Private Ghost Tour Of York

Our private ghost tour of York was one of the highlights of our trip. Our guide, John, was engaging, knowledgeable, and tailored the experience to our interests, bringing York's fascinating 2,000-year history to life through captivating stories of mystery, murder, and legend. Walking through atmospheric locations like The Shambles and around York Minster made the experience even more memorable. The tour struck the perfect balance between history, storytelling, and just the right amount of spooky fun. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a unique and entertaining way to explore York.

John showed us around some places of interest and told us some stories about York. This is a private tour with just the two of us which allows him access to areas larger groups are unable to venture. Overall tour was ok and without theatrics. A little pricey for what I expected and would have been happy to share this as a small group of 4 or 6 people.

John was an amazing storyteller. He blended the wonderful and dark history of York with interesting modern anecdotes. Highly recommend the tour and asking for John.

A great experience but the flats and houses inside the walk just don't seem quite right. Good photo opportunity on the walls.

John was exceptionally knowledgeable about the history of York. He was friendly and upbeat with a plethora of fun stories rich with historical facts. This wasn’t a gimmicky ghost tour, but rather an opportunity for highly engaging and entertaining York history.

We were so fortunate to be able to get this tour during the day. My daughter and I were stopping in York on the way to Edinburgh. John agreed to take us on this tour during the day. Even then, we could get a feel of what one might experience at night. John knows his history of York very well! This little cobble-stoned town has a history that goes back over two thousand years! It’s no wonder that the spirits tend to haunt these places! One can see the pride that John had when he talks of this little town of York! Take this tour for the tales but mostly for the history. (He throws in a few Game of Thrones trivia, as well!)

The ghost walk was very interesting with lots of local facts, plus a bit of added fiction for effect, but overall it was entertaining and well worth it.

John was amazing full of historical knowledge and super fun stories..you wont be disappointed on this tour❤️

This was an incredible tour with real history. John was a wonderful guide, he brought the spooky history to life and had a great sense of humor. He is not an actor, he really knows his history and has pride in his city. If you want a real ghost tour than this is the one for you.

We did tons of stuff in York, all the classics. But we agreed that this was the highlight of our entire trip. John was entertaining, knowledgeable, funny, engaging and pitched the tour perfectly for a mum with two teenage daughters. Highly recommend and do this instead of one of the tours with actors.

John is not the Actor guide. He is an historian and loves his city. We were entertained and informed. And he told plenty of good stories. This tour is for those who appreciate passionate storytelling that is more historical fiction than it is sheer make believe.

This was our third ghost tour with John and it was entertaining and informative as always. We brought our good friends with us and they loved the experience as well! Highly recommend this tour.

Great guide, knew so much history and ghost type stories that it was both entertaining and educational. On time, professional yet like walking with an old friend. Couldn't have asked for better

John was a great guide. We really liked the more factual focus and the realistic viewpoint of history. We didn’t want a lot of acting and drama. Highly recommended.

The whole experience was brilliant from start to end. Our tour guide was John. John’s knowledge of the history behind each story was amazing. It wasn’t scripted in anyway. The tour was about genuine historical facts that led on to explain about ghost sightings. Unless you go and book this experience yourself and ask for John, I’d struggle to write just how great this tour was. Our family consisted of two adults and two children (13&8). We booked this for our 13 year old as a Christmas present and he loved every minute of it. If you’re looking to book a ghost tour, choose this one. We’re so glad we didn’t book a group one. John made sure the whole tour was about us.

John telling a ghost story that was remembered from my childhood. It was amazing to be standing above the exact spot the ghosts were seen. A very memorable moment! It really made the tour special for me. It was also amazing to spend time with someone who was so knowledgable and enthusastic about the history of York and ghost stories. I highly recommend this tour with John.

John is fun and incredibly knowledgeable! Love getting a healthy dose of history sweetened by some deliciously creepy stories. This was our second ghost tour with John, looking forward to a third next year!

Un fortunately I could not give a zero star rating. Let me start by saying that and that it was a private history tour and NOT a ghost tour. We were supposed to tour inside the dungeons, the minster and the shambles, and the only one we toured was the minster, outside. When I challenged the tour guide, John, he passed the buck back to Viator. You cannot get a refund, you cannot cancel and you cannot disagree and ask for your money back at anytime during the HISTORY tour. For some reason his child minder works until 9:15 at night, never known that to be true but as my children are now adults I cannot confirm that. The “Tour” cost £120 for my wife and I to take, and if I had know it was a history tour I would NOT have booked it. Once it is booked is the only time you get a phone number linked to the tour guide in order to confirm your tour and a meeting place and time. As stated earlier you cannot cancel at anytime or get a refund once you confirm the payment. I have phoned Viator in order to complain and to get a refund but that was to no avail. The tour guide John said that he would also back me up and get involved with my dispute, however, Viator will not confirm that he has. So I will message him and see if I get a reply.

John was a wonderful story teller and an even better historian for context. His grasp of preliminary information to support the haunted history of York made the evening even more enjoyable.

We had a fabulous evening tour with John. He was highly engaging, and the tour focused on helping us understand the historical context behind some of the more popular tales of York's ghost sightings. This is not a tour where someone dresses up and acts out far-fetched dramatic tales about ghosts. Instead, you'll walk away from a highly enjoyable evening with a much deeper understanding of York's violent, but true, history.

We scheduled a ghost tour of York with John at 7:00 pm on 29 April. I have the confirmation to verifying this. At approximately 4:45 I received an email telling me that the tour was now starting at 6:00 pm. We were unable to make that work because it conflicted with existing dinner reservations. I reached out to John via email. He did not respond. I called him. He did not answer. Finally the hotel concierge contacted him by phone. The concierge said “John was stubborn and unwilling to be helpful”. To say the least my wife and I were very disappointed. I suggest that Trip Advisor drop him as a tour guide.

Knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide We enjoyed it great experience Was friendly and interactive....

We wanted a factual history talk by someone who really knew their stuff. We won with John. He is exceptionally passionate and knowledgeable about the history of York.

Our tour guide John met us at our hotel even though our hotel wasn’t on the pick up list. He was very friendly and extremely knowledgeable he was able to answer all our questions and was genuinely enthusiastic about the history of York and it’s ghosts. We both really enjoyed the tour and would definitely recommend it to our family and friends.

Not a ghost tour - but very good. I really enjoyed this, but it was definitely a history of York (Which was very interesting) but a couple of our group were hoping for more gore and horror :)

John collected us from our city centre hotel and whisked us away to the Roman era with historical details of the Ninth Legion’s activities in and around York. He described the archeology of the Minster and the city walls plus a number of other sites. We walked Bootham Bar and the Kings Manor through the centre via the Shambles and Jorvik centre as far as the castle and Clifford’s Tower. We traveled the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages to more modern times. John’s knowledge of the history of York is extensive and his explanations were peppered with spooky tales of alleged paranormal activity. All extremely entertaining. Having passed other walking tours in our two hours ramble it is important to stress that although a private tour is undoubtedly more expensive it is so much more enjoyable to have had John’s undivided attention and an opportunity to ask any question without having to vie with 30 others to do so. An interesting and worthwhile experience. Would highly recommend.

Very informative historical commentary and very eye opening. Thoroughly recommend the tour. John was an excellent host

Our Tour Guide, John, was absolutely amazing! Gave us all the ancient history of York in a fascinating tour. We were blown away with the experience and our guides love and joy of history really made the experience magical.

Very enjoyable our guide was extremely knowledgeable opened to any questions Gave us a good overview of the sights to see in York as well Recommend to wear confortable shoes

Great tour our guide was very knowledgeable did the tour at the right pace for us Gave us a good overview of York

This tour was amazing, full of historical accuracy and ghost stories that had not been embellished. Jon is a natural orator, warm, funny, and kept the whole family enthralled as we walked York’s dark streets. Highly recommend.

John was amazing, We had arranged for me to propose during our tour (she said Yes!!) John truly made the proposal unique and even filmed for us. His enthusiasm and knowledge of the history and ghosts of york was amazing and without gimics which is truly refreshing, He was incredible and I would recommend! I can't thank him enough for an amazing experience... we will definitely keep in contact!!

Fantastic tour John our guide was punctual polite and very informative. We learned so much about the wonderful city not just about ghosts of the city but about the Romans, saxons, and vikings we would recommend this tour .

John was extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable. We had an amazing time. We learnt a lot of things about York and had plenty of laughs. If you are looking for something more than a gimmicky ghost tour then this is definitely for you. John is a fantastic tour guide.

We loved our private ghost tour of York. John’s knowledge of the history of York was incredible, it was amazing to learn about the Roman and Viking periods of York’s very dark history. This tour is more suitable for those looking for the context behind the TRUE ghost stories of the city, as opposed to those looking for a theatrical ghost story telling.

From Ryan & Georgia, Absolutely amazing tour around York, John made this experience the best it could be. We have been talking about the stories and the information we learned along the way. It was a brilliantly planned and fun journey. Would recommend this above all tours. If you love your swords and shields history please look into this. Would more than happily plan to attend yet again. John is very friendly and very energetic. He went the extra mile to ensure our tour was creepy and informative. Try this experience you won’t regret it.

We chose this private tour to end the evening after a fantastic meal. John gave our small group of 4 a truly memorable experience, the history of this amazing city from its origins of Roman occupation to the modern day was a lot to take in but made very interesting and real by walking, pausing, familiarising and explaining some great facts from a wealth of knowledge. York was not a place anyone wanted to be sent to, a front line Roman legion who had more scraps than our chippy.

Excellent. John had great knowledge. Thank you so much we both really enjoyed it!! Highly recommended!

Was very casual yet still very professional,, John had an amazing knowledge of the area and could have asked any questions we had easily

The secret garden of Catherine of Aragon and St Mary's Abby. Also that the Minster is actually a cathedral

Tour guide was incredibly friendly and kept us entertained. We had a great time and would definitely recommend it to anyone that likes history and ghost stories !!

Thanks for a really enjoyable tour. It was a great mixture of ghost stories and history. We saw parts of York that we wouldn't have seen and it confirmed our intention to return to this amazing city. The tour was informative, entertaining and very friendly. Thank you so much.

Absolutely fantastic so glad I booked this on was more personal funny and informative the host john was fabulous definitely made the trip would highly recommend thank you so much

Amazing tour with John ..very knowledgeable and made the stories come alive ..Involved us in the tour ..which made it all the more interesting especially for my teenage daughter.

Me and my partner had an amazing night. Thank you so much John, you made our experience memorable. Well worth the money and learned so much. My partner has not stopped talking about the experience since it finished haha.

We were given a history of York that really helped set the scene straight away. Toured parts of the city you would never normally find and were told stories to make you shiver! I can’t recommend highly enough this superb experience! The highlight of a magical trip

I really enjoyed his ability to set a scene and tell a story and not be over the top and not exaggerate the facts. His knowledge of York is sublime. I particularly enjoyed his knowledge around Henry VIII and his 5th wife and past regression story about a lady. Highly reccomend this tour and well worth the money paid would go on another tour when we visit York again. Thank you John

John was an excellent guide. Knew a lot of interesting facts about York and it’s history. My 12 yo loved it

The tour was brilliant, John was highly informative on the history behind the town of York. And the stories we were told were very interesting. I’m glad we went off the beaten track and didn’t follow the path most of the other tours did. Would highly recommend this tour if you are interested in the feminine history or York’s dark past