Explore Chicago’s most haunted nooks and crannies, but try not to get spooked!
Chicago is home to arts, culture, Michelin-starred restaurants, World Champion sports teams… and ghosts. Yep, you read that right. We’re a pretty haunted city.
You may have heard a local ghost story or two in your day, but what separates the urban legends from the real, documented sightings? It’s best to ask the experts. The city’s ghoulish past has attracted many ghost hunters and paranormal activity enthusiasts. Book a tour with one of them so your family can share in the spookiness.
If your kids are easily scared, a ghost tour of any kind might not be the best way to spend your day or evening. If you’ve all got thick skin, though, these tours are welcoming to families and kids of all ages.
Weird Chicago Tours
Address: 600 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60654 | Bus tours depart from Clark and Ohio Streets
Phone: 217-791-7859
Hours: Fridays, 8 p.m. | Saturdays, 7 p.m.
Fees: Adults ages 12+, $35 | Kids ages 8-12, $25
One of Chicago’s biggest and best-known ghost tours is run by Weird Chicago Tours, explorers of all things creepy and eccentric in Cook County. The company’s extensive three-hour Haunted History Tour buses patrons to historically strange sites around the city, mixing true facts, documented stories, and known legends about Chicago’s gangsters, ghosts, and more.
You’ll be on and off the bus throughout the evening and at times actually going inside the haunted sites. Haunted History Tours run every weekend and meet outside of the Rock ’n’ Roll McDonald’s downtown (600 N. Clark St.). The tour isn’t recommended for children under 10 years old. Infants and strollers aren’t allowed.
Free Tours by Foot Ghost Tour
Address: 520 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60605 | Tour begins in front of Congress Plaza Hotel
Phone: 617-299-0764
Hours: Most Fridays, 7 p.m. | Click here for full calendar.
Fees: Free with reservations, tipping encouraged
If you’re looking for an affordable way to learn about Chicago’s most ghost-infested sites, Free Tours By Foot’s “pay what you want” policy might be the best one for your family. The company’s Chicago Ghost Tour explores Chicago’s haunted hotels, theaters, and more. It also recounts some of the city’s most infamous serial killers, including H.H. Holmes and John Wayne Gacy. The walking tour takes two hours (total distance is around 1.5 miles), so wear your comfy shoes. Once your tour ends, you decide what you think it was worth and pay your guide accordingly.
Wateriders Ghosts & Gangsters Tour
Address: East Bank Club Riverwalk, 500 N. Kingsbury St., Chicago, IL, 60654
Phone: 312-953-9287
Hours: Thursday, Friday & Sunday nights, 7 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. (Saturday night tours to resume in September.)| Click here for a full calendar.
Fees: Adults ages 16+, $65 | Kids under 16, $45, must ride in double kayak with guardian. | Kids too small to paddle can ride in the middle of a double kayak for free.
On most ghost tours, you’ll find yourself either on a bus or on foot. That’s not the case with Wateriders’ Ghosts and Gangsters Tour, which allows you to explore the dark side of Chicago via kayak! The post-sunset tour runs Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from spring until fall. You’ll paddle down the Chicago River while learning about Chicago mob bosses and haunted areas.
The tour is two and a half hours long. Children under 16 years old must ride in a double kayak with a guardian. Little ones too young to paddle can ride in the middle of a double kayak (no ticket required).
Bizarre Bucktown
Address: 1722 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60622 (Tours begin & end at Walsh Park)
Phone: 773-435-0097
Hours: Fridays, 7 p.m. | Saturdays, 10 a.m. & 6 p.m. (Morning tours alternate between Bucktown and Wicker Park locations.)
Fees: $25
Unlike most ghost tours in Chicago, Bizarre Bucktown focuses on one neighborhood in particular. Bucktown is well-known as a desirable community for families and artists, but you’ll learn about a different side to the neighborhood on this 90-minute, mile-long walking tour. Explore “haunted pubs, storied churches, and hulking former factories” along the way. Children under 13 years old aren’t permitted on the tour. This company also offers Bizarre Wicker Park tours, with a focus on “the snake oil tycoon, beer barons, and radicals who built and shaped this neighborhood.”
Second City Tours Ghost Walk
Address: 875 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611 (All tours meet in front of the John Hancock Center.)
Phone: 800-395-9646
Hours: Saturdays, 7 p.m.
Fees: $30
Second City Tours’ Ghost Walk takes place every Saturday night, departing from the Hancock Building on Michigan Avenue. On this 90-minute informational tour, your guide will walk you through the sites of some of the most tragic incidents in Chicago history — ones that may have led to restless spirits. The walking tour winds its way through the Gold Coast and River North neighborhoods.
Chicago Hauntings Bus Tour
Address: 520 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60605 (All tours depart from the Congress Plaza Hotel.)
Phone: 773-733-2711
Hours: Saturdays & Sundays, 8 p.m.
Fees: Adults ages 12+, $36.05 | Kids ages 8-12, $26
Chicago Hauntings’ Ursula Bielski is one of the city’s most well-known paranormal investigators and has published close to a dozen books on the subject. Learn from one of the best on this fully narrated, three-hour bus tour. By the time you’re back home you’ll be able to school your friends on scary sites and stories from around town, like the Iroquois Theatre fire, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, and “Resurrection Mary.” There’s a reason this ghost tour has been around for 15 years.
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