Join us for an unforgettable evening at our Victorian Murder Mystery Dinner, held on select dates Also check out our brand new Oak Grove Cemetery Tour, held on select dates!
Monterey Ghost Tour
Behind the elegant adobes and seaside scenery are some of California’s most horrifying haunts and historic buildings, awaiting your arrival on a spine-tingling Monterey ghost tour.
GET TICKETSJoin Lizzie Borden Ghost Tours on an unforgettable journey through California’s first capital and discover why Monterey’s ethereal Pacific Coast is one of the most mysterious in the nation.
Why You Need to Take a Monterey Ghost Tour
Our adventurous and knowledgeable tour guides are dying to tell you all about Monterey’s unique and eerie history. Lizzie Borden Ghost Tours is the leading expert on the otherworldly, offering experiences in over 100 cities. Grab onto your partner’s arms as we walk you past the most haunted hotels, homes, and theatres. We promise you a shockingly scary time down to the Fisherman’s Wharf and back. There is something for everyone in a place where real-life eerie encounters quickly become a shared experience you’ll never forget.
Why is Monterey So Haunted?
Monterey’s past as a Spanish settlement merely hinted at the misfortunes many would experience in the city’s confines. In 1818, during the days of the Spanish ranchos, Captain Hipolto Bouchard, an Argentinian privateer, raided the small settlement and burned down the existing buildings. It would not be the last time such violence would rear its head in Monterey.
California became part of Mexico in 1821, and by 1848, Monterey fell into American hands. With them came American development and innovation. Places like California’s First Theatre are a living and breathing reminder of this transitional era. The original owner of the 1844 building, Jack Swan, has been heard calling out stage orders during performances, sometimes even stopping the show, long after his demise.
In the late 1800s, the railroads brought more and more wealthy people to Monterey, and establishments such as the Monterey Hotel began to cater to them. Decadent and luxurious, they created atmospheres that echoed the beauty of Monterey Bay. Much like the fog traps in the morning light, the hotel is now full of partygoers from this Gilded Age, still reveling in the wonder of their riches.
It wasn’t just the rich and famous that made their way to Monterey. Sailors and dock workers flooded the harbor searching for work, and some found it in unconventional and dangerous ways. Monterey, while being the sought-after serene getaway for famous visitors such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Elvis, has a seedy underbelly full of corrupt and calloused criminals. Discover the dark intentions of this spiritual milieu with Lizzie Borden Ghost Tours tonight.
Why should you tour with us?
Monterey Ghosts will give you an experience you’ve never had before! Late at night, when the shops close down, these ghost tours are just getting started. Though walks around this seaside city are common, it’s a whole different town at night and these tours will breathe life into some of Monterey’s darkest moments in time.
From Indigenous people to Europeans and Americans, this city has had its fair share of explorers. This walking tour will give you an interactive and informational experience you’ll enjoy much more than any history book! Our tours perfectly compliment history and entertainment. Each site is deeply researched, and our guides exquisitely recount the events of real hauntings that were birthed by the tragic events of each historical site.
People travel to Monterey for a variety of reasons – from Old Fisherman’s Wharf, to Cannery Row, or maybe they’re usually just passing through. Whatever the reason is for your stay, we can guarantee an experience that is unmatched by conventional ways of portraying the city. You’ll experience distinctive allure of Monterey first hand and learn about a dark history that is sure to translate into unforgettable memories, and nightmares.
Maybe you believe in ghosts, or maybe you don’t. Regardless, you ended up here… and you’re intrigued. This tour isn’t designed to make you some crazy ghost hunter, but we will share many fascinating and true stories about Monterey’s gruesome past. The curiosity will only intensify as you walk through the haunted streets on a dark, deserted night with only your friends and the echoes of ghosts before you.
We can’t promise this tour won’t leave you with a pit in your stomach, but at least it’s on land. The grueling history and hauntings that take place will not only entertain, but leave you and your friends shocked by the tragic and unbelievable history of this little city.
As much fun as Monterey is, if you stay long enough, you’ll be itching for a bit of heart-racing thrill. This tour is the perfect addition of excitement to your night in this fisherman’s town. Each bit of bizarre and shocking history you learn will make the rest of your trip that much more exciting as you’ll bring the haunted history along with you, and maybe even have some ghosts tag along when you return home!
Most Haunted Places in Monterey, CA
Colton Hall Museum and Jail
Constructed in 1849, just after California entered the Union, Colton Hall is central to Monterey’s Anglo-American history. Through the blistered hands of convicts controlled by the oppressive law of Walter Colton, the city’s first mayor, the building has seen morbid tragedies unimaginable to most. Many met their demise in this town hall by being hung with a noose and shoved off the second floor. These spirits mingle with those in the former morgue across the street in a spiritual vortex unlike any other in the Golden State.
Stokes Adobe
Once occupied by a madman named James Stokes, who infiltrated one Monterey in the 1830s, this adobe home is filled with the victims of his venomous malpractice. A sailor posing as a doctor, Stokes silenced the last Spanish Governor of California, Jose Figueroa, under his care and the former owner of this 1833 home, placing it right in his lap. He eventually went mad and poisoned himself in front of his children. His ghost and those he murdered in the name of fraud now terrify all brave enough to enter the historic home.
Monterey Hotel
Elegant and timeless, the Monterey Hotel has captivated the hearts and minds of Monterey’s elite for decades since its opening in 1904, so much so that many of them have stuck around in the afterlife. While the building lacks the brutality and tragedy of others around Monterey, the connection to the place was enough to stock it full of spirits. Girls dressed in opaque satin dresses line the staircases on their way to parties that ended long ago while disembodied voices tail through the hallways of Monterey’s most haunted hotel.
FAQs
Please see your booking details for meeting location. There are neighboring parking garages and street parking that are available in the area.
Group size varies based on time of year and demand. We can keep everyone in your party in the same group. We’ve been doing this for years, and manage group size to ensure guests have a great experience. In the event you can’t hear your tour guide, let them know, or move closer to them.
Pets are welcome as long as they do not disrupt ot distract from the tour
The arrival time will be listed on your confirmation email and in the available tour times when you click the book button
Please do not call us, the best way to reach us is by email using the contact form on this website
An extended tour takes you to a few additional locations when the regular tour ends. This adds about four new places and 30 minutes to your tour- highly recommended
Book a tour and check the +1 box for each person in your group where it says “Extended Tour” at checkout to add an extended Ghost tour.
Please contact us directly for pricing and availability. We do not do private tours under 30 persons. If you have a group under 30, please order directly from the website’s book now option.
Tours are held rain or shine. We will contact you if the tour is cancelled.
Please only attend the tour for the day and time you are booked, as another day or time may not be available. If you need to reschedule, please contact us by email first. There is a $10 per order (not person) rebooking fee for each schedule change.
As it is unfair to other guests, we do not wait for late or no show parties. Please remember to arrive to the correct location on time! We do not grant refunds to guests who fail to arrive to the appointed place on time and miss their tour.
No, but some of the locations you can visit during the day for free. We simply wouldn’t have the time to focus on as many stories as we do if we were to enter each one, and we wish to focus on the stories, and leave the exploring up to you!
15 minutes before the start of your tour
No.
No, this is a walking tour.
Most of the tour is not stroller or wheelchair accessible.
Yes, you are welcome to take photos of the locations we visit!
No, videos are not allowed
No, there is no smoking allowed on the tour
We do not allow intoxicated guests or drinking on the tour- we will promptly ask those in violation to leave
Lizzie Borden Ghost Tours
America’s most infamously haunted house delivers the most terrifying scares from all across the nation. We’ve compiled an extensive list of notoriously haunted locations and packaged them into spooky, entertaining tours available throughout the nation. Discover the true, unfiltered stories that created these hair-raising scares in only the unique and engaging way our expert guides can bring them to you. From the ghosts of unsolved murders and tragic accidents to disturbed spirits unable to find peace, there’s no limit to what we expose on our authentic ghost tours. Join us as we take you on an unforgettable, chilling journey through your city’s dark past and uncover the sinister secrets that put these places on the otherworldly map.
The Lizzie Borden House is home to the infamous murders that captivated the nation and made Lizzie Borden a macabre household name. Guests can explore the house via a variety of tours and, for those brave enough, stay in this notoriously haunted home. We aim to provide you with a memorable experience as well as deliver the best ghost tours, haunted pub crawls, and a variety of other experiences in over 100 cities.
Blogs
Fake News in Fall River
The murders of Fall River's Andrew and Abby Borden were front-page news in the autumn of 1892. How could a young woman such as Lizzie have allegedly committed such heinous acts? The crime enveloped the town that year, drawing in speculation and myst ... Read More
Posted 11.15.2021
Methodists and Millgirls – Fall River’s First Unsolved Murder
The main stretch of Fall River. Source: Wikimedia Commons Fall River and Lizzie Borden go together hand-in-hand. Even if you’re not a Fall River native, just hearing the town’s name is enough to send chills down your spine. But the Lizzi ... Read More
Posted 11.15.2021
Oak Grove Cemetery
All cemeteries have some haunting, and there's no exception for the Oak Grove Cemetery in Fall River, Massachusetts. This cemetery, however, has good reason to be haunted. And haunted, it most certainly is. History of Oak Grove Cemete ... Read More
Posted 09.29.2021
Lizzie Borden’s Maplecroft Mansion
Lizzie Borden's Maplecroft Mansion was home to the alleged axe murderer for nearly 35 years after being acquitted for murdering her parents. It's believed that her spirit hangs on in her beloved home, as well as the home she lived across town whe ... Read More
Posted 09.21.2021
