Our guide was ignorant. She knew almost no history, and was so inarticulate and confused in what she did try to tell us that she made no sense--it was all random statements and inaccurate information. She absolutely should not be licensed to be a guide. Here are some examples of her incompetence. She said repeatedly that John Hathorne, one of the Witch Trials Judges, was so angry about his failed military career "because he lost all his battles" that he "took it out on the people in the witch trials". This is chronologically wrong, he didn't serve until AFTER the witch trials. When we asked her in which war he served, she admitted she had no idea. She told us Nothing about the witch trials, except this false trivia. When she took us to the Witch House, she told us about the color, the windows, and how it had been moved, but didn't tells us who lived there and why it was important until we asked. And then all she did was give the man's name. She mentioned several times the "first millionaire in Salem" who made his fortune importing pepper, but muddled it with talk of how he didn't have some man sign an "DNA" so that someone else also imported pepper. It wasn't clear what she was talking about or why it was relevant. When questioned, she knew NOTHING about the maritime or economic history of Salem as a seaport. She also told us nothing about Nathaniel Hawthorne, except that she thought it was ridiculous that he tried to distance himself from his witch trial ancestor by adding a "w" to his name. She repeated this multiple times. She told us that the Puritans' goal in life was to make everyone "miserable". Hardly an accurate description of their social and political beliefs. She mentioned a Quaker, then couldn't answer any questions about the number of Quakers or how they were treated in Salem.
About Activity
What's Included
Includes
- Guide uses an amplifier so everyone can hear the Salem History
- 90 minute Historic Salem Walking Tour
- Local and Professional Guide
- Hear tales of Maritime and Revolutionary significance.
- We visit locations that have compelling history unknown to many locals
Excludes
- Gratuities
- Hotel Pick-Up/Drop-Off
- No food and drink offered, but snacks available for purchase
Departure & Return
Departure Point
- We are part of the pedestrian walkway downtown at the corner of Essex and Central Streets. We are next to Emporium 32 and across from the New England Dog Biscuit Company. Look for our purple sign.
Return
- Return Location: Returns to downtown Salem area. Tour Guide can help direct you to where you want to go.
Itinerary
Discover why Salem is the true birthplace of the United States of America with the best history tour in the city. Explore over four centuries of Salem’s remarkable history from its illustrious founding in 1626, to its place as a thriving 21st Century city. The witch trials made Salem infamous, but there’s so much more. Explore Salem’s critical role in the American Revolution, how it led the great Age of Sail, and all about the many important and famous people who’ve called Salem home. The United States just wouldn’t be the same without Salem. The guide will go to as many locations as possible.
Salem has plenty of revolutionary history. You'll visit the location where local revolutionaries met to discuss plans for a potential war with England.
Visit the oldest cemetery in Salem and one of the oldest in the country. Dating back to 1637, the cemetery is the resting place of many of the Puritans, including judges John Hathorne and Bartholomew Gedney, Nathaniel Mather, Samuel McIntire, Simon Forrester, Richard Derby and more
Visit the Salem Witchcraft Trials memorial dedicated to the 20 people executed during the hysteria in 1692. THe memorial has a bench for each person that includes name, date of execution and form of execution. The memorial has a lot of symbolism.
Lyceum Hall, home to Turner's Seafood, has significance to the witchcraft trials and additional history. Bridget Bishop, the first woman executed for witchcraft in 1692, lived on the grounds. In 1877, Alexander Graham Bell performed the first public demonstration of the telephone here.
We will discuss Salem's incredible maritime history that began right after the American Revolution. From 1790-1812, Salem was the richest port in the country. Elias Haskett Derby became America's first millionaire in 1793. Portions of Hocus Pocus were filmed at the site as well. And Harry Houdini was put in the jail across the street. He wasn't under arrest, but the police chief wanted to see if Harry could break out of the new jail cell.
Hear a story about George Corwin, the high sheriff of the 1692 Witchcraft Trials, who lived on the grounds where the building now sits. In addition, George Washington visited Salem and stayed in a room in the hotel that is today called the Washington Room. And Amelia Earhart taught English in the Salem Commercial School just one block away.
Rockafellas is in a building that was the fourth location of the first church. The second location was there too. In addition, the Town House Square building was on that spot and that has revolutionary history. Massachusetts was basically declared a state on those grounds. A local congress of representatives met there before going to Ipswich, Concord and finally the continental congress in Philadelphia.
Samantha Stevens of the TV Show Bewitched is in Lappin Park. A handful of episodes of the show were shot here in Salem. The best part is that her statue sits on land that was owned by the hanging Judge John Hathorne. How ironic that a witch sits on his former property.
Before the YMCA was here, Mrs. Brown had a home here with a famous border. That was Alexander Graham Bell. He lived at the home, educated her grandson and then would take the train to Boston to teach at Boston University. He also had an attic laboratory where he worked on the telephone.
The Witch House is the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin. It was built in the 1660s and Corwin bought it in 1675. No witches lived here but it is the last home in Salem with direct ties to the 1692 Witchcraft Trials.
Leslie's Retreat happened here at the North Bridge as 140 redcoats led by Colonel Leslie tried to cross the river to take weapons and cannons on the other side. Several colonists stopped them by pulling up the draw bridge. No shots were fired, but the British left empty handed. This preceded Lexington and Concord by two months.
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Reviews
Ana was our tour guide she was very knowledgeable and fun. We learned a lot and she answered all our questions.
There were toooooo many people crowded in the same spot & all the guides were all using the same loud speaker 🤦🏽♀️
Salem in October was a fun and crazy experience. I’ve always wanted to visit Salem so when my husband and I were in the area we decided to do it. Where I’m all about the lore, my husband is about the history of the city. So we comprised and this is how we selected this tour. Our tour was easy to find and our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. We walked Salem and learned many interesting facts about the buildings, the literary connections and of course the witch trials. This is an easy tour with walking but nothing too strenuous. You don’t end up at the same spot you started but everything is fairly close to one another. We felt for the money spent on the tour it was worth it. I only wished for more lore, but learned a lot of history.
Alex was amazing. Loved it. Very informative very knowledgeable Kept our interest. Would recommend him in a minute
The information given was random and difficult to follow. This did not feel like a general overview at all.
Since I had never taken a walking tour in Salem, we opted for the overall experience vs. a haunted tour, or a hocus pocus tour. Our guide, Zach, is a middle school history teacher and he was great! Welcomed lots of questions, and the tour itself was very informative. I would book with this company again!
Zack was an outstanding tour guide! His knowledge of Salem history was superlative and he shared local legends and stories that made the tour really memorable and fun. We learned a lot and enjoyed every minute. Well worth it!
Bob was a wonderful tour guide! My family and I thoroughly enjoyed our time with him!
Hank did a great job. She clearly knew her stuff.
It was fun and the history was so interesting. The guide made it fun to learn. I learned things I never knew about
Excellent walking tour. Giovanni was our tour guide. He was very good. He had a ear piece speaker on him so everyone in our group could hear him as we were walking along. We met at 8 Central St in Salem. There is a purple flag hanging outside. Go into this store to pickup tickets.
Great tour!! We learned all the secrets of Salem. The narration was fun and informative and there was not too much walking.
Our guide, Giovanni, was extremely knowledgeable about the history of Salem & beyond! We are from CT & he enlightened us that the first people put to death for "witchery" happened in CT..in Hartford to be exact!! After all the walking and historic sites he took us to a beautiful botanical garden behind a historic home. Was just so beautiful.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and so sweet. He took us to everything that was on my list to see and answered all questions we had. Highly recommend.
Bob was excellent. My 9 yo granddaughter was very interested and Bob geared the tour towards her. Highly recommend - and not an overload of witches, good since we are from Salem.
We had a great guide and a great time!
Interesting and memorable! Our tour guide, Bob, had plenty of anecdotes and historical references to share. We definitely left with a greater understanding of the breadth of the experiences that made Salem famous in the 17th century and beyond. I wasn't after a polished and sanitized Salem tour, and while I was interested in hearing about the witch trials, I wanted to hear about other historical periods too, and this fit the bill. Bob is a local Salem artist/creative, and a kind and memorable character besides. We were glad we chose this tour.
It was entertaining and had a lot of historical history! It just was not the kind of history. I was thinking of the town. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and nice!
Knowledgeable about the history of Boston and the causes of the revolution. I am deaf and find listening to people in public noisy places difficult. However, Mike spoke in a loud voice (not shouting) that meant I was able to hear what he said, very clearly. Despite background noises and even other tour operators close by. So Mike is definitely recommended if you struggle to hear.
This walking tour was a great overview of the history of Salem. Our guide, “Bawb,” was full of interesting stories. He shared Salem’s history with enthusiasm and humor. I recommend this tour.
The Tour was very informative, our guide was very knowledgeable. I would highly suggest taking this tour.
Not what we expected. It was advertised as a tour highlighting the role Salem played during the time leading up to and after the American revolution for independence. The tour content included very little about this topic.
Wonderful experience. Guides are engaging and knowledgeable. Highly recommend
Bob did a great job giving us the history of Salem, the community and the trials. We recommend!!
Knowledgable guide. Funny but full of history Moved at a good pace for seniors. Wish more of the tour dialogue was in the shade
This was a great walking tour and the guide was very entertaining and informative. We enjoyed it.
Very knowledge and lots of facts worth the money
We had a very good tour with Stan!! Unfortunately it was a bit rainy and cold but it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm for hearing about all the other interesting history about Salem aside from the witches. The architecture is just stunning!
The tour gave a good overall of Salem but I think it would have been better to focus on sites that are still there, versus sites where there is just a plaque (replacing those on the tour).
Very informative and enjoyable afternoon with Casey who had lots of interesting facts to share about Salems history. Thank you Casey, it was a pleasure to spend a few hours with you.
Our tour guide was so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the subject!! We had a great time and learned so much!!!
Great historical information including the witch trials, trade and the development of the city. We appreciated the tour guides knowledge of Salem
Bob was a great tour guide. Really enjoyed how he presented.
Information given was good but you need to know history of the area in order for it all to fit together. More background needs to be given for non history buffs.
It was a fun experience and it was a good time and I would Recommend to people who are traveling aboard
We had a wonderful time on our tour and enjoyed our tour guide. The group size was small which made it more enjoyable and easier to get around. Since it was October there were a lot of crowds and distractions and our tour guide maneuvered through awesomely.
We had a very small group of 4 and we had a great time with our tour guide. He was very Stephen King- esque. Lots of ghost information and tons of history and architectural history as well as soon as he saw that we were interested. So worth the money and highly recommend
Not worth the money. Everyone in the group was looking at one another like, ‘is this guy for real?’ Learned a couple new things but wouldn’t pay $5 for what I learned.
this was so informative & with a fun twist! OUR TOUR GUIDE WAS VERY NICE. There was a lot to learn and they did a good job of giving enough information without overloading us.
Our guide, Glenn, was excellent. Knew his stuff and relayed a lot of great historical information. Only downside was that almost everything he spoke about no longer rests today. All of the Salem witchcraft associated buildings are long gone. But overall still a very good tour.
Had a great time. Guide was knowledgeable and passionate. Had lots of cute stories and little tidbits not found in history books. Very enjoyable.
First time in Salem and wanted to learn more about Salem than just the witch trials. Our tour guide, Bob, who is a historian, shared very interesting historical facts of the port, buildings and people of Salem dating back to the 1600’s with humor! Highly recommend this tour
Very informative but sometimes hard to hear everything . A long time walking for the elderly. We had to catch up to the guide several times.
This was a great way to see the city and learn its history. We learned so much more than we would have on our own. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable. We went midweek in October and even though it was the city’s busiest time we received a private tour. If you love history and getting an inside view of a city we highly recommend this tour.
Guide was very knowledgeable about the history of Salem. Unfortunately, he spoke very quickly, and due to a lot of noise in the surrounding area, it was often difficult to hear him. He did not use an amplifier, as was advertised.
The city was busy so I’m sure it made it difficult to herd a large crew of people and hold their attention for 90 minutes. Therefore, the guide should have been super engaging. Many people dropped from the tour.
It was interesting to learn about the different historical buildings and the merchant abilities and how it collapsed. He also gave good pointers to other places we could visit around Salem
Been on many guided tours. Our guide was monotone and he did make it interesting. History should be brought alive. Monotone, flat no interesting stories. We left half way through. Sorry....
Very interesting, Salem 101 wasn’t just about the witches, highly recommend if you’re looking for this rich history of Salem!
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