Dublin Ghost Tours

...last of my reviews on Dublin as I am sure you are all sick of hearing about my visit. Anyway, while in Dublin yes it's nice to see older historical buildings but sometimes it is nice for a different type of attraction. In my hotel there was a leaflet on Dublin Sightseeing Tours, now, I am not really one for sitting on an open top bus while being driven about town but as I turned the page the bright yellow text reading Dublin Ghost Bus Tour caught ...
...it had been taken at Dublin Castle on her digital camera. I noticed at the Castle I had many orbs in my camera for those of you who do not know what that means basically it is a ball of spiritual energy.

The tour lasts 2 hours and you are taken back to O'Connell Street by 10pm. This went really quick I felt, the longest stop being at the Graveyard. I did learn a lot about Dublin's Ghost history as well as having a laugh and on the ... more

This will be the last of my reviews on Dublin as I am sure you are all sick of hearing about my visit. Anyway, while in Dublin yes it's nice to see older historical buildings but sometimes it is nice for a different type of attraction. In my hotel there was a leaflet on Dublin Sightseeing Tours, now, I am not really one for sitting on an open top bus while being driven about town but as I turned the page the bright yellow text reading Dublin Ghost Bus Tour caught my eye. It sounded like something different yet interesting and also I am very interested in ghosts and scary stories I suppose with all of these haunting and psychic shows.

So anyway I went down to the bus information centre and paid for my tickets. I was a bit reluctant to hand over my money though as €25 was a lot of money for a tour that might not be any good. Edinburgh has its ghost tours but they are about half the price. All I can say is as amazing as this bus tour was I still felt by the end that the tickets at €15 would still have been reasonable as it wasn't particularly what I expected it to be.

So we had to go down to the stop on O'Connell Street for 7.45pm which in summer time will never be completely dark but that didn't really bother me. So I went and there were lots of people waiting but still no bus then I look down the narrow street and see a purple coloured bus with the bright yellow Ghost Bus Tour text on the front. A small funny looking man gets off and starts telling us to board. We were all on a list we just got ticked off and went into the bus.

The bus was surprisingly busy but obviously there is a limit as to how many seats you can put people in. So going into the bus I was instantly excited the downstairs was dark and creepy music was playing. The windows were all blacked out. Going up the stairs the curtains were all closed and the eerie lights were on, it was so hot at that time of year but at least windows were left open. I thought the curtains being there was good though because even in main summer with so much light it still left an eerie presence.

Once everyone was seated we were introduced to the bus driver who made a scary noise when spoken to and the man telling the stories. I was quite surprised though as I expected this to be a serious tour as most I had been on were always told seriously but this man was hilarious. The good thing is we weren't just paying customers sat in chairs, we provided the entertainment also. He picked on at least everyone at one point and asked where everyone was from so there were quite a variety of nations. He popped up behind us all several times and a few squeals were had.

So the tour begins and we moved away what he does is he tells the driver to stop at different places such as over bridges etc and then he tells a story of something that happened there many years ago. Some people are told to open their curtains so we can see but then also he tells stupid stories which we believe until he says something ludicrous and we know it isn't true.

On the journey you only get off the bus at two stops. One is at St Kevin's Graveyard where they claim they will teach us how to body snatch. This is no lie he does take some poor victim and show us how it's done. We are also told the history of the graveyard and he takes a while here but it is interesting and he turns serious for this part.

The next stop which to me was most interesting as there was a presence here that I couldn't explain but it was that quiet, eerie silence. I couldn't see any ghosts but he told us that before many people on the tour had and had been quite scared. The woman apparently runs from the corner and through the wall and the smell is meant to be terrible. This is Dublin's most haunted spot though and he also asks here if anyone has seen any ghosts. It was interesting as a girl on my tour was susceptible to the paranormal world and had actually caught a ghost on camera. We all saw this and it was truly amazing and it was obvious it had not been edited as it had been taken at Dublin Castle on her digital camera. I noticed at the Castle I had many orbs in my camera for those of you who do not know what that means basically it is a ball of spiritual energy.

The tour lasts 2 hours and you are taken back to O'Connell Street by 10pm. This went really quick I felt, the longest stop being at the Graveyard. I did learn a lot about Dublin's Ghost history as well as having a laugh and on the way he points out some major attractions, like the cathedrals. If you don't like being picked on or are in for a seriously scary tour then this is probably not for you if you don't want it explained in joke form. Personally I thought it lightened up the mood as I'm sure we were all surprised when he started jumping up on people. Also it goes dark all the lights go out and he started throwing water over us all.

The bus was very comfortable for the time length and it was safe to leave all belongings on board as they weren't going to steal. The atmosphere I have to give them praise for their effort. Outside of the bus there was no spiritual atmosphere at all but on that bus being blacked out with the dim lighting it really set the picture and made the trip special.

The tours run Monday to Friday 8pm and Saturday & Sunday 7pm & 9.30pm and it is not suitable for children under 14 years old. For more information go to http://www.dublinbus.ie/your_journey/ghost_bus_tour.asp 

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