Portland Maine: Ghost Tour & Historic Haunted Mansions

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/23

Duration1h 15m

GroupUp to 15

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Portland's Ghosts Still Walk the Cobblestones—and You'll Hear Why

You walk Portland's historic district for 75 minutes with a lantern-carrying guide, stopping at Victoria Mansion, the Fire Museum, the McLellan Mansion, and five other haunted landmarks. You hear stories spanning from the city's first European settlement through the Great Fire of 1866 to present-day paranormal reports. Photos and video of each stop are included, and the guide answers questions at the end.

1h 15m

Step-by-step itinerary

Historic Portland ghost walking tour

Begin at Longfellow Monument
Hear about Longfellow and hauntings
Visit the Gould house
Explore Portland Fire Museum
Learn about Great Fire of 1866
See historic fire engines
Tour McLellan Mansion
Hear ghost stories of mansion
Visit Victoria Mansion
Learn about Victorian era home
Hear local ghost legends
Explore Maine Irish Heritage Center
Learn about Irish community and spirits
Visit Portland Club
Hear about underground tunnels
Return to Longfellow Monument for wrap-up

The Experience

So you're standing at the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Monument in the middle of Portland's historic district, and your guide is already talking about the Gould house down the street—the one where a doctor with a broken moral compass used to live, and where residents and their pets still report eerie things happening. The tour is 1 hour 15 minutes, and it moves on foot through the cobblestone pathways, so you're not just hearing about Portland's ghosts, you're walking past the actual places where people say they still linger. The guide carries a lantern, which sounds like theater until you realize it's practical—these are old streets, and the light actually matters.

The stops stack up fast. You'll hear about the Great Fire of 1866 at the Portland Fire Museum, which was once the worst fire in American history and transformed the city overnight; people report phantom smells and eerie laughter there now. Then there's the McLellan Mansion, built in 1800 during Portland's "Golden Age" on what used to be called Millionaires Row, where guests have described it as a real-life version of Disney's Haunted Mansion—elegant balls from decades past, still echoing. Victoria Mansion, the Morse-Libby House, is the crown jewel: built in 1860 as a summer residence, it's one of the most intact Victorian interiors in the country, and locals report footsteps on the grand staircase, shadowy figures, the feeling of an unseen presence. Your guide explains how it nearly vanished during the Great Depression and how it survived.

The Maine Irish Heritage Center is another stop—once St. Dominic's Church and School, now a cultural landmark, but paranormal investigation groups have explored it with specialized equipment over the years, and there are reports of multiple presences. Then the Portland Club, where you'll hear about an underground tunnel network beneath the city streets, once used for storage and movement along the waterfront, and where people believe unseen presences still move. The whole thing loops back to the monument for a wrap-up and questions. You get photos and video of the tour stops, and the guide is in English, so you're not scrambling to understand the story.

The route is wheelchair accessible, and strollers work fine if you're bringing infants or small children. Public transportation is nearby if you need it. The only real constraint is cardiovascular health—it's walking, and it's cobblestones, so if that's a concern, check with the operator first. Otherwise, this is the kind of tour where you learn actual Portland history (from 1632 to now) while standing in front of the buildings where it happened, and the ghost stories are just the frame that makes you pay attention to the details.

What’s included

Your tour includes the guided walk with a lantern-carrying guide, entry to the eight historic stops (Victoria Mansion, Portland Fire Museum, McLellan Mansion, Maine Irish Heritage Center, Portland Club, and others), photos and video of each location, and a Q&A wrap-up at the end. The guide speaks English and is knowledgeable about Portland's history from 1632 to the present.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearbyNot for heart conditions

Operated by Haunted History Tours

Is this one for you?Book this if you want Portland's real history—the fires, the families, the rise and fall—without arranging your own walking route or missing the details; the ghost stories are the hook that keeps you paying attention to the actual buildings and what happened inside them.