This Portland, Maine, Ghost Walk Begins Where Longfellow Sits in Bronze
A 75-minute guided walk past six stops, from the Fire Museum to Victoria Mansion, leaving at 7:00 PM most nights through November and told entirely from the sidewalk.
The guide waits beside the seated bronze Longfellow in Longfellow Square, holding an old-fashioned lantern. Franklin Simmons sculpted the figure, which was unveiled in 1888, six years after the poet died; Portland's Public Art Committee says children across New England gave pennies, nickels and dimes toward it. From there the walk loops through the brick streets the operator calls Portland's West End for about 75 minutes, then returns to the statue. The listing names six stops in between, and at each one the group hears what the building has been and what people say they have felt or seen inside it.
Every story is told from the sidewalk: the operator says the walk never enters a building, and the listing includes no admission at any stop. Two travelers, in July 2025 and August 2026, wrote that they had expected to go inside. The operator points out that many of the stops can be visited during normal business hours. Recent reviewers mostly describe equal parts history and creepy tales; one called it just a little spooky.
Departures are at 7:00 PM. On October 25, 2026, the booking calendar priced the walk at USD 33 for adults, USD 28 for seniors 65 and over and USD 18 for children 4 to 12, and showed a 7:00 PM walk every night through November 30 except November 26 and 27. It showed nothing open in December, and the operator gives its season as April to November.
Cancel at least 24 hours before the start for a full refund; after that, there is no refund. Confirmation is instant.
Walk With Ghosts in PortlandA 75-minute guided ghost walk at 7:00 PM from the Longfellow statue in Longfellow Square, outdoors at every stop, with a full refund up to 24 hours ahead.www.viator.comA Doctor's House, the Fire of 1866 and a Federal Mansion
At the statue the guide gives an overview, with a word about Longfellow and the story that his childhood home is haunted. The first stop is the Gould house, now an apartment building. By the listing's account, a doctor with a broken moral compass once lived there, and residents and their pets still run into eerie things. The city's 1924 tax record for 129–131 State Street, which gives William E. Gould House as an alternate name, lists the building as offices owned by a corporation of six doctors.
The Portland Fire Museum is in the Engine 4 firehouse on Spring Street, which the Portland Public Library's photo archive says was built in 1837 and served until 1966. Here the guide explains how the Great Fire of 1866 spread and remade the city, and passes on accounts of eerie laughter and phantom smells in the building. Greater Portland Landmarks says the fire began on the afternoon of July 4, 1866, and destroyed 1,800 buildings, 1,200 of them homes for 10,000 people; it came before the Great Chicago Fire and was, at the time, the largest fire ever in an American city.
The McLellan Mansion, now part of the Portland Museum of Art, is a Federal-style house the listing dates to 1800. The museum says it was completed in 1801 for Major Hugh McLellan and came to the museum by bequest in 1908. Its ghosts, the listing says, have been seen and heard at elegant balls from decades past.
Victoria Mansion, a Former Church and Talk of Tunnels
At Victoria Mansion, also called the Morse-Libby House, the guide tells the story of its original owners, its near loss during the Great Depression and, by the listing's account, footsteps on the grand staircase and shadowy figures inside. The listing dates the house to 1860; the mansion's own history says it was built between 1858 and 1860 as a summer home for Ruggles Sylvester Morse and his wife Olive. At the Maine Irish Heritage Center, once St. Dominic's Church and School, the subject is Portland's Irish community and the paranormal investigators who have brought equipment into the building. The center says Irish immigrants built the church.
The Portland Club is the last stop, in a house built as Richard Hunnewell's home in 1805 that became the club's home in the 1920s, according to the house's National Register nomination. The listing describes a network of tunnels under the city streets. The Maine Historical Society calls the Portland tunnels myth one of its library's most frequent questions, and in a 2011 post it could confirm only one tunnel, between the old Press Herald building on Exchange Street and its printing plant across Congress Street.
The booking includes photos and video of the stops, and travelers in 2024 and 2025 described guides showing old pictures on a tablet or on printouts, including interiors the walk does not enter. Stops can shift with the guide: one traveler in August 2025 wrote that theirs skipped Victoria Mansion. The operator's team page names its owner, Emily, and three guides, among them a published Portland history author and a former docent on a Greater Portland Landmarks house tour; it does not say who leads which night.
Brick Sidewalks, a Few Hills and a Brisk Pace
Call the operator before booking with a wheelchair or stroller: its FAQ says access is not guaranteed along the whole route, even though the listing marks the walk accessible for both. The operator describes mostly flat surfaces with cobblestone and brick paths that can be uneven. Travelers add a brisk pace and some walking up and down hills, and one on an October 2026 walk suggested a small flashlight because so much of it is in the dark. The listing also advises against it for travelers with poor cardiovascular health.
The operator's booking system shows up to 15 places on a departure. Solo travelers can book, and the listing allows the operator to cancel a departure for bad weather or too few travelers.
Ages, Weather and the House Rules
Plan on ages 4 and up, the minimum in the operator's own booking system, even though the listing sells a free ticket for infants up to age 3. The operator calls its tours family friendly and leaves parents to judge how younger children will take paranormal stories.
The walk runs rain or shine by the operator's account, and the operator says it will notify guests if extreme weather forces a reschedule. Wear comfortable shoes and dress warm; a November 2025 traveler gave the same advice. The operator does not allow drinking on the walk, intoxicated guests, smoking or vaping. Photos are encouraged, but audio and video recording needs permission. Service animals are welcome, and the operator's FAQ also welcomes well-behaved dogs on a leash.
📍 The group meets in Longfellow Square, beside the Longfellow monument next to 181 State Street, where Congress and State Streets meet. The listing says to look for the lighted trees and the One Longfellow Square music venue, and for a guide holding an old-fashioned lantern. Portland Downtown's winter lights program, which counts Longfellow Square among the parks it lights, runs from late November through March by its 2025 program page, so on earlier walks the trees may not be lit and the statue is the surer marker. Arrive 15 minutes early: the operator says it cannot wait for late guests and gives no refund to anyone who misses the start.
Plan to pay at the meters for the last stretch before a 7:00 PM start Monday through Saturday: a July 2026 local TV report said the city had extended paid meter hours by an hour, to 7:00 PM, with Sundays and holidays still free. The operator's FAQ, which points to street parking on Congress and State Streets, still calls it free after 6 PM. The evening ends back at the statue, with a short wrap-up, local tips and time for questions.