I have done this tour in other cities and found it to be historical and fun. My friends and I were looking for an offbeat Halloween-themed GNO and aren't into the whole theme park thing - plus this is only $20 a person. Read on for details about our ghost tour though downtown St. Pete. Getting Tickets Saw the tour as an event shared on Facebook. Ordered our tickets online via the ghost tour site - very easy. This is the site I used https://www.ghosttour.com/ Parking Our tour was scheduled to leave at 8 p.m. Saturday evening, Oct. 12. We were instructed to meet up at Sweet Diva's 400 Beach Drive NE/4th Ave. North Side. Parking was a pain, but this is expected downtown. Might be a good idea to grab a bite or drink at Locale Market, walking distance to Sweet Diva's. Valet park for $5 (have Locale validate your parking!) this should allow you to park until 11 so you can do the tour and grab coffee or a beer after the walk. Ready, Set, Go! You can't resist stepping inside Sweet Diva's (unless you have some sort of insane amount of willpower) - the shop is super cute and filled with homemade chocolates and other goodies. Grab a bottle of water or coffee while waiting and be sure to use the rest room before the walk. The tour guide allows ten minutes for those running late w/tickets which is very nice, but do try to be on time! Meet Your Guide Our guide was named Neil Patrick (I know what you're thinking, far from it LOL) ... Neil was an older gent with more energy than I have in my entire freakin' body. We didn't ask, but it's obvious he is or was a stage actor at some point in his life. He walked at a perfect pace (and I'm a massive slowpoke so trust me, it's all good!) and was concerned that everyone in our group - of about 20 which included young couples and seniors vacationing - could hear him. What to Expect If you've never done one of these ghost tours before, you may want to note this isn't going to scare the out of you. This is more of a historical ghost story telling type thing. Neil provided us with interesting background on famous area landmarks such as the Vinoy Hotel, the Blocker Mansion, Cordova Inn and more as well as famous ghosts like Esther Wright aka The Bird Woman of St. Pete. Tip Bring cash for tip - your tour guide is worth it. read more

While I'm sure well intended, the tour was terrible. We spent 30 min at the first house being told 13 stories (I counted) about people's second hand encounters of what they saw at the house. The guide Deb, rambled - didn't talk about ghosts and carried on at each stop. Everyone in our group was looking at each other waiting for a chance to dip out. read more

My advice is to skip to the last stop on the (St. Pete's) tour, the Vinoy Hotel, and sit outside on the porch with a drink. I am a ghost tour enthusiast (my family members, who came with me, are not) and was so excited to go on this one... a couple stops in, I realized I had made a grave mistake. The tour guide was a kind and genuine soul who is clearly passionate about her ghost stories service, make no mistake. However, every single story lasted like 25 minutes (and felt triple as long) and was peppered with comments like, "oh, my friend so and so told me this about this place..." or "i ran into a gal who lives here and she told me..." and eventually my suspension of disbelief wore off and I realized, oh my God, none of these stories actually involve history, ghosts, deaths of significant people, or hauntings. Is St. Pete's just completely devoid of any sordid history? Probably the most illustrative example is when we stopped in front of a creepy old house and our guide said, "well, this house looks haunted, but we don't actually have any stories about it, so I'm going to relay a folklore tale about Spanish Moss that some Boy Scouts told me." I am not kidding. In close, this "ghost tour" provided a lot of comedic material for my family, and I got more exercise walking around St. Pete on a beautiful night than I have in a long time... silver linings, ya'll. read more

What else should one do on Friday the 13th when one finds oneself in St. Petersburg? Interesting stories. Knowledgeable guide. Mr. Patrick was a great story teller. My favorite was the story of Esther Wright, the "cat and bird lady". I would echo the sentiments that were expressed in previous reviews. This tour is heavy on history with some stories about potential ghosts. Great night for it. Not too hot. Not too chilly. Just right. It doesn't start where it ends, but this was advantageous to me, because I ended up closer to the hotel where I was staying. Speaking of hotels, St. Petersburg has some old creepy ones with lots of history (e.g. Detroit Hotel). I would love to learn more about these places. Fun evening with a small, intimate group. read more

The lady that runs the tour is awful 3 people on the tour fell asleep. She is a kind lady but isn't made for the job. We didn't go into any building to investigate anywhere. I wouldn't recommend. read more

It really isn't a 'ghost tour' if I compare it to some i've been on in San Francisco or the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Ark. But Laurie, our guide, DID profess she was not a medium/spiritualist from the start. She was more of a 'historical' guide. However, that seems to be a misnomer to 'Ghost Tour'. We began on Beach Street and probably covered three city blocks in all. Laurie told our group of the Vinoy Hotel and the nefarious Gene Eliot who probably killed his wife, thus the 'lady in white' who haunts the tower. She took us to several old Banyan trees in the park and spoke of the Tocabaca tribe and the shell mounds which existed in this area. I photographed an orb here, I think. We moved on to the Museum of Fine Arts and learned of Margaret Stewart, the founder and then went to the Ponce De Leon Hotel, briefly walking inside to the lobby. Our guide made mention that this hotel was used as a morgue back in WWII but I have found no mention in my research that it was. However, the strange story of former Rockette Betty Warfield burning up in her bed back in 1981 was interesting. Supposedly nothing else burned in the room or anywhere else. Spontaneous Combustion? Strange story. I think my problem with the tour is that we didn't really go into any place although I understand certain businesses frown on having a lot of non-paying gawkers standing around in their establishment. Something I appreciated at the Crescent Hotel, we were able to roam the floors, basement, etc. and yet didn't disturb the occupants. I was a little let down although I got a few strange photos and heard some very strange tales. I would like to see a REAL ghost tour where we could enter the Vinoy or the Detroit Hotel (oldest in St. Petersburg) and actually have EVP recordings or some other ghost hunter apparatus. Laurie did good, I'm not faulting her, but it was not very exciting. The Ghost Hunter tours also do Tampa, John's Pass and Gulfport. I've heard the Don Cesar Hotel tour is cool..it's more expensive as one pays for a light dinner there. Perhaps I should start my own ghost tour. read more

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This review is for the Ghost Tour of Tampa. The company operates tours out of Tampa, St. Pete, and John's Pass. I've done ghost tours in St. Augustine and San Diego. This was far from a tour. It was more akin to standing around a camp fire listening to ghost stories minus the scare or interest. Our guide met us in downtown Tampa. She was pleasant. I could not tell if she was garbed in period clothing or if she just dressed in an eccentric fashion. She immediately informed us that the 90 minute tour would be closer to 2 hours because she would also be telling stories from friends of friends. This is exactly what happened on a brisk 60 degree Tampa night. We really walked in a four block circle with a few stops in between. We stopped at the historic Tampa Theater and heard multiple stories about multiple ghosts before she finally discussed the "Tampa Ghost". I would have preferred that she got to the point right away. We then proceeded to a small grocery store which was allegedly haunted. The clerk seemed sincere and backed up the guide's story. We then walked some more and ended up looking out the University of Tampa. We heard about some ghost that chills there as well. By this point, I was done but the guide wasn't. She continued telling story upon story (hearsay in a court of law mind you) that she got from friends and other ghost tour operators. Next stop was a bookstore (full of old books) and then a public park. At this point the storyteller informed us that she was from an ancient profession of story tellers who lived on tips. Okay I get it. I was going to tip you anyway. This approach was tacky. In closing, I viewed the tour as an opportunity to learn and see some parts of Tampa Bay. It didn't seem like a ghost tour per se. Perhaps the John's Pass tour or the St. Pete tour is better. The Tampa tour is sub par. read more

Tour was one big bore, with many verifiable incorrect details, falsehoods and out right nonsense. What a waste of time.

While not a "ghost tour" in the strictest sense, they do advertise on their site and when you talk to the guide that it's just a walking tour with stories. It's also only $15 ($13 if you order online), so I'm not going to be too picky about it. We opted for the downtown St. Petersburg tour and had a pretty enjoyable time with our guide, Genevese. Unfortunately it was a little on the warm side but we still were able to stop often enough to catch a breeze and cool down a little. You also get to go inside a few locations which are thankfully air conditioned. The other problem is that most of the area isn't that old or intact, so there are only a few locations to visit compared to some older towns. Still, we had a good time and our guide made it a fun and engaging experience. We also ended the tour at the Vinoy hotel so we were able to cool off at the bar with a fancy cocktail when we were done. read more

Made and paid for reservations in advance and was very disappointed when they cancelled our tour Did refund. Not tourist friendly

I have been to many ghost tours all over the country, and I would have to say this was one of the worst, for a couple of reasons. 1. I felt like there was a LOT of unnecessary walking. When we met up at the tea room, there was a group of probably 40 people, and we were split into three groups, each with a different tour guide. I forget the name of our guide, by he had a top hat with a rat on it. Anyway, because there were three different groups all doing the same tour at the same time, I felt like a lot of the walking we did was just to avoid the other tours. We basically only went to three places, all hotels. The Vinoy, The Indigo, and The Pier. All of these are in about a 3 or so block radius, and we must have walked at least 12 blocks. There was a lot of walking time with no stories. 2. I found the stories to be quite dull and repetitive. They all started the same, and felt very contrived and fake. I just got home from the tour, and I couldn't really tell you what any of the stories were about, because none of them struck my interest. Our tour guide wasn't a good storyteller at all. 3. When the tour was over, we stopped at some side street, instead of ending back up at the tea place where we started. As an out of towner, I really didn't know how to get back, and I was upset that we were just left to walk by ourselves in the dark when I really didn't know where I was going. Another small point to mention...when we went to The Vinoy, our tour guide lied and told us that since our group was "special" we would be the only group on the tour that would get to go into the Vinoy, which was an obvious lie, and rubbed me the wrong way. While I will say it was cool that we got to go inside certain locations, which is rare on ghost tours, it didn't make up for the bad storytelling or lack of interesting information. I would skip this tour. read more

This was a fun little tour and was exactly what I expected honestly. I learned some of the local folklore of the city and a bit of interesting history about some of the haunted buildings in the area. A cheap and fun way to spend an hour. Our guide was a great storyteller. read more

I hadn't done a ghost tour before so I was kind of excited to do this. Our guides Anita and her husband (he jokingly told us his name was Mordecai Tecumseh Graves.) They were friendly and knowledgeable, but it sounds like michael s. got a more thorough tour than we did. I think my favorite part was when M.T. Graves startled my roommate or when he approached the homeless guy staying on the front porch of the Blocker mansion. I really enjoyed the history behind the places so it was still interesting and worth it. read more

This is a walking tour that starts on Beach Drive. It says meet at Hooker Tea but we could not find the tour guide at first because they were sitting on a bench outside and we had looked inside. They should really give better directions. With the hustle and bustle on Beach Drive, they looked like just another person. Anyway, the tour lasted from 8-10 and our guide was not very engaging. I did this ghost tour about 8 years ago, and again last week with some friends. The two guides did not compare. The first guide was authentic and engaging, while last week's sounded like she was reciting exactly from memory. Several times we encountered homeless people at the stops which was the scariest part of the whole thing. You hear tales of residents of St. Pete's past and the supposed hauntings they have left behind. Your guide will definitely make or break this for you. Our group was pretty bored throughout the whole thing, and we could not wait for it to be over. read more