktails on trips past lighthouses and harbor islands. Operating through October.
5★ (121) · Facebook
