Boston: Ghosts & Gravestones Trolley Tour with Burial Grounds

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/11

Duration2h

GroupUp to 20

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Boston's Oldest Graveyards & the Stories of Its Darkest Crimes

You board a ghost-themed trolley and walk through two of Boston's oldest burial grounds — Copp's Hill and Granary — while a guide narrates the city's darkest crimes and Revolutionary history. The tour includes professional narration and covers roughly half trolley, half walking, with stops at graves of Cotton Mather, John Hancock, Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. Instant confirmation, check-in 20 minutes prior.

Step-by-step itinerary

Boston ghost and graveyard tour

Step aboard the trolley of the doomed
Hear stories of Boston's sinister characters
Visit Copp's Hill Burying Ground
Walk through Granary Burying Ground
Pass Boston Tea Party Ships

The Experience

You're probably not expecting to spend an afternoon thinking about the Boston Strangler, but that's where this tour takes you. Half trolley, half walking — you board a ghost-themed car and meet a guide playing a 17th-century grave digger cursed to wander Boston's streets, relaying the stories of the people he buried and the macabre events he witnessed. It sounds theatrical, and it is, but the history underneath is real. Cotton Mather, the Salem Witch Trials figure, is buried at Copp's Hill. John Hancock and Paul Revere rest at Granary. The tour weaves those names and graves into a narrative about Boston's sinister side — the Angel of Death, the Boston Strangler, the hauntings locals still talk about.

The trolley moves you between stops, but you'll spend roughly half the tour on foot inside two of Boston's oldest burying grounds. Copp's Hill sits atop the highest point in the North End, one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, and the 17th-century gravestones there carry carved symbols most people walk past without reading. At Granary Burying Ground, you're standing near the graves of actual American Revolution heroes. The guide walks you through what the imagery means, who the less famous (but more interesting) people buried there were, and why these graveyards matter to understanding Boston beyond the tourist postcards. You'll pass the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum on the route, adding another layer of Revolutionary history to the afternoon.

Comfortable shoes matter — the description warns you not to become "dead on your feet," which is the kind of joke the tour leans into. Check in 20 minutes early, and note that children under 6 aren't allowed; the content and pacing are built for older kids and adults. The whole thing runs as a fixed tour with professional narration, so you're not paying separately for entry fees or trying to coordinate timing yourself. It's the kind of experience that works if you want Boston history that isn't sanitized, told by someone who's committed to the bit.

What’s included

Professional narration by a tour conductor.
local taxes.
ghost-themed trolley tour.
walking access to Copp's Hill Burying Ground in the North End.
walking access to Granary Burying Ground with graves of John Hancock, Paul Revere and Samuel Adams.
narration about Boston's sinister history including the Boston Strangler and other dark events.
pass by the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Historic Tours Of America

Is this one for you?Choose this if you want Boston's Revolutionary and darker history told together without arranging multiple separate cemetery visits or history tours — the trolley format and fixed narration handle both the transport and the storytelling.