Best Historic Overview of Salem Walking Tour

4.5

based on 90 reviews

| Salem, Massachusetts, United States

Features

Free Cancellation

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Instant ticket delivery

Mobile Ticket

Pickup available

Duration

1.5 hours

Wheelchair accessible

Audio guide

Live guide

Guide uses an amplifier so everyone can hear the Salem History
90 minute Historic Salem Walking Tour
Local and Professional Guide
Hear tales of Maritime and Revolutionary significance.
We visit locations that have compelling history unknown to many locals

Gratuities
Hotel Pick-Up/Drop-Off
No food and drink offered, but snacks available for purchase

Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Service animals allowed
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Comfortable walking shoes are recommended
Parking available in garages on New Liberty, Bridge, and Congress Streets
Parking available in lots at Church Street, Front Street, and Klopp Alley. Metered parking near us. Use Passport Smart Phone App for meters. Bus parking available on New Derby Street and Hawthorne Boulevard.
Tour departs at 12 pm. Check in 15-20 minutes before your tour time at Salem Historical Tours office, located at 8 Central Street
Traffic and parking can be very difficult and October is much worse with "LA Level" traffic.
Our public walking tours can pose challenges for participants with mobility and accessibility concerns. Tours are 90 minutes long and about one mile in length. Each participant must be able to complete the one-mile tour within 90 minutes, providing for frequent stops to view sites and for information from the tour guide. As Salem is a historical city, there are narrow and uneven sidewalks, bricks, cobblestones, and stairs. During events and festivals (and particularly October), with crowds and street vendors, the streets can become difficult to navigate.

The witch trials made Salem infamous, but there’s so much more. Explore Salem’s critical role in the American Revolution, how it led the great Age of Sail, and all about the many important and famous people who’ve called Salem home. Experience as much of Salem's history as possible in our...

Duration 1 Hour and 30 Minutes
Group Tour
Max 40 people in the group

1
Salem Historical Tours & Haunted Footsteps Ghost Tour
Discover why Salem is the true birthplace of the United States of America with the best history tour in the city. Explore over four centuries of Salem’s remarkable history from its illustrious founding in 1626, to its place as a thriving 21st Century city. The witch trials made Salem infamous,...
- Duration 5 Minutes•
- No Admission Ticket Required
2
Central Street
Salem has plenty of revolutionary history. You'll visit the location where local revolutionaries met to discuss plans for a potential war with England.
- Duration 5 Minutes•
- No Admission Ticket Required

Old Burying Point Cemetery

Visit the oldest cemetery in Salem and one of the oldest in the country. Dating back to 1637, the cemetery is the resting place of many of the Puritans, including judges John Hathorne and Bartholomew Gedney, Nathaniel Mather, Samuel McIntire, Simon Forrester, Richard Derby and more

Duration 10 Minutes•
No Admission Ticket Required

Salem Witch Trials Memorial

Visit the Salem Witchcraft Trials memorial dedicated to the 20 people executed during the hysteria in 1692. THe memorial has a bench for each person that includes name, date of execution and form of execution. The memorial has a lot of symbolism.

Duration 5 Minutes•
No Admission Ticket Required

Church Street

Lyceum Hall, home to Turner's Seafood, has significance to the witchcraft trials and additional history. Bridget Bishop, the first woman executed for witchcraft in 1692, lived on the grounds. In 1877, Alexander Graham Bell performed the first public demonstration of the telephone here.

Duration 5 Minutes•
No Admission Ticket Required

Salem Old Town Hall

We will discuss Salem's incredible maritime history that began right after the American Revolution. From 1790-1812, Salem was the richest port in the country. Elias Haskett Derby became America's first millionaire in 1793. Portions of Hocus Pocus were filmed at the site as well. And Harry Houdini was put in...

Duration 10 Minutes•
No Admission Ticket Required

Washington Street

Hear a story about George Corwin, the high sheriff of the 1692 Witchcraft Trials, who lived on the grounds where the building now sits. In addition, George Washington visited Salem and stayed in a room in the hotel that is today called the Washington Room. And Amelia Earhart taught English...

Duration 10 Minutes•
Admission Ticket Not Included

Essex Street

Rockafellas is in a building that was the fourth location of the first church. The second location was there too. In addition, the Town House Square building was on that spot and that has revolutionary history. Massachusetts was basically declared a state on those grounds. A local congress of representatives...

Duration 10 Minutes•
No Admission Ticket Required

Essex County

Samantha Stevens of the TV Show Bewitched is in Lappin Park. A handful of episodes of the show were shot here in Salem. The best part is that her statue sits on land that was owned by the hanging Judge John Hathorne. How ironic that a witch sits on his...

Duration 5 Minutes•
No Admission Ticket Required

Sewall Street

Before the YMCA was here, Mrs. Brown had a home here with a famous border. That was Alexander Graham Bell. He lived at the home, educated her grandson and then would take the train to Boston to teach at Boston University. He also had an attic laboratory where he worked...

Duration 5 Minutes•
No Admission Ticket Required

The Witch House at Salem

The Witch House is the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin. It was built in the 1660s and Corwin bought it in 1675. No witches lived here but it is the last home in Salem with direct ties to the 1692 Witchcraft Trials.

Duration 5 Minutes•
No Admission Ticket Required

North Street

Leslie's Retreat happened here at the North Bridge as 140 redcoats led by Colonel Leslie tried to cross the river to take weapons and cannons on the other side. Several colonists stopped them by pulling up the draw bridge. No shots were fired, but the British left empty handed. This...