If you think that Chester is just cobbled streets, eateries, and Roman architecture, think again. Underneath the postcard-perfect city charm, there is a city that is bursting with a spine-tingling history. Ghostly whispers echo through old alleyways, and shadows might linger a little too long after dusk. Whether you’re new to Chester or just looking for a night out that hits a bit different from a bar crawl, Chester’s ghost tours offer the perfect mix of chills, laughs, and stories that will keep you up at night.
From haunted pubs to passages hidden in plain sight, these ghost tours bring to life centuries of legends. You can expect tales of restless spirits, mysterious sightings that can’t be explained, and history lessons that will linger in the back of your mind. They’re a brilliant way of exploring Chester after dark with your mates, especially when you don’t fancy a night out in Wetherspoons again.
If you’re ready to swap the ordinary with the extraordinary, we’ve rounded up the best ghost tours to do in Chester that guarantee that you’ll be sleeping with the lights on for weeks to come. Whether you’re a sceptic or someone who truly believes, you’ll never see Chester the same way again.
1. Chester Ghost Tour
Chester Tour Company offers a 90-minute walking ghost tour around Chester. This guided tour takes you around the city in the evening, exploring different haunted locations. The tours start from the Chester Visitor Information Centre on Northgate Street and take you through historic streets and hidden corners, unveiling some of Chester’s most haunted locations.
No two tours are identical either, each tour guide has a preferred route and brings a unique style of storytelling to the tour. They share the most eerie and bone-chilling tales from the city’s history. The tours are a fun and atmospheric experience that combines history and fright perfectly. These tours are accessible to everyone and are great for those who want to learn more about Chester’s dark past.
Ticket prices are reasonable too. Adult tickets are £10, concession (students, under 16s, 60+) is £9 if you book online in advance. They do a family bundle of two adults and two children under 16 for £30 too.
The tours meet at 7:30pm at set times:
- January-April: The tour runs on Saturdays.
- May- August: The tour runs on Fridays and Saturdays.
- September-November: The tour runs on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
- December: The tours run on Saturdays.
There are also special tours during the entire week of Halloween at the end of October.
See here for more information on these tours and information on how to book tickets.
2. Dark Chester
Dark Chester run 90-minute walking ghost tours in Chester. For those who grew up enjoying Horrible Histories, this tour is perfect for you. The guided tour follows a similar style to Horrible Histories while guiding you through the spookiest places in Chester.
Starting from the Chester Visitor Information Centre, the tour walks across the city, visiting sites such as Chester Cathedral, the Eastgate Clock, the Roman Amphitheatre, and the Anchonite Cell. Each location on the ghost tour holds a multitude of spooky stories for those brave enough to go on the tour.
The tours start at 5:30pm, the later in the year, the spookier they are! The tour is around £15 per person. Extra special tours are put on during the Chester Heritage Festival too, so keep an eye out for those!
For more information and availability, check out the Dark Chester booking site.
3. Haunted Chester and Its Ghosts: A Self-Guided Walking Tour
Are you on a tight schedule? Only in Chester for the day? Or perhaps you’re afraid of ghost stories in the dark. Fear not, there’s a self-guided ghost tour that you can do at any time. You can start and stop as often as you need, meaning you could break it down and have a lunch stop or come back to it another time if your feet are aching (or you tripped and accidentally fell into a pub).
The tour is roughly £6.80 per person, and all you need is your phone and a pair of earphones. You download the app, redeem the unique code you are given upon purchasing the tour, and then you’re good to go! The tour is audio-narrated and tells you the ghost stories linked to each location on the tour. The stories on the tour are chilling, and they were contributed by a local writer, David Atkinson. The tour stops off at places such as Chester Cathedral, Dollectible, and Chester Cross.
It takes roughly an hour if you do the whole tour in one go, but again, there’s no fixed schedule to it, so you can do it during daylight, or you can wait until the dead of night to do it. There’s also an option for a virtual tour, so you can hide in the safety of your duvet while listening to the spooky ghost stories! Once you buy the tour, you have unlimited access to it, meaning you can take the tour over and over again!
My Recommendations
While the ghost tours are quite limited, it isn’t difficult to find haunted locations in a city full of old buildings and architecture dating back to the Romans and the Tudors. Here are my top recommendations for haunted spots in Chester.
Ye Olde Kings Head
Ye Olde Kings Head is located on Lower Bridge Street and is supposedly one of the most haunted pubs in Chester. There are many ghostly stories from this pub of paranormal activity. The pub also houses timbers from a sunken vessel that was once commanded by Nelson!
The City Walls
The City Walls are very popular with tourists in Chester. They circle the whole city, offering a scenic walk around the old Roman city as well as offering a taste of what life might have been like back then. The Walls were also very fashionable with the Georgians. The extensive history of the walls means that there are plenty of spooky ghost sightings that have been reported.
One of the most popular ghost tales stems from the section of the walls between Newgate and the Roman Amphitheatre. A Roman Legion fell in love with a Celtic girl. He abandoned his post to go be with her; while he was gone, several Sentries from his legion were murdered. Upon his return to his post on the walls, he too was murdered. People have reported seeing him patrol his section of the walls.
Rowton Moors
What’s spookier than an old battlefield? Just outside of the city, in Rowton, a battle between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians took place. It was in 1645, during the English Civil War. Many soldiers were brutally murdered on this site. There have been many reported sightings on September 24th (the anniversary of the battle) of ghosts dressed in 17th-century attire whilst riding horses. Phantom music has also been heard; this is thought to be Williams Lawes’ ghost. He was a musician in King Charles the First’s court and was shot down by a Parliamentarian.
Stanley Palace
Stanley Palace sits on Watergate Street, and there are many reported stories of hauntings in this building. The most well-known sighting is the ghost of Elizabeth Warburton, who used to own the property.
Chester is definitely one of the most haunted places, there are stories hidden in every nook and cranny of the city. The ghost tours that are run are really informative and a lot of fun for groups of people, or by yourself if you’re brave enough!
I’m a BA English Literature student at Chester University! I enjoy writing a mix of poetry, short fiction, and journalism– I’m a featured poet in a handful of anthologies.