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Florida ghost tours aren’t just for Halloween season. Haunted tourism thrives in Florida all year long – these popular haunted Florida adventures are proof.
Spooky places in Florida can offer intriguing and exciting adventures for the paranormally curious. If you fall into that category like I do, you’ll want to explore these Florida haunted hot spots.
From a moonlit ghost adventure tour at the St. Augustine Lighthouse to walking tours that share the haunted history of popular Florida travel destinations like Tampa and Key West, these top Florida ghost tours tingle spines year-round.
St. Augustine, Florida Ghost Tours
St. Augustine Lighthouse Dark of the Moon Ghost Tour
As a lighthouse lover drawn to spooky places, I was eager to experience this after-dark tour of a historic and haunted Florida lighthouse. Offering weekend lighthouse ghost tours year-round, the St. Augustine Lighthouse invites adventurers who aren’t afraid of the dark to explore the keeper’s house and climb the lighthouse at night.
With only a glow stick to light your way during the approximately 2-hour tour, you’ll need to tread lightly and watch out for tricks the lighthouse’s giggling ghosts sometimes play. Your St. Augustine lighthouse tour guide will tell you all about the mostly friendly and playful spirits.
In addition to the former light keepers who continue their duties in the afterlife, the lighthouse is home to the ghosts of three young girls. During the construction of the tower in 1873, the Pittee girls were killed in an accident while playing on a railway cart used to transport supplies to the building site.
The ghost girls continue their fun and games around the lighthouse today, playing hide-and-seek and sometimes tying together the shoelaces of unsuspecting visitors and tour guides.
While I didn’t encounter the mischievous girls during my tour of this Florida haunted lighthouse, I did feel a comforting presence with me while I climbed the St. Augustine Lighthouse tower in the dark. It’s said that the warm, motherly spirit of Maria Andreu, the wife of a former lighthouse keeper, watches over visitors.
Sometimes appearing to people wandering the grounds as a woman in white, Maria helps visitors find their way in the dark. It’s also believed that she encourages lighthouse climbers up the steps with a helpful touch to the back.
More St. Augustine Ghost Tours
With a history dating back to 1565, St. Augustine has plenty of spooky stories to tell. If you want to take a ghost tour through the narrow, brick streets of America’s oldest city, check out Ghost Tours of Augustine.
A Florida ghost tour company that’s been sharing the ancient cities dark secrets for more than 30 years, Ghost Tours of St. Augustine is your best bet for an authentic St. Augustine ghost tour experience. They even offer Florida resident discounts!
Tampa Florida Ghost Tours
The Official Ybor City Ghost Tour
Interested in exploring haunted places in Tampa? Start your Tampa ghost-hunting adventures in Ybor City, Tampa’s historic Latin quarter and most haunted neighborhood.
Ybor City drew immigrants from all over the world when its cigar industry flourished in the late 1880s. Some joke that the cigar industry is one people never leave. And that may be true for some of Ybor City’s restless spirits.
A top Florida ghost tour, The Official Ybor City Ghost Tour led by Tampa Bay Tours is your year-round guide to haunted places in Ybor City. It’s the only Ybor City ghost tour that offers full access to the Cuban Club, which The Travel Channel featured on its list of the 10 Most Haunted Places in the U.S.
Established in 1917 as a social club for Cubans immigrants in Ybor City, the Cuban Club also became a gathering place for ghosts over the years.
The Cuban Club’s ghost stories include tales of an actor who committed suicide on stage, a board member who was murdered in an argument, and a little boy who drowned in the club’s basement swimming pool.
When booking your Official Ybor City Ghost Tour, make sure to choose a date that includes the Cuban Club. Occasionally, it’s not available on weekend tours due to events held inside the historic landmark.
The Spookeasy Lounge in Ybor City
After your Ybor City ghost tour, calm your nerves with a soothing kava tea at Ybor City’s Spookeasy Lounge. You’ll love the eerie atmosphere and spooky décor in this haunted kava bar.
Need a stronger drink? Head downstairs to the oh-so-creepy Catacombs.
The Official Downtown Tampa Ghost Tour
Want to explore more of Tampa’s haunted history? Tampa Bay Tours also offers year-round Florida ghost tours in downtown Tampa.
The haunted places you’ll visit on the Official Downtown Tampa Ghost Tour include the Tampa Theatre, Floridan Palace Hotel and Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
Built in 1926, the historic Tampa Theatre is a beloved community landmark that a few souls found hard to leave. Ghostly theatre employees are said to still work in the projection booth and play the organ from beyond the grave. Ghost sightings at the Tampa Theatre also include a man in a fedora hat who’s partial to seat 308.
During October, the historic Tampa movie palace also offers its own Ghosts of Tampa Theatre tour.
Brooksville Florida Ghost Tours
May-Stringer House Ghost Tours
Want to visit a real Florida haunted house? Head about an hour north of Tampa to the historic town of Brooksville in Hernando County.
Considered by many to be Florida’s most haunted house, May-Stringer House Museum in Brooksville hosts ghost tours on weekends throughout the year. Advance reservations are required.
A popular spot for paranormal investigations, May-Stringer House has accumulated a number of spirits since it was built in 1856. Some of the spirits who roam the house are said to be playful and warmly protective, while one in the attic is rumored to be a nasty prankster.
During October, May-Stringer House celebrates its haunted history by transforming the Florida haunted house into a Halloween haunted house.
GhostFest at May-Stringer House invites brave souls to visit for a spine-tingling scare house experience on four nights in October. It’s worth the drive to Brooksville for this fun Tampa Bay Halloween adventure.
Key West, Florida Ghost Tours
Originally called ‘cayo hueso’ or ‘island of bones’ by Spanish explorers who found it covered in human bones, Key West has long been tied to spooky experiences. From hurricanes and shipwrecks to fires and yellow fever outbreaks, the island of Key West seems prone to tragedy.
It seems like nearly every old building in Key West has a ghost story to tell from haunted bars and restaurants to haunted hotels, homes and museums. Key West is even home to the world’s most haunted doll.
Want to explore the most haunted places in Key West and hear Key West’s creepiest ghost stories? Check out these top-rated Key West ghost tours.
The Original Key West Ghost Hunt
Owned and operated by Key West locals since 1996, the original Key West Ghost Hunt promises a fun, authentic and historically-accurate Key West ghost tour experience. It’s a smaller group Florida ghost tour that offers you the chance to use real ghost hunting equipment while exploring some of Key West’s most haunted places.
The tour starts nightly at one of Key West’s haunted restaurants, First Flight Restaurant and Microbrewery, which once housed a Pan-American Airways ticket office. Pan-Am’s first flight left Key West carrying mail to Havana, Cuba in 1927. The spirit of a widow of one of Pan-Am’s pilots is said to haunt the former ticket office, which now serves as First Flight’s bar.
After passing by a few more of Key West’s most haunted places, the tour ends with a ghost hunt at an art studio once used as Key West’s Masonic Lodge and Temple.
Ghost Key West’s Ghost Hunt and Robert The Doll Experience
The only ghost tour in Key West that includes a visit with the world’s most haunted doll, Ghost Key West’s Ghost Hunt and Robert The Doll Experience is a Florida ghost tour that seasoned ghost hunters seek out. It’s a guided ghost hunting adventure inside Fort East Martello, a Civil War fort that houses the largest collection of haunted artifacts in Florida.
The highlight of this Key West ghost tour is a 25-minute sit-down lockdown with Robert the Doll. People in Key West have been reporting strange experiences with Robert the Doll since the 1940s. Some believe he was created with voodoo and to this day, people who disrespect him report that misfortune follows them.
Key West Ghost & Gravestones Trolley Tour
If you don’t want to do much walking on your Key West ghost tour, check out the Ghosts & Gravestones Trolley Tour. You’ll pass by some of Key West’s most places and get an overview of Key West’s haunted history.
This Key West trolley ghost tour includes a stop at the Key West Shipwreck Treasure Museum. Inside the museum, you’ll see a silver bar from 1656 shipwreck that’s said to be cursed.
More Florida Adventures
Want some ideas for fun things in Key West during the daytime? Check out our guide to Key West family adventures.
Looking for Florida Halloween events? Check out our list of the Most Exciting Tampa Bay Halloween Adventures for Families.
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