Telling Elegies Adults Walking Tour in Saint Augustine
Description
Step into the shadows of America’s oldest city on a spine-tingling adults-only ghost tour through haunted St. Augustine. This isn’t your typical history lesson—this is the dark side of paradise, where whispers of murder, madness, and mayhem echo through centuries-old streets. Led by an expert storyteller, you’ll journey through eerie alleyways and forgotten corners, uncovering chilling tales too twisted for daytime tours. Ghostly echoes of long-dead pirates, prisoners, and lovers. These aren't just legends—they’re the real stories that locals whisper about after dark. Our tour brings you up close to some of the city’s most haunted landmarks—no jump scares, just raw, unnerving history that clings to the cobblestones. Whether you're a skeptic or a true believer, you’ll feel the chill as you walk in the footsteps of the dead. Mature themes, vivid storytelling, and an atmosphere charged with the unknown make this a ghost tour you won’t forget.
Tour Options
Itinerary
This stop discusses the Ghost of Henry Flagler, the suicide of his mistress, and the institutionalization of his second wife.
This stop discusses "Bad Bill," the serial killer responsible for "seven sadistic sex slayings" in St. Augustine.
This stop is connected to Athalia Ponsell Lindsley, who was murdered on the front steps of her home.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(78)
the meeting point was vague. No one ever heard of the Telling Elegies Tour. There weren't even tickets to print. We got scammed.
We’re sorry to hear you had difficulty locating the meeting point. Our meeting instructions are provided through the Viator confirmation, and many guests are able to locate and join this tour using those details each week. Printed tickets are not required for our tours. Guests can check in using their Viator booking information. We also want to clarify that this is a legitimate Ghost City Tours experience offered through Viator, and we’re sorry there was confusion around the tour name or arrival process.
This wasn't a walking ghost tour so much as a standing around listening to approximate history tour. We spent almost 30 minutes (out of 90) at the fort even though the entire group was freezing and miserable in the weather. After that rough start, we went to three more locations before hitting the last three on the same street in the last 15 minutes. It was not scary and actually so boring it felt like being transported back into high school history taught by a substitute teacher. Even those of us who are huge history buffs found it so dry. The guide was constantly confusing names too. We definitely weren't scared and didnt feel like we learned much. In fact, of our group of 6, five of us seriously considered cashing in on their money-back guarantee. Ultimately we decided against it because it may have just been our specific guide. In general, we really appreciated that it was adults only and dog friendly. An earlier start than 930 would've been better though, especially on the weekend when downtown is rowdier than you'd expect for St Augustine.
Dannie (or Donnie not sure) was great. He was a very good storyteller and also very knowledgeable. It was entertaining but it was not as scary or gory as I expected for an adults only tour and maybe could have used a couple more ghost stories. Otherwise, very good.
The tour wasn’t as described…adult only…two young teen girls. Ethan started enthusiastic at the castle and the story of Doris and Manuel was great! After that I don’t know what happened. We started as a group of 16, after we left the first cemetery, we lost 6. By the end of the tour there was six. He walked very fast, seemed to loose interest in the remaining party and he was hard to hear. The stories were really good but appropriate for a younger crowd…We felt bad because everyone just dropped off the tour…but, we even felt dismissed at the end of the tour…we would not do this tour again.
Three complaints. 1) We got there about 5 minutes before 9:30pm (it was supposed to start at 9:30pm) and the tour guide had already started! When we asked her what time it started, she said oh she thought everyone was there. She did not start over with the first story, so we did not get the full story for the first one. 2) The tour ended after 45min, when this site says it was supposed to be 90min. 3) I see photos of the cemetery and some other places that we did not visit during our tour. Had it been the full 90min, then I'm assuming we would have seen all of that. Needless to say, we felt cheated
Very informative and fun. Donnie was great, he showed us pictures and related experiences that made each story come to life.
Bad from Hello! When we arrived our guide was informative on how he was leaving the company and very negative . The tour he did had nothing of what was expected in the advertisement given . It was hands down the worse tour we have ever done . I was totally embarrassed after the tour because we had met friends there and wanted to have a great experience and it was nothing of the kind. I feel like we should get a complete refund due to his unprofessional acts and comments .
We’re very sorry to hear about your experience and truly regret that your tour fell so far short of expectations. What you’ve described does not reflect the standard we hold for our guides or the experience we want our guests to have. We sincerely apologize for the guide’s unprofessional behavior and the disappointment it caused, especially when you were sharing the evening with friends.
The tour guide was very knowledgeable and gave lots of adult-rated facts about the haunting history of St. Augustine. It was enjoyable
Thanks for joining us! We’re happy to hear you had such a memorable experience.
Our tour guide (don’t remember her name) was super nice, informative, and entertaining. The stories were definitely interesting, but they didn’t include everything we thought we would hear about, such as the St. Augustine serial killer. It was a tour for adults but the stories were very tame. Some of the stops, namely the one by the Castillo de San Marcos, were way too loud to hear the tour guide due to the car traffic.
Thank you for your review! We’re glad to hear you enjoyed the tour and found it informative. We appreciate your feedback regarding the content and the noise at certain stops, and we’ll look into ways to improve the experience. We hope you’ll join us again on another tour soon!
I was excited for this tour and the customer service via phone was very helpful when it was thunder storming the night of the tour. I called and inquired and found I was the only one booked and was easily moved to the next day. The next day I arrived and 4 others had booked and everything went along as planned. Our guide, Renee, was very knowledgeable and had interesting insights and tidbits we wouldn’t have heard elsewhere. I had done a family tour with another company two days prior and it was nice, but not as in-depth as I had wanted. I enjoyed seeing the sights and photographing hoping to catch a ghost on camera. Our guide was able to speak freely about more adult topics regarding the mistresses, murders, suicides, etc without children present. No ghosts made their appearance known for me but I was still entertained and would use this company again in other locations. One suggestion would be to mention that “gratuity is appreciated but not expected” on the website or at the start of the tour. It was mentioned at the end and I didn’t have any cash with me. That is probably my bad for just not thinking ahead, but would be helpful for anyone to know going on the tour.
