This tour is as amazing! We learned so much about the movie, actors and locations! It is a 3.1 mile…read morewalk so be prepared. Thanks Topher!

I found Hocus Pocus Tours while seeking things to do in Salem on Yelp and TripAdvisor. Fellow…read moreYelpers' rave reviews did not disappoint! In messaging Hocus Pocus Tours with a couple questions about the tour and travel to and from Salem, the owner Susan replied immediately and suggested that I call her. This led to a one hour phone conversation where Susan was so gracious with her time, knowledge, and suggestions, not just about how to make the most of the tour, but how to appreciate a day in Salem. I can see why those who had the opportunity to take the in-person tour with Susan really enjoyed it. Covid changed the business model and Hocus Pocus now offers a self-guided tour by purchasing one of two tour apps. I opted for the $19.99 grand tour and it was well worth it. It has 37 points of interest. The app is user friendly and well designed. It provides a map of all stops, tracks where you are, and guides you to the next stop that you select on the tour. When you get to your stop, you can confirm you're at the right spot by comparing a photo of the site with what you see. Then you click on a 2-3 minute audio recording that provides a great snapshot of the significance of the site. As Susan had pointed out to me, there is much more to Salem than the historic witchcraft trials. It includes author Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables, America's oldest candy company, and other interesting sites. Of everything I visited, I experienced a very deep emotional connection with the 1692 Witchcraft Memorial with 20 stones dedicated to each of the victims of the witchcraft trial. The tour includes brief descriptions of some of the victims including those written about in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. If you plan to visit Salem, I highly recommend this tour. All sites can be visited on the outside and some on the inside at no charge. Some sites, such as The House of Seven Gables, charge separate admission fees. If you want to travel to Salem and don't have a car, the ferry from Boston offers a nice, scenic, and entertaining 50 minute ride. The commuter trains run more frequently and can come in handy if the ferry schedule coming or going doesn't meet your needs. There are plenty of good places to dine at to break up the tour. We had lunch at FINZ and really enjoyed it (I'll post separately about that).

This was a great walking tour of Salem!! I went in knowing basically nothing about the witch trials…read moreand left knowing a lot more about- and with some local restaurant recommendations. We got plenty of steps and saw a lot of Salem. I carried my baby around, and he got a great nap!!

This was an excellent tour! Sarah is the host and she is terrific! She is very knowledgeable and…read moregreat in telling the stories and historical facts and events.

Such an amazing tour with our guide Jack. He was so knowledgeable, answered questions, and was…read morehighly entertaining! Highly recommend to anyone who is looking for the history of the Salem Witch Trials. You get to stop at some of the key places during your tour, plenty of time to take photos to see if you catch a spirit, or two.

2nd time on this tour! Jack was an amazing storyteller and had all kinds of insights and historical…read moreinformation! The tour had to circle around and miss a stop due to emergency vehicles- but he offered to tell us after the tour. Highly- highly recommend this tour.

We did two walking tours in our one day we had at Salem. Crazy I know, but stay with me, I don't…read moreregret a single thing about it. Our first tour was the hocus pocus walking tour with Hilary. Amazing. Hilary was funny, knowledgable, and just a true joy to be around. That two hour walk went by faster than I thought it would. She has so many behind the scenes knowledge of the movie, I was thoroughly impressed. Oh, she also had a candy bucket! Cant ever go wrong with candy. Thank you Hilary for opening our day in such a positive way. My second walking tour was the history and hauntings of Salem. Our tour guide was Claire and she was great. She was able to keep the attention of our 13 yo son, no small feat these days. However, her story telling and live of history kept him into the walk and he didn't complain once. Thank you Claire for giving us a great tour of Salem and completing our night out!

We chose Witch City Walking Tours to introduce us to Salem. Aurelia was our guide and she was a…read morewealth of information. Unfortunately we started the tour in Derby Square and it was very loud. It was very hard to hear Aurelia and the noise was very distracting. Aurelia was a lifelong resident of the Salem area and clearly very invested in the city. Before arriving in Salem I thought it was a small town. Salem is a much larger town located just north of Boston. The tour covered about 1 1/2 miles and the walk was easy. Much of the focus was on the witch trials and the mark it left on the city of Salem. The tour ended at the memorial for the victims of the witch trials and it was very solemn. This tour gave me a new perspective on Salem and its history.

I have used Salem Historical Tours three times; twice for private tours and a third time for a…read moreregular Salem Witchcraft Walk. The private tours were great because we could request customized information. For example, learning the fascinating Black history of Salem. The tour guides have a wealth of knowledge and experience. I've learned lots on every tour. The guides go into different angles of history. Last time, I learned about why the Puritans came to the New World (now the United States) in the first place and that they were very different from the Pilgrams who arrived before them. Giovanni, in particular, has always given me tips for more activities. He is active in the Salem United which had a free exhibit at Hamilton Hall about the Negro Election Day a couple years ago. I've appreciated that the guides are all conscientious about climate comfort too. It rained on the first tour and our guide made sure that we could be covered when he was speaking. The last time was a hot and sunny day and our guide found shaded spots for us.

Tried to take a walking tour provided by this company, but no one was there…read more I called their customer service number and was given a description of a person, but that didn't match what the operator ended up telling me. They continued to harass me after requesting a refund, which they denied. Just a gross company.

Went on a ghost tour with Sam and was blown away with all the history behind the foreboding feeling…read moreand the famous witch trials. The tour lasted about one hour and thirty minutes which included a few stops in front of some iconic landmarks and monuments such as the first membership Library, the Witch House, Ropes Mansion, Salem Inn, Old Town Hall and Chestnut Street. To say it was nostalgic visiting some staples I have marveled in the movie Hocus Pocus is an understatement. Seeing Max and Dani's house, Allison's house and the Old Town Hall up close brought me back to my 5 year old self. If you have not learned about the Witch Trials or don't care to, no problem! However, if you find that Salem, MA is on your bucket list of places to go to, I would maybe listen to a podcast or read up on the trials beforehand because it's a lot of history to take in. I couldn't leave Salem without buying my own witch hat of course. Some things I recommend on a tour: 1) Dress comfortably and warm (if in the fall) it is cold and windy at this time and you will be walking over cobblestone most of the time 2) Wear a festive hat! I wore my witch hat 3) Make sure you use the restroom before you go on the tour. They don't stop for restroom breaks and there are only portable potties available which I would avoid as much as you can because - ugh!

A great tour! We chose the 1 hour tour because we didn't have a lot of time. A lot of great stuff…read morewas still covered. I appreciated the history and information about Salem that we wouldn't have known without doing the tour!

Didn't get to take the tour, it seemed a little expensive to me... but I felt like it did offer…read moremuch more bang for your buck then some other near by attractions. And honestly I would have paid it but we were almost out of our fun money for the trip. I will probably do it next time, or honestly staying here would be really cool!

Great day for a visit! Worth the drive Spent the day in…read moreSalem. Very comforting! conveniently located.

The trolley experience is a must if you want to know more about this city. The local ghost walking…read moretours are also nice, but you get more out of the trolley. I did both. The trolley takes you further out. The staff was knowledgeable. They made the experience nice. It was nice to just sit and enjoy a nice historical ride. This was perfect. It is too hot to be walking around. The experience was nice. Tips are welcome by the staff.

Overall organization very confusing directions there is one line for ticketed persons, another for…read morethose who have tickets and another for those that want to purchase tickets.. then you get moved to another line.. they say the trolly comes every 15 minutes but it's more like every 30-45 minutes

The staff are the nicest people and they had real artifacts inside. I had to touch everything for…read moresome reason. Lol. I heard someone say they didn't like it right before going in so I wasn't expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised. It is a museum so you have to stop and read all the things otherwise you won't like it either. It's not a scary place where people jump out at you, if you want that you should go to one of the haunted houses. The guy at the gift shop was dressed up too and was good at staying in character. He added the fun aspect and he told us he is one of the Jason's during October. He even makes masks you can buy. Cool guy.

Set up tour for adults, it shouldn't be advertised for kids though. My kids age 5&7 were not…read moreinterested at all. They ran through and wanted to leave. I wouldn't recommend for kids. They were super kind here though and did understand our concerns around it being shaped for kids and don't charge under 5. If it's a rainy day and you're looking for something to do, this could be an interesting stop but not a must while in Salem.

You can easily find this house along the salem which self tour. This house has been well preserved…read moreand is a vision with it's large elevation and beautiful trimming.