Toronto Haunted Old Town Self Guided Ghost Tour

1 h 30 min Free cancellation Private tour

Toronto Haunted Old Town Self Guided Ghost Tour, photo 2 — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

About this activity

Old Town is where Toronto started, and for its first hundred years the city kept building jails here: four of them, all within 700 metres, each grander than the last. This self-guided ghost walk takes you past every one.

You play a new recruit of a small paranormal bureau, and the Questo app hands you its file on Old Town, open since 1960. The dead along the route have their own versions of what happened, and your job is to check them: a tailor hanged in 1798 for a forged dollar note, two rebels executed behind a stockade in 1838, a bishop who nursed the sick through the fever summer of 1847 and died of it at 42.

Every stop has a challenge you solve with the real thing in front of you: a carved head on St Lawrence Hall, the blue plaque on Mackenzie House, the gargoyles of Old City Hall.

Allow 2 hours for about 3.3 km, from the dog fountain in Berczy Park to the Church of the Holy Trinity. Go whenever you like, day or night, with hints and 24/7 support on hand.

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At a glance

Duration: 1 h 30 min
Confirmation: Instant confirmation
Ticket: Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Group: Your group only
People per booking: 1–30
Written guide: English
Operated by: Questo

Ages: Adults (14–99 years)

What is included

Included

Included: Full availability: Every day of the year.
Included: Flexibility: start, take a break and continue at your own pace.
Included: Access to the self-guided city exploration game in the Questo app

Not included

Not included: Live game master or physical guide
Not included: Private transportation
Not included: Meals

Itinerary

Berczy Park

10 min

The case starts at Berczy Park, by a cast-iron fountain where 27 dogs stare up at a gilded bone and one cat looks the other way. You'll answer a rhyming riddle from the fountain itself to earn your clearance into the Bureau.
St. Lawrence Market

10 min

In the south market, between the butchers and the sandwich queue, you'll decode a question with every vowel swapped for an X and find a date on site. This was Toronto's first city hall and its jail at once, and the basement cells flooded every spring for decades. A hundred metres away, St Lawrence Hall has no ghost at all, just a carved head to pick out of four doctored photos and a room where Frederick Douglass once spoke.
The Cathedral Church Of St. James

10 min

At St James Cathedral, whose spire was once the tallest thing in the country, the sign out front has been tampered with in your photo. Its archive holds the papers of Dr George Grasett, killed by the fever of 1847 after 24 days running the fever hospital. Across King Street, the grand King Edward hotel stands where a ten-cell log jail went up in 1798, and you'll spot what has vanished from its awning.
Metropolitan United Church

10 min

Courthouse Square and the 1852 Adelaide Court House come next, and you'll solve a photo puzzle at each. Two rebels were hanged here behind a stockade in 1838, and the old courthouse cells are now a restaurant's washrooms. At Metropolitan United, in a park of its own off Queen Street, a plaque gives back a word blacked out of your note. In 1888 this congregation started the campaign that closed Toronto on Sundays.
St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica

10 min

Up on Bond Street, the statue in front of St Michael's Cathedral is missing something in your photo. Bishop Michael Power laid the cathedral's first stone in 1845, nursed the famine emigrants in the fever sheds of 1847 and was buried in its crypt at 42.
Mackenzie House

10 min

A few doors along, Mackenzie House is the narrow brick home of Toronto's first mayor. You'll use a number code to pull a password out of its blue plaque. When the house went to the city in 1960, the inventory ended with two words: one ghost.
Massey Hall

10 min

The app shows you four versions of Massey Hall's red neon sign, and only one is real. Churchill, Helen Keller and Billie Holiday all appeared here, and in 1953 five jazz musicians played a set people still argue was the greatest jazz concert ever recorded.
Old City Hall

10 min

At Old City Hall you'll count the carved faces erased from a photo of the entrance columns. The architect fought the council over his fees for years, so he carved the councillors into the stone as gargoyles and spelled his own name across the frieze.
CF Toronto Eaton Centre

10 min

The file closes behind the Eaton Centre, in the yard of the Church of the Holy Trinity. Four photos of the pavement labyrinth each have a different centre, and you'll pick the true one. The church opened in 1847 on one condition from an anonymous donor: its seats would be free forever.

Meeting point and pickup

Everyone meets at the meeting point.

Meeting point

The game starts at the dog fountain in Berczy Park. After booking, we'll message you a code and activation link. Activate with your own email, then log in to the Questo app with that email. No message? Open the Questo app, tap "Bought a quest somewhere else?" and enter your booking reference number.

End point

The game ends in the yard of the Church of the Holy Trinity, on Trinity Square behind the Eaton Centre.

Using your ticket

Thank you for booking with Questo. Your code is your booking reference number: the digits after "BR-".

Here's how to play it:

1. Activate your quest. Go to the unlock page on the Questo website (questoapp.com/unlock), enter your email and your code.

2. Download the Questo app on your phone (App Store or Google Play) and create an account with the same email used for activation.

3. Once you're logged in to the Questo app, open the Quests section. Your quest will be there, ready to be played.

IMPORTANT

Booked more than one ticket? You can invite the other participants right after activating, or later from the Quests section in the app.
If you don't see your quest in the Quests section in the Questo app, tap "Bought a quest somewhere else?" and enter your code again. You can also upload a screenshot of your booking confirmation there.

GOOD TO KNOW

The quest is available every day, at any hour. Go to the starting point and begin whenever you're ready.
Download the story and the map before you head out. After that, it works without internet.
Start with at least 50% battery.

Still have questions? Send us a message or talk to our customer support at: questoapp.com/chat

Cancellation

Free cancellation

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

If you cancel	You get back
At least one day before	100%
Less than a day before	0%

Good to know

Service animals allowed
Public transportation options are available nearby
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
A charged smartphone with internet is required to play the game in the Questo app
Comfortable walking shoes are recommended