Gaslamp Guided Walking Tour

What a waste of money. The tour guide was a complete joke. There was more than one minor on the tour and the tour guide, Sandy, used so many euphemisms for prostitution that even I was uncomfortable and trying to explain all of these things later was NOT appreciated. Also, even though I have lived in San Diego less than a year, I have had a career in historic preservation for 20 years and the sheer amount of misinformation about architecture, Victorian life, and general history was staggering. And the fact that she used an app on her phone to «communicate» with spirits was just stupid. When we got fed up and just wanted to leave (15 minutes after the tour was supposed to have ended) and asked to be let off the property, we were treated with a extremely rude retort by Sandy. I have been on similar tours in other cities and I have never been so disappointed and offended. I would not recommended this to anyone visiting or anyone in town.

We went on this tour with HW as our guide. He was very funny and knowledgeable. We had fun while getting to know the history of San Diego. I wouldn’t exactly call it a ghost tour. If you want that go to the Whaley House! But this one was fun. We even got some free chocolate!!!

I mean, it was an ok history lesson I guess, but it was by no means spooky and I was definitely ready for it to be over by the end. Idk, my only comparison is the Portland ghost tours and those are underground so they automatically had an extra cool factor.

Pricing: Good-​Excellent. I love Groupon deals!
Quality: Good. We visited a lot of fun places and we had a good guide.
Turnaround: Good. We spent a good two hours exploring Downtown.
Service: Good. Our tour guide cracked a lot of funny jokes.
This was a while back, but our tour guide was a plump white man with white hair and mustache dressed to the theme of an ol’ Western entertainer. I was hoping to praise him, but his name seem to have slipped my memory. Nevertheless, the tour itself is very educational and takes us to quite a few places of historic value. The one place we did not go into, but I felt we should have was the house of William Davis. He was a well-​known well-​doer back in the 18^th century and one of the most influential and richest man in San Diego. We arrived to the front of his house, had a brief introduction of the guy, and then we left. Disappointing, but we did end up going to a lot of «House of Ill-​Repute» as the guide described where he told us plenty of murders that happened back in the day. The vibe was not as spooky as I expected due to the bustling downtown area, but I enjoyed all the ghost stories nonetheless. We dilly-​dallied a lot so I felt we could have visited more places if the guide was not so slow, but we did still end up exploring for two hours. Personally I liked the tour guide who was very humorous and cracked jokes at everything and everyone he met. I would try this again, but in Old Town since that place definitely has more of a haunting feel.

We went on the 9pm ghost walk. I brought two ladies with me one of which I paid full price for a ticket for. I think the tour guide was drunk. He kept forgetting what he was going to say, his stories never really had an ending. He was all over the place it was bizarre. I did not hear one ghost story. There were three couples with us. One couple left 30 min into the tour and I would say we left about an hour after the tour started. I have never left a ghost tour. When we walked away two people were left with him. Some ghost tours are cheesy but I still get to learn cool things about the town. How H.W. has a job is beyond me. He didn’t even take my Groupon code so it could get redeemed. Don’t waste your money.

We just got home from an awesome ghost tour with H.W. We have been living in San Diego for a little less then a year and have always heard about the historical areas but never learned about them. This tour was very informative and H. W is hilarious! I saw in previous reviews they said he was offensive, DEFINITLY NOT! If you cant handle good old fun and jokes, then dont go on this ghost tour and go to a more boring one! We look forward to going on more ghost tours through this company for sure! Thanks H. W!
Also, second note. We are a military family with a 4 month old baby. We have no one to watch our son as all of our friends and family are hundreds of miles away so he came with us. H. W accomodated for the stroller and made the tour like our son was a part of it. Super professional and just plain awesome!!! :-)

I went to a Friday night 9p.m. tour. H.W. was our tour guide. He is very entertaining. The tour is quite interesting as you get to learn about San Diego’s past. This is not a ghost hunting tour. More history. If you’re looking for something different to do, this is it!

My husband and I went on the 9:00 p.m. Gaslamp walking ghost tour. Our tour guide was H. W. Before the tour even began, he obnoxiously made wise cracks about the tour guests. He was pretty insulting and I am fairly certain he was very drunk. He was so unprofessional and rude, I can’t believe he hasn’t been fired yet. The tour was okay, but I would never recommend it to a friend.

I went on this tour with my girlfriend on a Friday night (9 p.m. one). H.W. was our tour guide and he was great! Very funny but at times by the remarks he was making to the people passing by us on the streets I thought he was going to get himself into a fight (talking partial smack to a bunch of drunks can only mean trouble). Nonetheless, we had a great time! For those that were wondering, keep in mind that this is more of a «history» tour rather than a «ghost» tour. Remember to tip well! It must be tiring putting on his act and talking straight for 1+ hours.

This was a nice walking tour of Gas Lamp and New Town San Diego. Docent had a good understanding of the area. He was able to start back up when the first Spanish explorers came here and took us up to after World War II and the renovation of gaslamp. This area of San Diego is very fascinating. Buildings date back to 1850. It starts at the William Davis house. Corner of fourth and Island. It’s such a nice area.

Did you know that if you see an interesting looking old-​fashioned building in the Gaslamp Quarter, there’s a very good chance that it was once a brothel? Not all too long ago downtown San Diego was filled with them, along with other establishments which came along with being a port town frequented by sailors, such as adult movie theaters, tattoo parlors, and bars.
Every Saturday at 11am the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation puts on a guided walking tour of the Gaslamp district. The tour costs $ 10 or $ 8 for seniors/​students/​military and lasts about two hours. It starts at the William Heath Davis Historic House Museum, which is the oldest surviving building in the Gaslamp Quarter, and takes you all over the Gaslamp area. The guide talks generally about San Diego’s history and also points out buildings all over the Gaslamp and explains their history.
I really enjoyed the tour. I have lived in San Diego my whole life, and right now I work downtown and regularly walk through the Gaslamp. I never noticed that I was breezing right by so many beautiful historical buildings. The Foundation has made me see my beloved city in a whole new way by teaching me all about its rather raunchy but interesting history. San Diego really has has come a long way from what it once was thanks to a handful of visionary men and women.
I highly recommend this tour for any visitors or locals who want to learn more about San Diego’s history.