Travel

USA Today readers say the best ghost tour in America is in Boston

A haunted hotel in Massachusetts is also worth checking out this season, according to readers.

By Kristi Palma

September 12, 2020

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A haunted attraction in Boston that doubles as a pub crawl, all while showcasing the city’s “creepy history,” was just named the best ghost tour in America.

Nightly Spirits, which operates in Boston and other cities, was recently named the best ghost tour in America on USA Today’s list of 10 best ghost tours as part of the publication’s 2020 10Best Reader’s Choice Awards. Two other New England tours made the cut: Bar Harbor Ghost Tours in Maine ranked No. 6, and Black Cat Tours in Salem ranked No. 7.

Nightly Spirits describes the Boston tour on its website as “a combination of ghost tour and pub crawl that will take you on a tour to explore the creepy history of historic downtown Boston and hear some of its most famous haunted stories.”

Here’s what USA Today wrote about the tour:

“Nightly Spirits are known for their haunted pub crawls at cities around the United States. Tour some of the most historic and haunted spots, drinks in hand, in cities like D.C., Denver, Dallas, Charleston, Houston or Boston.”

According to the publication, Maine’s Bar Harbor Ghost Tours include exclusive nighttime access to the 1932 Criterion Theatre and Salem’s Black Cat Tours share how Salem inspired the horror stories of writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe.

The Lizzie Borden House and Museum in Fall River.

USA Today also released a list of 10 best haunted hotels, ranking the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast in Fall River at No. 10. The No. 1 haunted hotel is The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colo.

Editors wrote the following about the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast:

“The museum and B&B in Fall River, Mass. has a gruesome history. The house was the site of unsolved murders: the hatchet killings of a man and his wife, and even the decapitation of a cat in the basement. Visitors to the B&B can choose from six rooms and suites that they may or may not be sharing with the spirits of the departed.”

For the 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards lists, USA Today travel experts select 20 nominees in topics from food to lodging, destinations to things to do. Then the publication asks readers to cast votes to determine the top 10.

View all winners of best ghost tours and best haunted hotels.