The Phantom Penance of Philadelphia Ghost Tour is a one-hour evening walk through Old City and Society Hill, listed on Viator from $26 per person. It is run by Philly Ghosts By US Ghost Adventures, the Philadelphia brand of US Ghost Adventures, a company that operates ghost tours in cities across the country rather than a local independent. The listing names eight stops and claims no interior access, so plan on an outside walk. At our July 30, 2026 check it rated 4.3 from 284 Viator reviews. It suits a short evening window and a modest budget.
Viator retitled the listing from Ghosts of Philly Haunted Dark History Walking Tour; the tour did not change. We are Arizona guides who research haunted history elsewhere, so read this as a write-up of someone else's tour, not one we run.
| Detail | What the listing shows |
|---|---|
| From price | $26 per person (checked July 30, 2026) |
| Duration | 1 hour |
| When it runs | Evening |
| Cancellation | Free up to 24 hours before |
| Accessibility | Listed wheelchair accessible and stroller accessible |
| Meeting point | Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier, Washington Square; the guide wears a black US Ghost Adventures shirt and carries a lantern |
| Stops | Eight, all exterior, across Old City and Society Hill |
| Rating | 4.3 from 284 Viator reviews |
| Operator | Philly Ghosts By US Ghost Adventures, the local brand of the national US Ghost Adventures |
What you will see
The walk forms up on the west side of Washington Square, where the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier stands. The square was the city's potter's field from 1704 to 1794, taking the poor, Black Philadelphians, criminals and strangers, and from 1776 the army's dead went into mass pits along Walnut Street (ushistory.org). On April 13, 1777 John Adams wrote to Abigail that he had spent an hour among what he called the congregation of the dead, relaying the sexton's figure of upwards of two thousand soldiers (Adams Family Papers). A 1956 dig turned up paupers in canvas graveclothes and a young man in an oak coffin (PhillyVoice). Several tour-circuit staples do not survive the record: the total is unknown rather than twenty thousand, nobody was buried standing up, and the ghost called Leah has no documentary trace.
Independence Hall was begun in 1732 under Speaker Andrew Hamilton, not Alexander, and the Assembly sat in it from 1736, when it was the State House (Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia). The Declaration was adopted there on July 4, 1776 and signed from August 2. The first steeple came down in 1781 and the tower stood bare 47 years until William Strickland's 1828 replacement, the steeple in every photograph of the building; Lincoln lay in state inside in April 1865 (NPS, NPS). The Liberty Bell arrived on September 1, 1752 and cracked on its first test ring in March 1753, and no evidence puts it ringing on July 4, 1776, a scene George Lippard invented in 1847; abolitionists gave it the name in the 1830s (ushistory.org).
Ghost claims at Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell have no documentary basis we can find, and we would rather say so than repeat them. Philosophical Hall is the same: an Assembly act of March 28, 1785 vested the lot in Franklin's American Philosophical Society, the society first met there in 1789, and it is still the only privately owned building on Independence Square (the federal landmark nomination), with no apparition account attached to it. The First Bank of the United States followed Alexander Hamilton's bank bill of February 1791 and was finished in 1797 behind a marble front and Corinthian portico (landmark nomination); the 1798 vault robbery some guides hang on it hit the Bank of Pennsylvania at Carpenters' Hall instead. The park reopened the building on July 1, 2026, Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (NPS).
The Bishop White House, built in 1786 and 1787 for the Rev. Dr. William White (HABS PA-1490), is the stop operators call the most haunted house in Philadelphia, a marketing line rather than a finding. The documented story is better: White was one of only two Episcopal clergymen who stayed through the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 (St. Peter's Church), and he died in the house in July 1836 with a book open on his lap desk (NPS). Old St. Joseph's grew from the chapel Jesuit Joseph Greaton built on Willings Alley in 1733, when Philadelphia was the only place in the thirteen colonies where public Catholic worship was legal (Old St. Joseph's Church); the present church is the third, from 1839, and the nativist mobs of 1844 threatened but never burned it (Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia). Old St. Mary's, churchyard 1759, held the first public religious commemoration of the Declaration on July 4, 1779, with members of Congress attending; Washington was not there, he was at New Windsor, New York (ushistory.org), and Commodore John Barry lies in its cemetery (CatholicPhilly).
Who it suits
One hour, on foot, in the evening, eight stops across Old City and Society Hill. That is a brisk pace: sixty minutes divided eight ways leaves little room to stand and dwell, and with no interior access claimed, every stop is a sidewalk stop. No minimum age and no group cap were verified in our checks, so ask the operator before booking for young children or a large party.
- Good for a short evening: the shortest Philadelphia ghost walk we compared.
- Good for a modest budget at $26, the low end of the Philadelphia set.
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before, so plans can change.
- Listed wheelchair and stroller accessible, though Old City pavements are uneven.
- Skip it for depth: eight stops in sixty minutes is a quick pass.
- Skip it if you want adults-only, small-group, or a local independent operator.
How it compares
The closest substitute is The Ghosts of Philadelphia Tour, which shares Independence Hall, the Bishop White House and the American Philosophical Society, runs 90 minutes, starts at $25 and rated 4.7 across 217 reviews. That sets the honest terms here: this tour is the shorter and not the cheaper of the two, so its real edge is the hour itself. Its 4.3 was the second lowest of the guided Philadelphia walks we re-checked on July 30, 2026, above only the candlelight tour.
The longer nights belong to Grim Philly Twilight Tours: the Dark Philly Adult Night Tour covers fourteen stops in two hours from $38 at 4.9 across 4,469 reviews, minimum age 14, and True Crime Philadelphia and History Tour runs two and a half hours from $44 at 4.9 across 427 reviews. Founding Phantoms from Ghost City Tours (4.6, $34.99, 90 minutes, 16 and up) is the other chain brand in town, and the Ghost Tour of Philadelphia by Candlelight is nearest on price at $29 for 75 minutes but the lowest rated guided walk in the set at 4.0. On a quality tie we point people at the independents. The full field sits on the Philadelphia ghost tours hub and in our guide to haunted places in Philadelphia.
Questions people ask
How long is it, and how much does it cost?
One hour, from $26 per person at our July 30, 2026 check, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. It runs in the evening, and no clock time is verified in our checks, so take the departure time from the booking calendar.
Where does it start?
The listing gives the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington Square Park. The monument's full name is the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier and it stands in Philadelphia's Washington Square, not at Arlington. Look for a guide in a black US Ghost Adventures shirt carrying a lantern.
Who actually runs the tour?
Philly Ghosts By US Ghost Adventures. Despite the local name, the supplier is a city brand of US Ghost Adventures, a company running ghost tours around the country, rather than a Philadelphia independent.
Which stops does it cover?
Eight, across Old City and Society Hill: Washington Square, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell Center, American Philosophical Society Philosophical Hall, the First Bank of the United States, the Bishop White House, Old St. Joseph's and Old St. Mary's.
Is it accessible?
The listing records both wheelchair access and stroller access. It is still an hour on foot over historic pavements, so judge the surfaces against your own needs before booking.
Do you go inside any of the buildings?
No interior access is claimed, so plan on an outside walk. The Bishop White House interior is a separate free ranger-led ticket from the national park, and the First Bank of the United States reopened to visitors on July 1, 2026, Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., which is daytime access.
