Stay in Bath for Halloween and Visit A Ghost or Two

We know that many people who come to stay in Bath say that they wish they’d never have to leave. According to legend, some souls never did. 

If you’re coming to stay in Bath this October, and you want to get into the spooky spirit of Halloween, one or two of these ghostly events might be just up your street.

Bath Ghost Tours  

These tours take place all year round and are highly popular not only with visitors to Bath, but also with local residents.

‘Ghost Walks of Bath’ will take you to many famous places noted for their strange events. “Apart from experiencing first-hand the charm of this wonderful city and its Georgian buildings, you can sample the atmosphere and imagine the situations which set the stage for so many strange events which have been so well documented.” One of our favourite stories is that of the ghostly figure of a beautiful singing lady who haunts the Royal Crescent. On the tour your guide will explain when she died and why, against the odds, she still appears smiling and happy.

The tours begin at 8pm from outside the Garricks Head (the pub next the Theatre Royal) on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays all year round, and, of course, on Halloween itself. Though if you’re hoping to join the tour on Halloween, it’s worth booking in advance to secure a spot. It is, as you can well imagine, a popular Halloween activity.

Longleat Ghost Tour

A good reason to stay in Bath is that, aside from being a great city in itself, it’s also a great place to use as a base from which to explore the nearby area. Longleat (as seen on the BBC in the ‘Animal Park’ series) is one day trip we can highly recommend, and is very close by – taking just under 30 minutes by car.  

The reason we mention Longleat in this post is that this October Longleat are offering hourly Ghost Tours of Longleat House between 11:30am and 4:30pm daily from the 21^st to the 29^th of October.  Your guide will take you through unseen cellars, eerie attics and dark corridors, all whilst sharing haunting tales of Longleat’s legendary past and Longleat’s ghostly residents. It’s long been rumoured that the Grey Lady, Lady Louisa Carteret – wife of the 2nd Viscount, still wonders the House in search of her murdered lover.

The Theatre Royal 

Bath’s Theatre Royal is said to be the country’s most haunted theatre, so another of our top

suggestions is to take a visit to the theatre this October. On Halloween itself the Theatre Royal will be hosting part two of Handel’s most celebrated opera, Julius Caesar (part one having been performed the night before), and as the story is one of passion and revenge, perhaps it will inspire the theatre’s most famous ghost; the Grey Lady (not the same one as at Longleat despite the name) to make an appearance.

There are a few different stories surrounding her, but it’s generally agreed that her heart was broken when she died and the most popular account is that she is the ghost of a lady who killed herself after her husband killed her lover in a duel. When she appears she does so dressed in 18^th Century evening dress, with feathers in her hair, and accompanied by a strong scent of jasmine.