As a Scottsdale resident, I thought I knew a little bit about Old Town... but we were looking for…read moresomething a little bit different for my mom's 89th birthday, and by far our favorite activity was Sam's walking tour. Sam's knowledge of local history along with all the current goings on is unsurpassed. She is delightful, well liked by everyone in town (look for lots of shout outs during your tour) and can advise you on everything to do during your stay in Scottsdale, whether you are local or a visitor! Highly recommend!

What a privilege and delight to take this walking tour led by a former mayor of Scottsdale! Sam…read morewas so knowledgeable-- little wonder -- she's been the mayor. Lots of personal insights. Go and enjoy!!

Amazing downtown Phoenix experience with so much history that isn't talked about enough in this…read morecity! Great tour even better people working it!

I got my exercise, fun solo night out, facts about the town and learned how to use some ghost…read morehunting instruments for fun! Valentina hosted and we walked around a couple of blocks and learned about some very important buildings and its history from old to restored and renovated. We also did some readings on her instruments and confirmed some spooky activities! Although you have to be careful not to use your phone next to the devices. One cool thing I've discovered is a speakeasy that was behind a large hotel in a corner alley and how people from different Midwest states like Illinois for one example would come in and buy buildings and a lot of land. Some buildings were owned by women who were successful and now haunted....!

The tour was worth the five year wait/lottery! We had a wonderful docent and received a fantastic…read moretour of Tovrea Castle which was superb in every way possible. I have lived in Arizona, specifically the Phoenix area, for most of my life and have driven by Tovrea Castle thousands of times. It was so cool to be able to walk the grounds and get a peek inside. I would highly suggest entering the lottery, it's free and some people have better luck than I did and can get in sooner than 5 years. This was an insightful tour mixed with great storytelling and history. The basement with all the artifacts of the family and learning more about the area makes me proud to be a part of Arizona! Worth the visit!

If you live in the Valley it's highly likely that you have driven by this place. From the 202 fwy…read moreyou can easily see it. I often wondered what is that building? Finally after passing it so many times I was curious enough to look it up. I googled "cake shaped building PHX" and it was the first result. "Tovrea (said tov-ree) Castle aka A jewel in the Sonoran desert" Since 2010 the City of Phoenix purchased, renovated, and opened it for tours. The very abbreviated story with this place is that some homesteaders from the early 1900s owned the land, sold 277 acres to a wealthy Italian man. Alessio Carraro had built a fortune in the sheet metal business in the 1920s from San Fran. He planned to build a hotel resort surrounded by a housing subdivision on 277 acres, Carraro Heights. The castle was built near the timing of when the Great Depression set in. Carraro wanted out, he sold the castle and some amount of acreage (for a fraction of his investment) to Della Tovrea, wife of cattle baron E.A. Tovrea. She lived there until her tragic death in 1969. Nearby is the Stockyard Restaurant, built by E.A.'s son so cattlemen had somewhere to eat near the stockyards. That restaurant still exists today. I plan to check it out. If you want more details and full story, go take the tour :) however tickets are not easy to come by. Tours sell out many months in advance and they started using a lottery system. I bought my tickets months ago. However worth a try to go. I wouldn't say its the most amazing thing I've ever seen and the use of the word "castle" is a stretch. I've been inside some real castles in US and Europe, however it's interesting and a fun thing to do and it satisfied my curiosity! :) Per their website- The Ticket Lottery for Fall 2022 Tickets has ended and all tickets have been distributed - look for last minute cancellation tickets. Ticket Lottery for Spring 2023 Regular Tours closed on October 15, 2022 and Winners will be notified via email starting November 1, 2022. https://tovreacastletours.com

It was an excellent tour with great information. Lots of information about the history of the town…read moreand the ghosts included.

My friends and I have always wanted to do a "Haunting Tour" and we finally got to experience this…read morewith the amazing Darlene! We reserved our time with her in advance and she was very nice and easy to work with. I called her a few times because I had to adjust our party size and she was very accommodating. Our tour started at the Vendome Hotel where we received brief history, several stories about encounters and watched a few videos where possible encounters were captured. That ended up being the rhythm of the tour, walk + history + story + picture/video and some exploring. We walked though two different hotels, around the whiskey row square, a dark alley and ended the night at the saloon. The tour is a great mixture of history and ghost stories, your also encouraged to take photos to try and capture an encounter. I started the tour skeptical of actually seeing anything but at the end of the night my friend and I definitely saw something shoot past my camera phone in the saloon! Overall we had the best time with Darlene and I would definitely recommend doing this!

What a joke! $45 walk a short distance over a long period of time, with only a few stories and…read morelittle to see. But, we did get to carry a phony electronic ghost buster device. I least expected a decent tour of town and some history. Standing around listening to walkie talkie static pretending to be a ghost?????

In reference to A ghost tour in Jerome AZ in September 17, 2025. This something to do. The tour…read moreguide tells great stories. They loan you a device that has static coming from it to detect ghost and it may have voices once in a wile. Will you experience a ghost probably not. Can you enjoy playing along most certainly. They make it so you will want to upgrade to the longer tour by starting a story and saying that they will finish the story at the end of the tour. But they mean at the end of the longer tour not the one hour tour. If you're going to do it take the long tour. Or the history tour. Otherwise it's really not worth anything. But still if you need something to do go for it. Just don't expect much. I didn't expect anything and I was still let down. Not worth the amount of money it cost. This is just my opinion and I'm unaware of any other ghost tour in Jerome AZ. I bought my tickets online and went to the place in Jerome that does ghost tours. Cool looking place that has a lot of dog stuff which seems like they may favor dogs.

More than 170 steep and irregular stairs. Vast skyline views. Trail continues beyond the ruins to…read moretwo other landings. Please do not disturb the archaeological site. Please no not disturb the neighbors.

Fun short stair hike about 20 flights of stairs up ! It wraps around to a picnic area with lookouts…read moresuch a great place to have lunch, or a fun snack. We brought hot tea during the winter and it was absolutely absolutely wonderful.

Mike got me through it!!! This is not for the faint of heart when it's this hot out but it's SO…read moreworth it!! I don't have the pics he took yet so here's just a few of the ones I took. Breathtaking views!! Mike is an outstanding guide!

Had a great hike with our guide John who has lived in town for over 10 years. He knows his way up…read moreCamelback Mountain since he climbs it regularly. My sister and I took the Cholla route with him, which was only difficult at the last 30%. What I liked about walking with John was that he is knowledgeable and friendly, it was like hiking with a friend. He was encouraging and had us stop many times to get hydrated and have a snack. At the summit, he even had a banner for us to hold to get our pics! A great hike with spectacular views.

While in town for a meeting our host arranged a food tour and lucky for us, Chris was our guide…read more Chris' energy, enthusiasm and shared knowledge of, for, and about Tucson, the city, the restaurant scene, and the history heightens the experience. We visited 4 local places that Chris curated the selection to deliver a real cross section of flavors and styles, all with refreshing cocktails, which can be N/A if desired. I encourage you to try a tour if you are visiting!

We really enjoyed the tour and the food. Chris was a great tour guide sharing about local history…read morealong the way.

My first trip to the Grand Canyon was great. We had a great group of people with an outstanding…read moreguide (Martin), who was knowledgeable and kind the whole trip.

Mark L was an excellent tour guide and showed us an incredible day. perfect schedule, plenty of…read moresnacks and stops to use the facilities! and more beautiful sights than we could imagine in one day. highly recommend!!!!