York is a city with a dark past, its history is rife with tales of guts, gore, torture and ghosts. The International Ghost Research Foundation even declared York as the most haunted city in Europe due to its bloodstained history and over 500 hauntings within the ancient city walls.
Numerous haunted pubs hold tales of restless spirits (of the ghostly kind!) and you’ll be amazed at the number of places where ghostly sightings have been reported, and the history of what lurks beneath many of York’s historic buildings. These stories and sightings make York the perfect spooky city to offer some gruesome stories, tricks, treats and eerie encounters for all.
This itinerary offers the perfect frightening time in York, where you can discover tricks and treats to be had across the city. Embark on eerie ghost walks, visit hair-raising attractions, get the chills at haunted hotspots and experience spine-tingling thrills.
Travelling to and in York
Firstly, getting to the city: public transport is the most convenient way to reach York city centre. With frequent bus services to bring you straight into the heart of the city, travelling in and out of the city couldn’t be simpler.
Using the York Park & Ride service is the best way to travel by car. With six convenient sites located around the city, you can relax on board the zero-emission buses and let someone else do the driving into the city. Download the First Bus app to easily access all the information you need. An Adult Return ticket is just £3.90 and up to three children go free, with buses up to every 12 minutes and free parking for your car (or broomstick!).
Day 1
Once you’re in York, head to the Visit York Visitor Information Centre. Based on Parliament Street, the friendly and knowledgeable team can help you make the most of your time in York and beyond the city.
As well as expert advice, it’s the place to pick up attraction and travel tickets, guides and maps. You’ll also find spooky inspired souvenirs made in York, including ghost and pumpkin candles, wooden magnets, bookmarks and keyrings.
It’s also the place to pick up your Visit York Pass, the city’s official sightseeing pass, which gives entry to 35+ attractions in York, including The York Dungeon, JORVIK Viking Centre, North Yorkshire Moors Railway, and a number of spooky tours – plus, extra offers!
For your first frightful stop, step into The York Dungeon! From record-breaking ghosts to gory ghosts, it’s a thrilling attraction with an amazing cast of theatrical actors, special effects, stages and scenes. See, hear and smell (!) York’s stories come to life as characters transport you through the city’s murky past. Mashing up theatre, special effects and intriguing storytelling with wit, humour and plenty of edge-of-the-seat surprises for an experience like no other!
The new and never-before seen show for Halloween, The Butcher of Bedern, will have you quivering! The cleaver is still warm, and the stench of raw meat is thick in the air. Whispers speak of missing beggars, lost souls and meat with an unusually tender bite, so step inside the Butcher’s shop, if you dare…
You can also choose the Dungeon LATES edition, open later in the evening and strictly for 18+ year olds only, you expect more scares, saucy banter and cheekier jokes!
Little Peasants City Walking Tour
For the little ones too young for York Dungeon, embark on the Little Peasants City Walking Tour and discover the toe-curling tales of York. The bonkers Dungeon Jester and the smelliest peasant Smedley have been released onto the streets of the city to take families on a journey to discover York’s haunted history – seeing ghostly landmarks and learning historical facts along the way.
Shambles Market and Shambles Food Court
For a wind down, escape to the Shambles Food Court for this culinary haven full of gastronomic delights. You can expect delicious street food in a setting steeped in historical charm and a diverse array of food vendors ensures there’s something for everyone. Nestled within the Shambles Market, where you can find everything from exquisite quality gifts and fresh flowers to artisan crafts and stylish gifts, the market offers a delightful variety of choice.
Let’s step back into the shadows…head to the spooky and most famous street, Shambles. With its cobbled streets and overhanging buildings, it is believed to have been the inspiration behind Diagon Alley from the movie adaptation of the Harry Potter series. Top Tip – make sure to visit during the day and after sunset for that special photo moment! And the perfect place to find some of York’s must try magical potions…
On the Shambles, visit The Potions Cauldron, the most magical drinks emporium in the world. Enjoy one of the many magical potions including the Famous Wizard Spellbound Butterscotch Beer or mix your own slush potion that comes with magical powers. You can also pick up many magical items perfect as souvenirs or gifts for special wizards. Perfect for all ages, they also run an Adults-Only Potions Cauldron Experience which includes a welcome tipple and two magical potion cocktails.
Day 2
Try the world’s most magical mini golf experience at The Hole in Wand. Take on the 9-holes of magical golf and search for the missing gargoyle – Grobblenook! Along the wizard style adventure, there will be bubbling cauldrons, magical portals and your chance to perform the ‘Light Spell’ to illuminate the way in the dark hole and awaken the spirit.
Have yourself a terrifyingly entertaining night of fear of fun! Navigate through five haunted house attractions, over 100 scare actors, street theatre, stage performances and fairground rides. Especially for 16+ year-olds who dare! For 10-15 year-olds, Hallowtween is the frighteningly fun version aimed at families with children. With hot food and bars available, you’ll be able to decompress from your frightful evening!
(Fairground rides are charged extra. Please do check the website for dates and times.)
Day 3
Mad Alice’s Ghost Train with North Yorkshire Moors Railway
Step aboard a one-of-a-kind journey and experience an unforgettable hour of eerie adventure with Mad Alice’s Ghost Train!
As your journey from the 1930’s themed Pickering Station, join Mad Alice as she takes you on a spine-tingling ghost train ride through the haunted heart of the North York Moors National Park. You’ll have to dare to board the train to learn about the mysterious ghosts that still haunt the carriages and stations, hear about the supernatural tales and folklore of the land. As the ghost train creeps along the mysterious railway line, take in a special retelling of one of the most famous ghost stories ever written, ‘The Signalman’ by Charles Dickens. All with live actors and Mini Mad Alice’s Bloody Orange Gin & Tonic from York Gin (18+ year olds) or a soft drink.
(Available on 19 October, 26 October and 2 November 2025 from Pickering to Levisham return journey.)
North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) is one of the world’s greatest heritage railway experiences, climb on-board a steam or heritage diesel train from the 1930’s themed Pickering Station, and experience 24 miles of Yorkshire’s amazing scenery. As you journey through the North York Moors National Park, you can explore Goathland station, which became Hogsmeade Station in the first Harry Potter film, and Grosmont Station, which is home to the operating and engineering world of the NYMR.
Taking you all the way to the Yorkshire coast and the gothic town of Whitby. Its winding cobbled streets and eerie cliff-side paths are seriously spooky, perfect for ghostly encounters and eerie explorations. Famously steeped in gothic folklore, the striking ruins of Whitby Abbey is well known as the setting for Bram Stoker’s Dracula and there are plenty to celebrate this connection, including the Whitby Gothic Weekend.
(Trains run until 2 November 2025. Please check the website for the latest opening times, timetables, news and events before visiting.)
Day 4
Dark Saga Tours at JORVIK Viking Centre
Take a tour of the bloodiest and scariest sagas featuring Gods and monsters around the recreation of Viking-age Coppergate. Smell the decaying flesh as you hear the most gruesome stories of the bloodthirsty and brutal Norse legend and their ferocious battles in this one-hour immersive experience. Leave the little Vikings at home, as this tour is for those aged 16 and over.
(Available on 30-31 October.)
A great way to learn more about the city’s spooktacular past is by taking a walking tour with a magical mage or a ghastly guide, experts on York’s supernatural secrets and haunted heritage.
Brace yourself for thrilling journeys telling of eerie apparitions as you’re guided through thousands of years of history, mystery, folklore and legends. Explore narrow passageways and dark streets and investigate bloodcurdling tales of scandal and death – of phantoms, ghosts, apparitions and supernatural stories of the strange and macabre.
With so many spooks encounters to discover, a few days in York is a must. With places to stay in the historic city centre to the surrounding countryside, book the perfect accommodation to rest your head after a day of tricks and treats!
To plan your haunted trip and uncover York’s most chilling secrets, explore all the ghostly events awaiting you at: visityork.org/haunted-york
Follow Visit York on: Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and Threads!
#HauntedYork
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Notes to Editors
PRESS RELEASE: 1 October 2025
PRESS INVITE: You are invited to an exclusive preview of The York Dungeon’s new Halloween show – The Butcher of Bedern. Thursday 9 October, 6pm. Book your tickets
Why York is so popular with the haunted past?
Founded by Romans in 71AD the city’s violent and volatile history – including Viking invasions, the Norman Conquest and the Civil War – makes its sinister legacy easy to understand. Sometimes it seems as though a ghostly figure with a score to settle is in residence in just about every street or ginnel.
The tale goes, in 1953 an apprentice plumber was installing a new central heating system in the cellars of the Treasurer’s House when he suddenly heard a distant sound of a horn soon followed by a great carthorse emerging through the brick wall, ridden by a dishevelled Roman soldier. The ghostly battalion moved into a recently excavated area showing that they were walking on an old Roman road – the Via Decumana – buried 15 inches below the surface. Now all visitors are invited to explore the haunted cellars of the house.
More of an urban legend than a confirmed fact, Mad Alice Lane (now known as Lund’s Court linking Swinegate and Low Petergate) was named after Alice Smith who lived in the lane until 1825. That same year she was hanged at York Castle for the perceived crime of insanity, after murdering her husband for beating her remorselessly numerous times. Some say you can sometimes spot her face in one of the windows looking down over the lane.
Almost every historic theatre has a ghost story, and the Georgian York Theatre Royal is no different. It is said that a room behind the dress circle is haunted by the ghost of the Grey Lady – a young nun who fell in love with a nobleman, but when soon found out was thrown into a windowless room that was bricked up with no escape. A gruesome tale, but apparently if the nun in her grey habit is spotted in the dress circle, it’s a good omen for that night’s production at the theatre.
York’s City Walls are also part of the city’s gruesome tale. Along the walls stand its These were the places where heads were impaled on spikes after hanging, drawing and quartering, which was the punishment for traitors and rebels. With the practice beginning in the late 13th century, it was the prime punishment for treason then regarded as the worst and most unnatural of crimes (in Dante’s Divine Comedy, traitors are in the very lowest level of Hell).
November 5th marks the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to blow up the English Parliament and King James I in 1605. One of the notorious plotters was Guy Fawkes – born and raised in York. Today, the 5th November is known as ‘Firework Night’, ‘Bonfire Night’ or ‘Guy Fawkes Day’ and is still celebrated in England with fireworks and bonfires, on which effigies of the conspirator are burned.
