San Diego: Old Town Ghost Tour & Haunted History Walk

Old Town Ghost tour

Fun and engaging ghost tour. Our guide, Reggie, was very engaging and he knew his history so well. He made our experience even better.

via Viator

Excellent Heritage Park Tour

Branwell was an excellent guide sharing the history of the Heritage Park, some of the state park (which his company was not permitted), and other historical sites. For my wife and myself, this tour was well worth the time. The state park, however, seemed to be much too commercialized.

via Tripadvisor

Awesome time haunting Ghost

We did the Paranormal Old Town history walking tour. Our Ghost host was Clara. This was our first time visiting Heritage Park at night since it is always closed. Ghost tours SD has permission to be there at night. We went to each house and Clara told us the stories and the history. Then she let us use some paranormal investigation tools she had. We picked up a couple of hits here and there. But just finding out the history on these beautiful Victorian homes is amazing. Both my wife and son were captivated by Claras storytelling. Spent about an hour at heritage park investigating and lurking around while listening to these stories. After we took a short walk to the Whaley house . Even just being outside our EMF readers starting going bananas. Pinging Red the entire time there. The activity is on another level. Afterwards we walked to the cemetery were we learned more about some of its inhabitants and their stories. Overall it was an awesome 2 hours spent with Clara. Worth every cent. We will be doing one of there other tours for sure now!! I highly recommend it for those that love spooky things and history!! Hopefully you get lucky and get Clara as your ghost host!

Response from the operator: Thanks Seaside! Glad you had experiences that is totally beyond awesome. Clara is a talent. I just passed this on to her and thanks for supporting that tour. Deep gratitude - Brian

via Tripadvisor

Not worth it

It was not worth it.. $88 for two adults. It was not scary.. all we did was walk. We didn’t see anything g interesting or go inside the Whaley house. You just pay to hear a tour guide tell you old historical stories. Would not recommend or ever come again. Way too expensive to just walk around hearing stories

Response from the operator: Good day Vanessa A. I can find no record of you going on our tour. 1. If price is a concern for anyone reach out to me (Brian) directly through our site. 2. Anyone with a bad experience hit me up directly for a full refund up to 4 people, we stand behind our tours. 3. One of our competitors has started reviewing bombing local tours. They are a national tour and have a campaign to strangle all the local tours. It is happening across the nation. Notice how all our recent reviews are iffy. Why the drop in quality - the tour has not changed. Vanessa, your review appears to be part of this campaign. Anyone reading this please give us a chance we are genuine we truly care. This is real people. Stand up for the local business or your going to lose them all to these national factory companies and their tactics. Viator please get in front of these type of reviews. I can also hire someone to drip feed negative reviews if I want to play their game. There has to be a better way.

via Tripadvisor

Old Town walking tour is outdoor only, no going inside anything.

Meh, it was ok. No fault to Rosalinda who was a good tour guide. She had some humor and puns and good stories. It just wasn't a very spooky tour. You do not get into Whaley house on this tour, nor any of the other buildings, so we were disappointed. The website is slightly misleading and doesn't tell you that the museum is open for anyone to just go into during operating hours. We got there in the evening for the tour but would have been there earlier to do that. The cemetery part, again open to the public anytime day or night, was interesting and Rosalinda told some good stories. We were given divining rods, pendulums and EMF readers. No activity and EMF readers suspiciously don't pickup ANY signal (which even humans/phones emit a low frequency) so those seemed rigged. The one I picked up was going off in the box and stopped when I picked it up. But it was an amusing time killer, although I could have spent our $250 for the 5 of us on something better and just done our own research and walk. Getting INTO buildings makes a better tour. Old Town is a fun area. Get there around 2p and spend the afternoon shopping, eating, Whaley museum and then walk Heritage Park and the cemetery at sunset having done your research.

Response from the operator: Thank you for your feedback, tnas2014 Shaw family. To all our guests: If your experience falls below a four-star rating, I encourage you to contact me directly with constructive criticism. In many instances, I am able to offer a full refund for up to four tickets; we stand behind our tours. Also, if you receive the confirmation email and read something there you don't like or don't understand, please reach out to me directly so I can go over it or, if it's not a good fit, I am ready to refund your tickets and offer your spots to others if needed. As a small, locally-owned business, I'm personally available to discuss any concerns you might have. You'll be speaking directly with me, and I'm always prepared to guide you away from our tour if it appears not to meet your expectations, much like I would have for the Shaws. Our tours blend historical storytelling, ghost tales, and a gentle introduction to paranormal investigation. As outlined on our website, the experience includes visits to Heritage Park, the Whaley House Grounds, and the Cemetery, with occasional stops at the Chapel Yards. It's important to note that we do not enter the buildings as part of the tour—a common practice among ghost tours nationwide—and any implication of deception is unfounded. We secure exclusive access to Heritage Park for our tours, which, like hosting an event there, requires payment despite public access. It's standard practice for tours to visit publicly accessible places, adding value through expert storytelling and context you might not discover on your own. Regarding the mention of a museum, this seems to be a misunderstanding, as our Old Town walking tour does not feature a museum visit. We don't mention a museum anywhere within the Old Town walking tour marketing. Lastly, the suggestion that we would manipulate our equipment to fake paranormal activity is contrary to our principles. It seems like we would do the opposite if we were rigging them. I assure you we are not rigging anything; we do not fake stuff. We do get activity up there in the park and the graveyard, but we don't employ ghosts; it is rare, and you have to get lucky. We strive to ensure a fulfilling and enjoyable experience for all our guests and take all feedback seriously as we continually seek to improve our tours. I will go over the website again and make sure everything is clear. Our tour is not for everyone, and I am sorry I was not able to prevent you from going. - Brian

via Tripadvisor