Ghost Tour of Philadelphia by Candlelight

Ghost Tour of Philadelphia by Candlelight is a 1 hr 15 min evening walk operated by Ghost Tours of Philadelphia, from $29 per person at our July 30, 2026 check. Per the listing you meet a costumed guide in Center City and cover the historic core after dark, and it names four stops: Independence Hall, Library Hall, Washington Square and the Powel House, a compact Old City and Society Hill footprint.

At 75 minutes and $29 it sits near the bottom of the Philadelphia set we compare on both time and price, and at the bottom of the guided walks on rating, at 4.0 across 159 reviews. Minimum age is 13, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the start. It suits a traveller with one spare evening and a small budget who wants the burial-ground and Society Hill material without a two-hour commitment.

What you will see

The tour opens at what everyone now calls Independence Hall, a name applied long afterwards. Construction began in 1732 on the Pennsylvania State House. Speaker Andrew Hamilton, not Alexander, led the site committee and is credited with the design, master carpenter Edmund Woolley ran the work, and Hamilton died in 1741 with it unfinished (Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia). Two corrections worth carrying in: Congress adopted the Declaration on July 4, 1776, but the engrossed parchment was signed here beginning August 2, and the steeple in every photograph is Strickland's 1828 replacement. The original came down in 1781, the tower stood bare 47 years, and the replacement rises 168 feet 7 1/4 inches with four clock faces (the National Park Service). Lincoln lay in state here in April 1865 (the National Park Service). The footsteps and restless signers are operator tradition, not record.

Library Hall carries the name of the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded by Franklin and his Junto in 1731 as the first subscription library in the colonies (Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia). In August 1774 the Directors voted to lend books to Continental Congress delegates against a receipt, an arrangement later extended to the Constitutional Convention and Congress itself, making it the de facto Library of Congress until the government moved to Washington, D.C. in 1800 (the Library Company). Thornton, an amateur rather than a trained architect, drew the Fifth Street building that opened on January 1, 1791. The part most tours leave out: it was demolished in 1884, and what stands there now is a 1958 to 1959 reproduction. The Library Company never closed, either; it runs today as a research library at 1314 Locust Street. The Franklin statue said to step down and dance is tour legend, and the original figure has been relocated in any case.

Washington Square is the strongest stop, and the one worth getting right. From 1704 to 1794 it was the city's potter's field, the burying ground for the poor, for Black Philadelphians, for criminals and strangers, and from 1776 it took mass pits of Washington's soldiers along Walnut Street (ushistory.org). On April 13, 1777 John Adams wrote to Abigail about an hour spent, in his phrase, "in the Congregation of the dead," citing the sexton's figure of upwards of two thousand soldiers and adding that he thought it low (Massachusetts Historical Society). You will hear far bigger totals elsewhere, and the tale of bodies buried standing up; the honest answer is that the number is unknown. The dig is documented: in November 1956 state archaeologist John Witthoft opened nine holes and found three paupers in canvas graveclothes, then a man of about twenty in an oak coffin with a skull wound consistent with a musket ball. The memorial was dedicated on June 28, 1957 (Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia). It is the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier, not the Arlington tomb, and the soldier under the flame may not have been American. Leah, the Quaker woman said to guard the graves, is a tour legend with no record behind her.

The Powel House at 244 South Third Street closes the Society Hill end. Samuel Powel bought the 1765 Stedman house on August 2, 1769 for £3,150, five days before marrying Elizabeth Willing on August 7 (ushistory.org, marriage date per the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks). Powel was the last mayor of Philadelphia under the Crown and the first under the new charter, and he died of yellow fever on September 29, 1793 at 55, in an epidemic that killed roughly 5,000 Philadelphians. Elizabeth did not die here: the house was sold in 1798 and she lived until 1830. The rustling gown in the drawing room is attributed to Peggy Shippen Arnold, and the party she is said to have attended cannot be verified outside the ghost story.

Who it suits

Judge this one on time and budget rather than depth. Seventy-five minutes across four stops means storytelling on the move, on city pavement, at night, and it is a costumed walk rather than a paranormal investigation with equipment.

• Choose it for a first evening when you have an hour and a quarter and want the Washington Square and Society Hill material.
• Choose it on price: at $29 only the $25 Ghosts of Philadelphia Tour and the $26 Phantom Penance walk come in lower among the nine Philadelphia tours we compare.
• Choose it on access: the operator lists it as wheelchair accessible, including surfaces. Confirm specifics with the operator before booking.
• Skip it if anyone in your party is under 13, the listing minimum, and note that children must be accompanied.
• Skip it if you want a full night out, because the two-hour Philadelphia tours cover far more ground.
• Skip it if a consensus rating matters more than price, because 4.0 is the lowest guided rating in our set.

How it compares

Three siblings are worth weighing first. Founding Phantoms Adult's Only Walking Tour from Ghost City Tours also visits the Powel House and runs 1 hr 30 min at $34.99, rated 4.6 across 124 reviews, so six dollars buys a better rating and fifteen more minutes, though it is 16 and over. The Phantom Penance of Philadelphia Ghost Tour from Philly Ghosts By Us Ghost Adventures is cheaper still at $26 for one hour, rated 4.3 across 284 reviews, and shares the Independence Hall stop. Dark Philly Adult Night Tour from Grim Philly Twilight Tours is the volume leader at 4.9 across 4,469 reviews, $38 for two hours, ages 14 and up, although its listing marks most of its fourteen stops as pass-by.

So the case for the candlelight walk is narrow, and we would rather say that than bury it. It is short and low-priced without being the shortest or the cheapest, since the one-hour, $26 Phantom Penance walk is both. What it does carry is the accessibility line, because the operator lists it as wheelchair accessible including surfaces, and all four stops are named as stops rather than pass-bys. The case against is the rating: 4.0 across 159 reviews, the lowest guided score in our set. Every number sits in our Philadelphia ghost tours comparison, and the ranked version is in our guide to the best haunted tours in Philadelphia.

Questions people ask

How long is the tour and what does it cost?

It runs 1 hr 15 min and starts from $29 per person, checked on July 30, 2026. The operator is Ghost Tours of Philadelphia.

What is the minimum age?

Thirteen, per the listing's age bands, and children must be accompanied. A younger child in the group rules this tour out.

Is it wheelchair accessible?

The operator lists the tour as wheelchair accessible, including surfaces. Because it is an evening walk on old city streets, confirm the specifics with the operator before you book.

Can I cancel?

Yes. The listing offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start.

Which places does it cover?

The listing names four stops: Independence Hall, Library Hall, Washington Square and the Powel House, a compact Old City and Society Hill footprint.

Is a 4.0 rating a concern?

It is the lowest guided rating among the Philadelphia tours we compare, across 159 reviews. It is also among the shortest and least expensive, so treat it as a budget pick and weigh the higher-rated alternatives above. The $25 Ghosts of Philadelphia Tour and the $26 Phantom Penance walk both cost less and rate higher.