Ghosts & Gravestones Tour Boston — Local services in Boston

I normally don’t do this but our experience was so epically bad, I feel compelled to share it in the hopes it is improved. We booked tickets for the next evening’s ride after speaking with someone at the kiosk and confirming that this was not a walking tour as my travel buddy had a broken foot with a big boot on. We were told it was a riding tour, though they would stop at two cemeteries briefly and we could choose to stay on the bus if we wanted but it wasn’t difficult walking if we wanted to try to venture out. Great. Day of the tour, we took the day time trolley tour and it was fantastic. Our driver was funny and incredibly knowledgeable so we had high hopes/expectations. The workers seem very frazzled all yelling at each other and running around during boarding. We finally get on the bus and we sit there a while before we finally get going. Our guide had this elaborate persona he made up, which was great but he was so theatrical none of us could understand what the hell he was saying. He spent more time swinging around on the seats and bars than actually talking. It was like a high school drama production. Two minutes in, we stop at the first stop and the guide tells us it’s 20 minutes uphill walk and to leave anything we want on the bus because the bus will be closed and wait right here for us. So we sit on the bus for 20 minutes since that walk isn’t happening with a broken foot. Turns out, another gentleman fell during the walk as well and he opted not to get off at the next stop because of it. We get going on the bus again and hear one story about a serial killer before we stop again. We decide to try it. After going down a few streets and crossing multiple intersections, my friend can’t keep up, we are actually getting left behind so we turn around and head back to the bus to wait except the bus is gone. There is another bus in its place so we ask that driver if ours is coming back because we left some things on the bus, since we were told that was ok. Bless her, she tried but whomever she called was rude as can be to her and we learned our bus was not coming back. Awesome. She offered to have us join her tour but at that point we were done and caught an Uber back to the hotel. So for the 1.5 hour tour we were told was on a bus, at least 40 minutes of it was spent walking and thank God we didn’t leave anything valuable on the bus since our tour guide walked off without us, and the bus ditched us too. It was not...

My wife and a close friend of mine decided this would be a fun way to celebrate my birthday. So we drove down from the Nashua area and took the T in for dinner and the tour. We selected the late tour (just worked out best for us), and had dinner just around the corner from the tour start location.

After checking in, we were one of only a handful of people waiting for this last tour run of the evening (apparently there were cruise ships that couldn't leave due to the weather in the Atlantic, so many of the cruise passengers had booked the tour only to find out they couldn't leave the ship, which meant there were a TON of no-shows for the tours that day). There ended up being only 7 of us (the three in our party and two other couples) on the bus. It turned out this was a very good thing.

When the bus arrived and the previous tour group disembarked, there was a bit of commotion. Apparently there was a rather rude - and probably drunk - passenger on the run. The poor guide was rather exasperated, having had to deal with the rude passenger for the past 90 or so minutes. As soon as she got off the bus, apparently she had to speak to the manager, who, it seems, got an earful right there on the spot.

But even though our poor guide was obviously frazzled and frustrated by the previous tour, she did an amazing job of bouncing back and giving us all a great tour through the city.

Since there were only 7 of us, it made for a much more casual experience, and she was able to customize the tour a little, focusing on the stories we were most interested in.

Being a bit of a history nerd myself, and having spent a fair amount of time in Boston, I already knew quite a bit about the history of the town, but still learned quite a few things, particularly about the history of the Kings Chapel burying ground.

Overall, we had a great experience. I wasn't as excited for the tour as my wife and friend were, but in the end I was a little bummed when it ended (even though we went a little longer than the scheduled 90 minutes). I would definitely do it again and recommend it to anyone, whether local or tourist, interested in the...

I’m writing to share a unique positive review regarding a tour we took with the G&G team on the evening of July 2.

Me, my brother, my little sister, and my dad were having a wonderful time on our 9:00pm ghost tour (led by a really funny and engaging brunette gentleman, blanking on his name). Our guide was well-informed and talented at sharing interesting, morbid stories about Boston’s history, leading us through some of the city’s most infamous gravesites.

About halfway into the tour, my dad suddenly tripped and fell while crossing a street. We didn’t know it at the time, but he had actually torn his hamstring mid-stride, which caused him to collapse and hit his head directly on the pavement, resulting in a traumatic head wound.

Two other tourists on our tour—a paramedic couple who unfortunately I didn’t catch the names of, either—immediately assisted my brother in providing care while I instructed the 911 operator. Tourists and the guides comforted my little sister until I could return to her. My father was soon rushed to the Tufts ER and stayed overnight for treatment, but was thankfully released the following afternoon with no skull fractures or broken bones.

Now onto the compliments:

All while this was happening, the G&G tour guides did a fantastic job at doing crowd control and making sure the other guests were gathered and safe while my dad was being treated by EMS. One young female guide with blonde hair ran to the trolley for me in order to grab the bag I had left there, making sure all of my belongings (wallet, keys, etc) were accounted for. She grabbed my information to follow up and while I missed her calls due to travel, she followed up on her promise to check in, leaving two kind voice messages in my inbox.

My sincere apologies go out to the other tourists, as I think the tour was cut short after this scary event!!! Thanks again to the G&G staff for handling this all with professionalism and great care, we will be recommending this and the Hop On, Hop Off trolley to our friends for years...