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    Recommended Reviews - Franklin Castle

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    Main floor, only place you can take photos
    Sandra J.

    Fun tour, got to see the whole house and it was a great experience. Did not spend the night. But I would like to in the future!

    The castle
    Tiffany S.

    Last night, on Groundhog Day, we toured the Franklin Castle located at 4308 Franklin Boulevard in Cleveland, OH. As a preface to my review of the tour, I want to state that being born on Friday the 13th and having worked in a funeral home, I do not feel fearful of the dead, nor do I believe in superstitions. I do believe in spirits, both good and evil, and probably a mix of both, zooming around us. But I am not one of the people that you'd consider a 'ghost chaser'. I scare easily (just ask my husband and kids!) and am afraid of the dark. But I do love visiting cemeteries and learning about haunted places. All of that being said, I was born and raised on the West side of Cleveland, and have been aware of the Franklin Castle for as long as I can remember. As a kid, we would drive by this 4-story stone mansion often. As a new driver, I recall going with some friends to scope it out. At that time, you could not go inside, but we sat out front in my parent's minivan and watched the windows to see if there was any movement inside; we'd all heard that it was haunted. Haunted by who, we weren't sure. It was the late 1980s, and back then we weren't Googling things yet. Stories were passed by word of mouth mostly, on the news, or in our local paper 'The Cleveland Plain Dealer'. We'd heard about infants and small children who died in the house, bones being found there. Nobody knew for sure who was haunting it, though stories floated around. Alas, we saw no signs of life, or afterlife, on any occasion. Fast forward to the present time, February 2023. Since you can Google things today, I'll leave that to you because there are loads of details to learn about the history of this beautiful, yet ominous-looking place online. As for what we learned in person last night: I don't want to spoil it by sharing too much. I'll simply note that our delightful tour guide Jens (pronounced 'yens') warmly welcomed us through the iron gate around 5:45pm, and we did not conclude the tour until after 8:00pm. For over two hours, he led our group from dark room to even darker room, up and down through all four floors (basement to attic), while talking about the past residents, mixing oxblood paint, hidden panels, walking us onto and off of stone balconies, allowing us to take a photo by the black mirror, sharing details of one raging fire, some underground tunnels, and showing us a glorious ballroom. There were areas we could take photos, and areas where pictures were off-limits. Like I wrote, I don't want to spoil it by sharing too much. If you are curious, definitely go and experience it for yourself. It is well worth the money spent. In addition to the paid tour, they offer overnight stays. I plan to go back again, maybe next year on Groundhog Day to see the progress of the continued restorations and learn more about the paranormal monitoring that has been taking place. There won't ever be any overnight stays for this gal though! I don't have the constitution for that. While I did not see any poltergeists, I do believe the place is haunted. My spine was tingling throughout the entire experience. Thanks to Jens for the warm welcome to his castle. It far exceeded my expectations! PS: I bought tickets at https://thefranklincastle.com/

    Super awesome castle!
    Rachel Macie H.

    Dark and spooky is what's always good anytime a year but even more so during October as that's when you can just feel the Erie vibes that much more! Coming here it would have been cool to go inside but someone currently lives here so they are the ones enjoying it's mysterious beautiful vibes of which only one could imagine! Next door to the house is a park that you can get some great views of the house as well as a kinda spooky vibe as this park just has that interesting feel to it! Overall this castle was super cool to look at and to just see the vibe that it has was really awesome I do hope to get to venture inside at one point because that would be insanely awesome as I'm always looking for dark and scary places to find spirits that will manifest for you!

    View from park side

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    1 month ago

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    5 months ago

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Very informative tour. Learned so much. Jens was amazing. Can't wait until the upgrades.

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    4 years ago

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    Take A Hike Cleveland - Ceiling of Mimi Ohio Theatre

    Take A Hike Cleveland

    4.6(8 reviews)
    1.9 miGateway District

    Patty was a very good guide. We had a group outing for one of the December tours about the historic…read morehotels of downtown CLE. It was a seasonal holiday tour and the city was sparkling. They provided us with hot chocolate and cookies at the start of the tour, as well as a complimentary gift to choose from several options. I picked a tumbler with the Take a Hike logo. You also get a drink coupon for the bar at the Arcade to use after the tour or at another date. What a great touch! For a little over 30 bucks, you get a 90 minute tour, which I think is probably pretty close to the national average for a walking tour, especially considering it comes with some swag. We had a special guest, Mr. Schofield, who acted in character and told us a bit of history about one of the stops, which was a clever touch. The only suggestion I have is to have a warming stop or two in the middle of the tour. (We did have one, but that was close to the end of the tour.) I love learning the history, but honestly by the last stop I was kind of checked out because it was so cold. I would love to come back in the summer. Patty told us the summer tours are free! They also have a passport program where you collect stamps for each tour you take and can earn prizes and stuff. What a great concept!

    It's difficult to rate this, since it's a free tour. But it did not meet my expectations at all…read more My family and I went on a Statue tour downtown on a Sunday morning. There was an older male who was our tour guide. Now, I've been on several other city tours before, both in Cleveland and other cities, so I've seen a wide range. This tour wasn't my favorite, and I wouldn't recommend it. Our tour guide was pretty arrogant. Instead of trying to impress us with the history of our city, he tried to prove he was superior by all the things he's done. Okay? Like idc, pal ! He wasn't open to any questions, requests, or feedback of any kind. It was his tour and he did things his way, and that was THAT! No engagement whatsoever. The "facts" were really just one generic sentence written from a page. (Other tour companies provide stories about what we're seeing, you know, like history!) At the end of our tour though, there was a man who played Tom Johnson who was PHENOMENAL though. He should be the one giving all the tours !!!!

    Photos
    Take A Hike Cleveland - Erie Street Cemetery Tour Guide

    Erie Street Cemetery Tour Guide

    Take A Hike Cleveland - John Malvin character actor

    John Malvin character actor

    Take A Hike Cleveland - Blue Urn in Palace Theatre

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    Blue Urn in Palace Theatre

    Lakewood Dish Dash - Erin at Nature's Oasis serves up some Panini goodness!

    Lakewood Dish Dash

    5.0(1 review)
    4.6 mi

    Locals and visitors alike- schedule your walking food tour with Lakewood Dish Dash! I was taken on…read morethis tour by a friend for my birthday and I highly recommend. If you are a foodie, you will have a great time. The 5 restaurant locations are kept as a secret which makes the day even more enjoyable because everything is a surprise. When arriving at each restaurant, their dish is also a surprise. This is a great way to try something new that the restaurant personally recommends. Everything is a "sample" but the portions are HUGE so come starving. I even took home leftovers as the group could not finish all the samples. Great way to explore new restaurants even as a local resident. I will be scheduling another tour as there are over 25 restaurants who participate in the tour and we only went to 5 (because you will be too stuffed to go to any more in one day!) Highly recommend!!

    From the owner: Our walking restaurant tours provide a dining adventure featuring up to 6 independently owned…read morerestaurants and specialty food stops within 3 hours. Get steps in while you enjoy tasting offerings from places you might not have experienced before. Lakewood is known for its food culture and funky eateries. We have everything from barbecue joints and bakeries to brew houses; from Indian cuisine and Asian fusion to gelato and chocolatiers. Bring your taste buds on an adventure. Regular tours run April thru November, with some specialty, seasonal tours during the winter months. Check the web site for available tours.

    Photos
    Lakewood Dish Dash - A perfect afternoon exploring and you also get to see local boutiques you miss when driving

    A perfect afternoon exploring and you also get to see local boutiques you miss when driving

    Lakewood Dish Dash - Fourth stop

    Fourth stop

    Lakewood Dish Dash - Fifth stop

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    Fifth stop

    Franklin Castle - historicaltours - Updated May 2026

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