Top Ghost Walks in the UK and Ireland

London, England

London is a city with millennia of history, which means there are ghosts lurking around every corner. In fact London Ghost Walks claim that two out of every five people you see on a London street are in fact spectres. That’s a pretty hair-raising notion, so if you want to separate fact from fiction join London Walks for one of their four ghost walks.

The West End Ghost Walk takes you on an eerie wander through abandoned Georgian streets. Glimpse a palace in the gloaming, a gloomy plague-pit that still has lit candles and buildings from a bygone age. Ghosts of the Old City goes through a churchyard and introduces participants to a mysterious figure that rattles his chains on Newgate wall. Hear tales of the Black Nun who keeps lonely vigil, and of something very evil that lurks behind a small window. Haunted London goes to the most ominous part of town where the alleyways are so narrow you can't open an umbrella. If you listen carefully you may hear footsteps echo in a deserted alleyway or voices whispering to you in the darkness. Join the Ghosts, Gaslight and Guinness walk if you fancy a pint with your spooks. These tours run year round and they depart at 7:30 pm on various days of the week.

York, England

The York Ghost Walk Experience cautions that the ancient city of York is home to some of the world’s greatest and most notorious spectres. In an old city like this ghostly apparitions are almost as common as shadows. The tour will take you on a hair-raising walk of all the infamous haunted sites of York. Professional storytellers re-enact some of York’s most famous ghostly historic scenes and provides entertainment for the whole family. Your ghost guide will accompany you through York’s maze of mysterious ancient buildings, and its winding and narrow cobbled streets. Ghosts that feature are the The Headless Earl and The Gray Lady - a nun who was gruesomely walled up while still alive. The York Ghost Walk team warns that even if you don’t see any of York’s ghosts on the journey, they will certainly be watching you…

Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh has a history stretching back to prehistoric times, which means there has been hundreds of years for phantoms to make their presence known. The eerily, yet aptly, named City of the Dead Tours have three walks to choose from: City of the Dead Haunted Graveyard, Underground City of the Dead and The Double Dead Walk.

The underground tour takes you into a section of Edinburgh’s underground city, where people used to live in dire circumstances. These vaults have only recently been unsealed, and you can now explore the creepy and macabre underground. The Graveyard tour combines weird history with wild legends and wicked humour. You will be taken to Edinburgh’s Covenanters’ Prison in Greyfriars Churchyard, and to the Black Mausoleum, the hideaway of the infamous Mackenzie Poltergeist. The Double Dead walk goes into two of the most haunted places on earth – the South Bridge Vaults and the Covenanters’ Prison.

Cardiff, Wales

When in Wales go on the Llandaff Ghost Walk, offered by Cardiff History and Hauntings. The tour takes participants into sheer darkness and solitude. This unspoilt rural spot has haunted paths and wooded lanes that are remnants of ancient roadways. This ghost walk doesn’t make use of cheap gimmicks, but instead provides atmosphere and intrigue as participants hear accounts of the spectres that have been seen, heard, and felt, over the many centuries. Imagine ghostly children peering at you from the dark and hear of a very sinister male figure shrouded in black who follows unwitting passers by.

A new ghost walk is only now on offer - The Cardiff Castle Ghost Tour. On this tour you get to stroll by torchlight through a pitch black Norman Keep, the 13th Century Tower, and a house which dates from the 15th century. Sounds like unnerving spooky intrigue.

Belfast, Ireland

The Belfast Ghostwalk is a tour into the dark shadows and alleyways of haunted Belfast, where you will hear ghostly tales of horror from the Cloak and Dagger club - a group of master storytellers and entertainers. Meander through the entries of Belfast - narrow lanes and alleyways leading in all directions. Each of these winding walkways has a ghostly tale to tell. Hidden among these alleys you will find some of the city’s oldest and most haunted taverns. Hear of a ghostly waiter that still toils in death as he did in life. There is even a chance to capture a ghostly apparition on camera. You will visit the oldest churches in Belfast, where you will hear tales that are bound to make your teeth chatter. In the Cathedral Quarter toy can take in the atmosphere of the cobblestone streets and hear petrifying tales of disease, murder and even body snatching. There are guided tours every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

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