Top 5 Stops on the Ghost Tour around San Francisco's Most Haunted Neighborhood

I recently went on a ghost tour around San Francisco with SF Ghosts, and it was a great experience. If you didn't know it, Nob Hill is widely considered one of the most haunted parts of the city. There is a lot of history in this neighborhood, and it made for a very entertaining tour. There were a lot of stops and stories - you'll have to go on your own tour to catch them all! But here are my favorite stops (in chronological order) along the way and what you can expect from a tour by SF Ghosts.

1/ Union Square

The tour starts in Union Square. This is super easy to get to from Powell BART station: you can take the trolley up the hill and arrive directly in the square. Union Square has a lot happening: there is music, dance classes, ping pong tables, and much more. It's a nice place to hang out, so I recommend arriving a little before your tour meeting time so you can wander through the square.

If you've been to Union Square before, you have surely seen the heart art sculptures in the corners. This is where you'll meet your tour guide for your ghost tour. This was also the last stop on the tour, when we learned about a young boy's death, which haunts Union Square. We got an EMF detector with our tour (which I definitely recommend for kids), and this location was one of the most ~haunted~ on the whole tour.

2/ 450 "Suffer" Street

Our first stop was 450 Sutter Street, a medical office building with amazing architecture both on the outside facade and inside the lobby. This was one of my favorite stops on the tour because I loved seeing this architecture. The office building is said to be haunted because the architect used a lot of Mayan iconography, putting things together in a chaotic way that is said to anger the spirits. The main image above the front door of the building is also the Mayan Tree of Life, which symbolizes the line between our world and the underworld.

The building is really cool to look at, and it was extra special that we were able to get access to the building lobby even though it was closed. The security guard let us in so we could admire the highly embellished ceiling, the upside-down pyramid light fixtures, and the unique elevator bank. Additionally, because it is a medical building, it has a history of being associated with sickness and pain. I thought all of the building's nicknames were fun, including "House of Horror" and 450 "Suffer" Street.

3/ Nob Hill

After that, we climbed the rest of Nob Hill. It's a huge hill and really takes a little mental preparation to muster the energy to get to the top. But it's totally worth it! The views at the top of Nob Hill are awesome. Our tour guide pointed out one of the most photographed spots in San Francisco, which looks down California Street for a beautiful view of the Transamerica Pyramid and a portion of the Bay Bridge. We learned about the ghost of a bride-to-be who disappeared on her wedding day and walks up and down California Street, attacking men who look like either her to-be-husband or maybe her father, who insisted upon the marriage.

4/ Fairmont Hotel

At the top of Nob Hill, the gorgeous Fairmont Hotel is a really well-known spot. It's the original Fairmont of what is now an international chain. A few movies have been filmed here, and many presidents and other celebrities have stayed in the penthouse, which goes for a jaw-dropping $20,000+ a night. It's also quite popular as being the place Tony Bennett debuted his "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," which is why a statue of Tony Bennett now sits out on the hotel's front lawn.

The hotel is also a very haunted spot, thanks to a grisly murder as well as a number of construction-related deaths: the hotel was set to open mere days before the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, and the owners rushed construction to rebuild and finally open just a year after the disaster. Hotel patrons have reported seeing ghosts wearing toolbelts, so be wary of that when you book a room here! This is just one of a few haunted spots on top of Nob Hill, which is why it is considered one of the most haunted areas of San Francisco.

5/ Huntington Park

One block down from the Fairmont Hotel, in front of the gorgeous Grace Cathedral, Huntington Park features a beautiful fountain in the middle of it, styled to be an exact replica of Rome's Turtle Fountain (Fontana delle Tartarughe). You will also note that Grace Cathedral itself is styled to look a bit like Paris' Notre Dame. Despite its gorgeous surroundings, because it served as a refugee camp in the aftermath of the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906, Huntington Park is haunted by the sadness of all those injured and homeless from the disaster.

Our tour guide also pointed out a medallion in the street for the Barbary Coast Trail, which you can do as a self-guided tour to learn more about the history of the Gold Rush and the founding of San Francisco as we know it today.

Bonus 6/ Dennis Sullivan Memorial

This was my other favorite stop because the story was really fun. It's not a haunted location per se, but a beautiful memorial in tribute to a local hero.

Unlike all the other ghosts we heard about, which were mischievous and vengeful, Dennis Sullivan has proven to be a helpful ghost: he was the Fire Chief at the time of the 1906 Earthquake, and despite suffering severe injuries during the earthquake, he survived four days and led rescue operations around the city before finally succumbing to his injuries.

As a ghost, he has continued to protect the city: the story goes that he entered a Fire Chief's dream to warn him of a burning warehouse with people stuck inside. The warehouse was thought to be empty, but the Fire Chief insisted on sending an escalated response anyway, because of his dream, and in doing so, saved four people's lives.

Concluding the Tour with SF Ghosts

Our tour guide dropped us off right back in Union Square. All told, the tour was a bit more than one mile, making it very accessible, although don't forget about the giant walk up Nob Hill. I had a lot of fun on the tour, and paired with dinner, it was a really nice evening in San Francisco.

Why Go On a Ghost Tour?

I highly recommend finding a ghost tour in your town! You can do one near you and get a different perspective on your hometown and maybe learn some history about the area. Or, if you are traveling, I recommend doing a ghost tour on one of your first days in the new city. It is a great way to get an orientation to the city to start your trip and get some good tips for other things to do during your stay.

No matter where you are based, I'm sure you can find a ghost tour near you: U.S. Ghost Adventures is in more than 250 cities around the country, and they have ghost tours, pub crawls, and even overnight stays in haunted houses like the Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, Massachusetts. This was a really fun experience, and I definitely plan to do it again in another city. The tours are super affordable, fun for the whole family, and a great way to spend an evening!