Birmingham: Ghost Walk Tour of Haunted Hotels & Churches

4.64

(147 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I’ll admit, I didn’t expect to start the night staring at a weird old artifact in a little shop that smelled faintly like books and dust. Our guide, John (he’s lived here forever), handed it around with this grin—said it was one of the “13 Artifacts.” I’m not sure if I believed him, but something about the way he told that first story made me listen closer. The city outside was still humming with Friday night traffic, but inside it felt like we’d already stepped sideways into another time.

We wandered out past the Clark Building and stopped where the Tutwiler Hotel used to stand—John pointed up at nothing in particular and started talking about a girl who knocks on doors. It gave me chills, honestly. There’s this hush around some corners downtown at night; you notice things you wouldn’t in daylight. At the Cathedral of the Advent, he showed us a graveyard I’d never noticed before (and I’ve walked by there plenty). The stones are half-sunk and mossy—he said there were riots here once, but also weddings and secrets nobody writes down.

My favorite bit? Probably when we paused outside an old boarding house spot where people held séances—John joked about “bad WiFi for ghosts” and everyone laughed too loud for a second. We kept moving toward the Redmont Hotel (it’s got its own share of stories), and with our small group we actually got to peek inside. The carpet felt oddly thick underfoot; someone whispered they smelled cigar smoke but maybe that was just suggestion. By then my feet were tired but I didn’t want it to end yet—you know that feeling?