The Ghosts of San Juan: Private 2.5-hour Spooky Evening Tour

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  • Private Tour
  • 2.5 hr

Escape the heat of the day and enjoy the city's highlights on a private tour of the city's ghosts and hauntings.

Itinerary Details

Operated by: Travel Curious

San Juan is known for its rich history and cultural heritage, but on this private tour, you will discover the spooky side of the city, and hear ghost stories, hauntings and legends when the sun goes down.

On your private ghost tour of San Juan, you will: 
 
  • Start your tour at Columbus square, a place with ghostly apparitions and supernatural occurrences that have been reported in and around the square;
  • Learn of the Columbus curse and hear endless tales of deaths, accidents, bankruptcies, and natural disasters all rumoured to be linked to Columbus;
  • See the largest fort constructed by the Spanish in the Western Hemisphere and hear tales reminiscent of a Shakespearean tragedy;
  • Pass by La Fortaleza, the governor's mansion, which is said to be one of the most haunted places in San Juan;
  • Hear the story of the ghost of a former actress who is said to haunt the stage of Teatro Tapia;
  • Walk through the old town by prisons and hotels to hear centuries of spectral sightings documented;
  • Stay alert for strange noises in the Hotel El Convento, haunted by the ghosts of former nuns who once lived there;
  • Hear about many ghost stories associated with the cathedral, including the tale of a former bishop who is said to haunt the building to this day.

Your tour begins in Columbus Square, where your expert private guide will introduce you to the city’s tenuous relationship with the notorious explorer. In June 2016, the 362 foot of Columbus was unveiled 45 miles west of San Juan on a ceremonial site for the Taíno, a culture nearly driven to extinction by Columbus’s exploits. 

Learn why islanders are wary of Columbus’s history on their island, and why they attribute centuries of disasters to his name, which they dare not utter in completion. 
 
Next, see Castillo San Cristobal (external only), which was meant to protect the city from attacks by land, and remains haunted by one of the island’s tragic love stories, reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Other tales include the disappearance of a Spanish soldier whose clothes and gun remained in the remote sentry box; to this day, numerous sightings of the lovers and the soldier are still being reported.

From the Castillo, continue on to several more haunted sites - theatres built on the site of 18th-century gallows, stories of human radiation tests performed in prisons, whose coverups go as high as the White House. 
 
 See Hotel El Convento - the oldest member of Historic Hotels of America, and hear the eerie tales known by the locals, of a wealthy widow who turned her home into a convent after her husband was killed, and listen for the faint sounds of robes across the tile floors. 
 
Your private historic hauntings tour of San Juan is two and a half hours and is all done on foot. It is suitable for people of all ages, provided that adults are present with children. Be sure to bring water and stay hydrated throughout your haunted walk. 
 
The San Juan National Historical Site (Castillo San Cristobal, El Morro, and La Fortaleza) is closed in the evenings and is not visited internally on this tour. If you wish to visit these sites on a ghost tour, please book our day tour instead.  


Tour duration
2.5 hours 30 minutes

Type of tour
Walking tour: no transportation is included

Tickets included
-English-speaking tour guide

Other inclusions
- Gratuities optional
- Hotel pick-up and drop-off are not included
- Food & drinks are not included

Suitable for
Couples, Family, History Buffs, Intellectually Curious

Attractions along this route:

Plaza Colon
The main plaza in San Juan, Plaza Colon is named for the explorer, Columbus, though it has statues and memorials to several notable Puerto Rican leaders.

La Fortaleza
The powder blue hillside house is the home of the Governor of Puerto Rico and was built five centuries ago.

Hotel El Convento
Commissioned in 1646 by King Philip IV of Spain, Hotel El Convento is the oldest member hotel operating in the Historic Hotels of America group.

Castillo San Felipe del Morro
Simply called 'El Morro' by locals, it was built by a fort in the 16th century to protect San Juan from amphibious attacks.

Castillo San Cristobal
Built to protect San Juan for attacks by land, Castillo San Cristobal is the largest fort built by the Spanish in the Western Hemisphere.

Teatro Tapia
Home to the oldest operating stage in the USA, the theater stands on the site of former gallows and is notoriously haunted.

Capilla del Santo Cristo de la Salud
The chapel's origin stories date back to a horse race gone awry, but the legends that arose from that race have brought worshipers seeking petitions of health.

Puerta de San Juan
The door served as the entrance to the city during the Spanish colonial era.
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