Charleston Ghost Tour & 1772 Unitarian Church Graveyard

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/23

Duration1h 30m

GroupUp to 20

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Walk Charleston's Gas-Lit Streets at Night & Enter a 1772 Graveyard

You walk Charleston's haunted downtown for 90 minutes with a licensed guide, hearing supernatural stories from the bestselling book The Ghosts of Charleston, then enter the 1772 Unitarian Church Graveyard after dark — the tour's main draw, where documented paranormal activity has occurred since 1996. The guide varies stories nightly so repeats don't overlap, and you depart from Buxton Books, where you can grab the book itself before or after.

1h 30m

Step-by-step itinerary

Charleston ghost walking tour and graveyard

Start tour at Buxton Books
Walk gas lamp lit streets and alleys
Hear eerie tales from Charleston history
See St Philip's steeple and graveyard
Visit historic St Michael's Church area
Enter Unitarian Church Graveyard
Listen to ghost stories by licensed guides

The Experience

The gas lamps flicker on King Street as your guide stops you in front of St. Michael's Church, and you realize you're about to spend the next 90 minutes hearing stories that didn't make it into the history books. Charleston's Ghosts of Charleston tour has been running for over 30 years, built on Julian Buxton's bestselling book of the same name — more than 100,000 copies sold — and it's the kind of thing locals actually recommend to visitors without irony. The tour departs from Buxton Books several times each evening, and your licensed guide knows the city's 356 years of history in a way that feels less like recitation and more like gossip from someone who's been paying attention.

The real draw, though, is the Unitarian Church Graveyard. Built in 1772, it sits lush and enclosed, nothing like the open graveyards you've seen elsewhere — this one feels separate from the world, and the guide will take you inside after dark. The stories shift nightly, so repeat visitors don't get the same haunts twice. You'll hear "The Spectral Photograph" and other accounts from Buxton's book, but the graveyard itself is where things get strange. Since 1996, people on the tour have reported visual, tactile, and auditory experiences — the kind of thing that makes you check your phone's timestamp to confirm it actually happened. You'll also pass St. Philip's Church and its graveyard, both landmarks with their own weight in the city's story.

The walk covers downtown Charleston's alleys and streets under gas lamp light, which means the architecture and the darkness work together to make the whole thing feel cinematic without trying. It's 90 minutes total, and you're moving at a steady pace — not rushed, not dawdling. The guide is a professional, licensed by the City of Charleston, which means they know what they're talking about and they've done this enough times to read a group and adjust the pacing. If you prefer just the graveyard without the full downtown loop, there's a 1-hour option that skips the walking part and goes straight to the Unitarian Church Graveyard, though most people do the full tour.

What’s included

Your 90-minute tour includes a professional, City of Charleston licensed tour guide.
exclusive nighttime access to the historic 1772 Unitarian Church Graveyard.
walking through downtown Charleston's gas-lit streets and alleys.
and stories drawn from the bestselling book The Ghosts of Charleston. The tour departs from Buxton Books, an independent bookstore where you can purchase the book before or after your walk.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPets welcomeNot for heart conditions

Operated by Tour Charleston, LLC

Is this one for you?Book this if you want Charleston's ghost stories told by someone who knows the city's actual history, and you're genuinely interested in the paranormal accounts documented at the Unitarian Church Graveyard — the nighttime access to that 1772 cemetery is what makes this tour different from a standard downtown walk.