Excellent site to visit! Beautiful views! We had a great docent lead tour. Our guide shared lots…read moreof details and did a great job trying to answer our group's many questions! Learning about the different architectural phases of this property was very interesting. The Secret Staircase is special! Gift Shop was a fun stop! Friendly staff. They have their own parking lot with ample and FREE parking while you visit. Now that's a plus. Everywhere else in Salem is paid parking, including the Peabody Essex Museum (park and hike!) Highly recommend visiting The House of Seven Gables if you are in the area.

What a great experience!…read more We had the tour to ourselves. The snow turned everyone away. The house is super interesting and our guide was great! If you are in the area, highly recommend a tour. Side note: we used our library card and received 50% off of admission.

Great place to spend the day. Salem witch trials section now has a permanent home at PEM…read more Parking Off street and metered lot available Staff So nice and cheerful despite the busy season ending Cafe Cafe is great for lunch or snacks Bathroom So clean and organized Coat check So great to have and free of charge. Wheelchairs, walkers and strollers available if needed.

Wow! What an experience!! This is such a cool place!! I was so impressed! The museum goes on like a…read moresort of maze that flows effortlessly into each section, all tying together. You'll hardly ever need to turn around the layout is pretty impressive. It's immaculately clean and there's a bathroom around every corner it seems. If you have other reservations in Salem and need to cut your museum visit short, no worries because they give you a tag that gives you all day access to come back. This is an absolute must see when visiting Salem! Give yourself 1.5 hours minimum.

When in Salem, you have to do something bewitching so I came to this museum to learn about the…read moreSalem Witch Trials. It's housed in a historic church and is quite pretty outside. We got tickets through the GoCity card, and had to make our reservations for a time slot slot the day before. We arrived and checked in, got our sticker, and then waited at a second area to enter the museum when it was our turn. First part of the "tour" was a presentation of the history of the trials with creepy looking mannequins on display. I recommend you sit on the stools in the center of the room for best viewing as you have to rotate around left on your seat to see each display as they are presented. It's actually quite informative but the presentation of it was kind of cheesy to be honest. After that is over, you are taken to the back end of the museum where there are exhibits about how witches are presented in movies (ie the witches of Oz), and defining witch hunting then and now. There's a gift shop for all things witchy at the end.

​If you've seen photos of Salem, you've seen this building. The massive, gothic, red-brick church…read moreexterior is easily the most iconic photo op in the city. Inside, however, the vibe is a bit of a time capsule. It feels like a mix between a theater and a history classroom--very "vintage 1970s" but in a way that feels like a Salem rite of passage. ​ ​The museum is divided into two parts: ​The Main Show: You sit in a large, darkened room while life-sized dioramas light up around the perimeter to a narrated soundtrack. It tells the story of the 1692 trials with a lot of drama. It's definitely "campy" and a bit dated, but it's a solid, digestible overview of the history. ​The Guided Exhibit: After the show, a staff member leads you through a second area that explains the evolving image of "the witch" through time. This part felt much more modern and actually touched on some interesting social themes like scapegoating. ​Duration: Plan for about 1 hour total. ​Booking: This is the most important tip--book your tickets online in advance! Especially in the shoulder seasons or October, they sell out hours (or days) ahead. Don't expect to just walk up to the door and get in. ​Price: At around $19, it's a bit pricier than the smaller museums, but it's the "big one" that most people feel they have to check off their list.

John was so knowledgeable! He discovered me and my friends were from Baltimore, Maryland and had SO…read moreMANY FACTS about how it related. That guy deserves a raise. Very small but cute museum. Lots of boards to look at. Oh and don't forget to take a picture with the skeleton :)

When visiting Salem, this was on the top of my list of must visits. The museum is pretty small but…read morefor the price of $10 per person there is a lot to look at. The gentleman in there was extremely knowledgeable about the different boards that were in there and each boards history. We went during the off season, so luckily for us we were the only ones in there which was fantastic because it felt like a personalized tour. He was very passionate and clearly enjoys his job. They also switch boards out from time to time so there is something different to look at. A very unique experience and worth checking out.

This is a cute little performance-based museum. You see real actors alongside wax figures act out…read morethe Procter trial. Then you get to tour a dungeon that is replicated off of the original dungeons. The tour guide does a nice job going over the different cells and how you could pay to have more space. You could also pay to have hay to sleep on but most people couldn't afford it. It's a truly sad sight to see these dungeons that are based on real experiences.

Not only is this place fun, it's also super interesting learning about the history of the witch…read moretrials. This was the first time I learned how the witch trials finally ended, as well as freaky facts--did you know that they actually tried and hung two dogs for practicing witchcraft? First you see a reenactment of a trial, then tour the replica below. It's amazing to see the actual size of some of the cells that people had to stay in. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and made the thought interesting.

This is a small museum in an old historic house with real history throughout. There's a guide on…read moreeach level and they were all really enthusiastic and open to questions. It's especially cool to explore a historic building itself instead of a museum that's just set up. There are some real relics and great information panels. It is on the smaller side, but that actually works well if you have a busy day in Salem, since it's a solid 40 minute stop. There's also a cute small gift shop at the end. The only thing I would change is giving a little more history. A lot of the panels talked about theories instead of real events, and also there were a lot of questions that came up while reading. More info cards could be given.

While I did not get to enter Witch House, I did get to admire the building from the outside and get…read morephotos with it from the front. I came in the late afternoon in late August, before the Halloween tourists started swarming Salem. It's a very aesthetic black house, rich with Salem history. Definitely an easy landmark to catch if you visit Salem.

An unexpected surprise! While not a particular fan of the horror genre there were so many nicely…read morecollated objects, models, masks and wax works of recognizable characters, from early Bram Stoker, Christopher Lee, all the at upto contemporary figures like the demagorgon of Stranger things fame. No pics allowed which somehow made it more enjoyable.

Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery was on my list of places to check out while visiting Salem last…read moreweek. It is located on Essex Street and they have you wait in line outside of the museum. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for kids (ages 6-12). You can either buy your tickets while waiting in line using a QR code or at the counter once you go inside. They do not allow photos or recording while walking through the gallery - the staff even states that they are watching on the surveillance cameras for anyone pulling out their phones. We enjoyed walking through each section and reading about each horror character and the fun facts about the movies or TV shows they were from. I really liked that the characters actually looked like the people and not some knock-off wax museum. Some of my favorites were the wall of actor face molds and the slasher room. I also like that you can walk through each room and area at your own pace and I never once felt rushed by the other people or staff. They have a small gift shop with t-shirts and other items you can buy. You are allowed to take photos inside of the gift shop. This is a must if you are a horror fan!

The gift shop was pretty cool, didn't do the tour. The place had some cool decor. The staff was…read morefriendly and I sent a while checking out all the cool items on display and for sale.

My second time visiting Salem, but my first actually getting to explore witch village. I went on…read moreHalloween with my boyfriend and it was definitely a fun experience. Would purchase tickets earlier if possible to avoid the raise in prices (hence losing a star).

I found Hocus Pocus Tours while seeking things to do in Salem on Yelp and TripAdvisor. Fellow…read moreYelpers' rave reviews did not disappoint! In messaging Hocus Pocus Tours with a couple questions about the tour and travel to and from Salem, the owner Susan replied immediately and suggested that I call her. This led to a one hour phone conversation where Susan was so gracious with her time, knowledge, and suggestions, not just about how to make the most of the tour, but how to appreciate a day in Salem. I can see why those who had the opportunity to take the in-person tour with Susan really enjoyed it. Covid changed the business model and Hocus Pocus now offers a self-guided tour by purchasing one of two tour apps. I opted for the $19.99 grand tour and it was well worth it. It has 37 points of interest. The app is user friendly and well designed. It provides a map of all stops, tracks where you are, and guides you to the next stop that you select on the tour. When you get to your stop, you can confirm you're at the right spot by comparing a photo of the site with what you see. Then you click on a 2-3 minute audio recording that provides a great snapshot of the significance of the site. As Susan had pointed out to me, there is much more to Salem than the historic witchcraft trials. It includes author Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables, America's oldest candy company, and other interesting sites. Of everything I visited, I experienced a very deep emotional connection with the 1692 Witchcraft Memorial with 20 stones dedicated to each of the victims of the witchcraft trial. The tour includes brief descriptions of some of the victims including those written about in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. If you plan to visit Salem, I highly recommend this tour. All sites can be visited on the outside and some on the inside at no charge. Some sites, such as The House of Seven Gables, charge separate admission fees. If you want to travel to Salem and don't have a car, the ferry from Boston offers a nice, scenic, and entertaining 50 minute ride. The commuter trains run more frequently and can come in handy if the ferry schedule coming or going doesn't meet your needs. There are plenty of good places to dine at to break up the tour. We had lunch at FINZ and really enjoyed it (I'll post separately about that).

This was legit SO much fun! The name Hocus Pocus kinda throws you off because you may be thinking…read moreabout the movie, but this tour really is amazing. Start off with the tour guides, extremely friendly and beyond knowledgeable. They really know their history for Salem. The tour itself was a few hours and you walk to all of the sites in Salem with historical significance. There is so much to learn from Salem. So much history and heartbreak. It really is eye opening to hear the stories oof the witch trials and how the witch trials began and who all was wrongly persecuted. The tour guides were so nice and explained everything with such great details. This tour was definitely the highlight of our trip in Salem. I highly highly recommend Hocus Pocus Tours, I learned so much regarding Salem, the witch trials, the history behind the two, and a little bit of Hocus Pocus and Bewitched. So much fun!

Gallows Hill, what can I say? I've been coming to Salem for over 20 years and have been visiting…read morethis place since it opened! The show has evolved over time and gets better and better. We wouldn't miss it.

I came to Gallows Hill Theatre to watch Guilty! A Salem Witch Trial. When I visited in October…read more2024, the show cost around $24. The show was hilarious and amusing! Huge props to the two actors (the judge and...the judge's helper?) for staying in character. I will warn you no one is safe from audience participation, but it is really funny. While it was a lighthearted take on the Salem Witch Trials, it was informative in terms of how ridiculous the trials were during the real Salem Witch Trials. I'd highly recommend watching if you have the time!