The red-headed Stepchild of the Salem tour industry. A truly underground tour (we talk about the tunnels, show pictures of them, tell about secret fortunes made from them, and look into two entrances). Something different than the ghost and witch tours in town. A Tour for the true historians!!
3PM and 8PM Thursday-Sunday and 8PM on Tuesdays Only
Adults $18 / Students-AAA-Seniors $15 / Youths $10
Under 14 Free
Tickets for our Salem walking tour are available at Angelica of the Angels
192 Essex Street before 5:30pm | Phone Number 978-578-9238
Tour Meets on the Salem Common!
info@salemsmugglerstour.com
For media inquiries * about shooting in the tunnels of Salem MA for TV or movies, or for original research in help of producing your TV show, book, or movie please contact Chris Dowgin at info@salemsmugglerstour.com. Also Chris has several lectures on the tunnels and how they impacted American history and has traveled the country. Ask for more info.
* Destination Salem, the official outlet for tourism for the city denies the existence of the tunnels; so come straight to the truth today and find out more.
The Official Historic Salem Walking Tour of the hit books Salem Secret Underground and its sequel Sub Rosa ! Available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. In Salem it is available at Jolie Tea, Remember Salem, Wicked Good Books, and The Witch House. These books have been used to research Janet Evanovich's and Phoef Sutton's Wicked Charms, Cate Perry's Witch City Mysteries, Robert Irvine's latest show, and The Librarians TV show.
Buy your copy of Salem Secret Underground:The History of the Tunnels in the City and Sub Rosa before you take the tour and have your tour guide and author sign it and give you a personalized drawing inside the front cover!
Also read our Suggestions for the Best of Salem 2018! Lodgings, attractions, tours, and free stuff! A locals guide to the Witch City!
Plus our tour guide, Chris, is the author of the book about the Salem Secret Underground: The History of the Tunnels in the City, Sub Rosa, and a real Salem psychic and medium that will tell you one of a kind ghost stories and lead you to areas filled with paranormal activity.
Make Sure you buy the book to further your experience on our tour! Buy your ticket now!
| ***** | ExcellentDowntown Smugglers' Tour (Chris Dowgin) |
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| sinclair1 | Mon, Jan 11 9:01 AM | Male | 40-49 | International Tourist(s) | Family With Children | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Great tour very knowledgable! |
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| ***** | Tons of great history in the CommonsHistoric Salem Commons Smugglers' Tour (Chris Dowgin) |
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| kylehawkins9 | Mon, Nov 9, 15 11:04 AM | Male | 20-29 | Local | Couple on a Date | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Had a great time with Chris, the tour guide. Chris had a great wealth of knowledge regarding important aspects of the Commons. A great complimentary read before completing this tour would be to read Death of an Empire by Robert Booth- gives you great background and helps you to link together the big picture. |
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| ***** | Added to the excitement of the book!'Downtown Smugglers' Tour (Chris Dowgin) |
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| rvietzke | Wed, Nov 4, 15 7:51 PM | Male | 60-69 | Domestic Tourist(s) | Couple on a Date | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Our son bought us the book last year. The book was very informative and, having been downtown Salem a number of times before, we had seen many of the places that were mentioned. The tour really helped to put things in perspective and bring the history alive. We had a great time! |
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| ***** | Off the beaten path of typical Salem tourism'Downtown Smugglers' Tour (Chris Dowgin) |
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| kylehawkins9 | Tue, Nov 3, 15 1:19 PM | Male | 20-29 | Local | Family Without Children | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This was a great tour, but appears difficult to understand if you are not familiar with the area. Chris was very informative, knowledgable, and personable. I would highly recommend this tour, especially if you want to experience a different perspective of Salem- as there is much more history regarding Salem than just the witch trials!! I will register for the Commons Smugglers Tour in the near future as well! |
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| ***** | Very knowledgeableHistoric Salem Commons Smugglers' Tour (Chris Dowgin) |
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| rgrbilp70 | Tue, Oct 13, 15 3:58 PM | Male | 40-49 | Unspecified | Unspecified | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The guide was very knowledgeable and had all the little details. Very enjoyable tour. |
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| ***** | Unique and fun tourHistoric Salem Commons Smugglers' Tour (Chris Dowgin) |
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| Willsons | Fri, Oct 9, 15 1:25 PM | Female | 30-39 | Domestic Tourist(s) | Couple on a Date | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tour was different than any others we took. Tour guide was super nice and knowledgable. He jumped around a bit with names of historical figures, so unless you're caught up on Salem history it was a little hard to follow at times. But I would definitely recommend the tour, it gives you a different perspective on Salem and was good to do as one of the first tours of our visit. Even if you want a good historical tour, take this one. It was better than a trolley tour or the other walking tours with over 20+ people. |
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"Great!"
It's a historical tour on early Salem and the development of New England and the people who lived then. The tour guide is informative, interesting and wont derail when you asked him questions.
He's very knowledgeable about all kinds of subjects.
The tour guide is funny, smart and quick to answer.
The tour is literally as fun as you make it!
I'm recommending this to everyone I know.
If you like architecture or history or maybe you are just a "Fun Facts" person..
Then this tour is for you!
Fascinating insights into the elaborate, little documented, Secret Underground Tunnels of Historic Salem
Our guide, Chris, is very interesting and knowledgeable. He has a real feel and understanding for the historic players; the local millionaires, business people and politicians from this richest city in the country at the time, and their elaborate scheme to create a full network of tunnels under their homes and businesses in Salem to basically avoid paying taxes! I will never look at these McIntyre designed buildings, as well as many others, with their 'exterior chimneys' without thinking about the tunnels that lurk beneath. So much mystery! So much intrigue! I would definitely recommend this tour!
"Great tour"
Fantastic tour very knowledgeable guide really brought it to life, we were the only people on the tour due to how close to Christmas it was and it was a true treat.
A great historical opportunity
My guide was very knowledgable about the area, the history, and had some very interesting tales! I also found some interesting information about my favorite board game Clue!!
"Myth into reality!"
Reviewed July 31, 2012
Ever heard of smuggling tunnels? I loved learning about this network of tunnels dating from the beginning of the 19th century and used to smuggle goods into Salem to avoid paying federal taxes. The history of these tunnels are full of intrigue and mystery and a little bit of myth :) Chris Dowgin, the tour guide, is a fun and personable guy with a lot of enthusiasm and knowledge. He probably needs to work on condensing all that information since afterwards my head was spinning! But he will make you a believer in these tunnels!
Learned a lot! Highly recommended.
Chris knows a lot about the history of Salem and is passionate about sharing it's story. I was lucky enough to have a private tour on a beautiful day in April. He has crawled around many cool places under this town and has some pictures, facts, and tales to tell of these streets, it's people, and the tunnels that connected them. I was impressed enough with the sample of what I heard and saw that I purchased his book after the tour and have enjoyed digging in more to his explorations. I definitely recommend Chris if you're interested in a thorough historical tour. He also pointed me toward some great food recommendations and other things to do the rest of my time in Salem. 5 stars!
"Fantastic"
I'm from Ireland, this tour was organized by my aunt who is from Boston and I cannot speak highly enough of how informative, interesting and detailed the tour is. Chris the tour guide is an absolute hero, he did the tour for us during a blizzard and it was still of the highest quality. If you plan on visiting Salem I would highly recommend getting in touch with Chris for this Tour. I also purchased his book which he also signed for me. A gentleman and a truly fantastic tour!
"Great History!"
Our Guide Chris is very knowledgeable about the history of Salem and its Tunnel connections. No Tunnels though, no longer part of the tour, the web page needs to be update to let viewers know there are no underground tunnels to visit, but he provided photos through his I Pad which helped explained some of his stories, as well as, showing us where the tunnels would be located. Way different than the typical walking tours that Salem offers, it was just him, myself and my son and it last longer, 80 minutes. A little expensive, but for the length of time given on the walking tour and a thorough history talk, it was well worth it. I just recommend anyone looking into this tour, just ask to keep the group small, so you can hear and see his photos. The other walking tours we saw had over 20 people in the groups, the smaller the better. Really enjoyed this tour, learned a ton of new things about Salem's past other than witches.
"Loved the Salem Tunnel"
We booked this tour on Saturday October 18 at 4:00 PM and our guide was Chris, the author of Salem Secret Underground; the History of the Tunnels in the City. After chatting briefly and setting the background of Salem of the days gone by, we set out on our tour. Chris' insight into the history of the city, with many accompanying photographs, and the tunnels he has so thoroughly researched was amazing as he explained the networking and the skullduggery behind the tunnels and giving us a perspective of Salem we had never seen before. Walking above the tunnels and seeing the areas we were discussing gave us a whole new appreciation of what we see as we walk the city as we have done for years. The pictures he has taken are incredible and add to the mystery of the city's tunnels. Ghost stories and stories of plotting and murder abound and are as intriguing as the denial of many people of the tunnels very existence. Our time went quickly as we were fascinated by what we learned. If you have taken tours of Salem before, you've never quite seen Salem like this!! This is a must for a true historical perspective of Salem's beginnings through current day. We purchased Chris' book at the end and are anxious to read it. Thank you Chris for an awesome time. We truly appreciate the time you spent with us!! Greg and Susan Walsh, Concord, NH
"Great learning experience!"
Reviewed August 25, 2014
First , I'm a Salem resident born and raised and have known about some of the tunnels for most of my life. We decided to take the tour as a group looking for something fun to do after food and drinks. The guide and meeting spot was easy and convenient to find and being a Sunday, parking was plentiful and free. The tour made frequent stops at historic locations and covered in detail the history and, of course, the tunnels underneath the building. Most of which I had no idea existed but made plenty of sense once explained. I found the length of the tour to be just right. Not to long but worth the price of admission. About an hour. The guide was obviously knowledgeable and friendly. He was happy to answer any questions we had. Overall a fun experience and you learn a thing or two. I would recommend this both residents and visitors.
Buy the book everyone digs, Salem Secret Underground:The History of the Tunnels in the City! The book that goes into the political secrets that our country was founded on. Available at most booksellers and on Amazon.com. Be prepared and broaden your tour experience by reading the book.
Friend us at Salem Secret Underground on Facebook to see up dates when new tunnels are found!