Amelia's Galena Ghost Tours, INC - Galena, Illinois

Andrea K.

First time taking this tour, and we had a great time! We went on the 7.30pm tour and it was just 2 couples. They take you in a little bus, super comfortable, and it is heated (thank you!), around Galena, and the tour guide tells you all the spooky stories for each building. Then we stop at the St. Michaels cemetery, and they give you metal rods and EVP meter and let you roam the cemetery for about 10mins. That was spooky but cool, and our EVP meter went off at one particular grave! The last stop is an old mine cottage where you do a communication session with a spirit box, radio frequency, and EVP meter. We got a few responses to our question and had the EVP meter go off as we were having a conversation! So yes, I highly recommend it. Very chill vibe, which we liked, and the tour guide Katie was awesome and knew so much history. It was great!

J.R. S.

Our family had an incredible experience at Amelia's Under the Lamppost Mystery Dinner Theater! My wife, son, his girlfriend, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the evening. The immersive atmosphere, clever plot twists, and top-notch performances kept us engaged from start to finish.

We worked together as a team to solve the mystery, unraveling clues and debating suspects. We were so close to cracking the case but made a last-second change on who we thought the culprit was—and it turned out we were wrong! Even so, it added to the thrill and excitement of the night.

The staff was fantastic, the food was delicious, and the entire event was perfectly paced. It was a great way to bond as a family while exercising our detective skills. If you're looking for an entertaining and unique night out, Amelia's is the place to be!

We can’t wait to return and try to get it right next time! Highly recommended.

Andrea C.

This tour was definitely not worth the money. I couldn’t tell what buildings were being talked about most of the time since the bus just drove on by. Silly “communication” techniques we used to talk to spirits. At the cemetery, we were given devices that would light up if a spirit is near. However, it also lit up if it was close to your phone, if you moved it too quick, or if it touched the metal in the fence to the cemetery. The mining house was even worse. We spent a lot of time attempting to communicate with spirits and it was very obvious it was all staged. I would have loved to get deep into some of the stories instead of a quick drive by and obviously fake communication devices. Our tour also almost left someone behind because they did not check names and make sure they had the correct number of people. Thankfully the girl was walking up as we started driving and was able to make it on the bus. The whole time I just kept thinking that I spent money on this and how disappointed I was.

Kate P.

We LOVED the 9 pm tour to the cemetery and the miners cottage. Absolutely loved our guide and driver, super friendly and extremely knowledgeable. We learned lots of spooky and fun stories about Galena. Being able to use the emeters and dowsing rods was really cool and definitely added to the mysterious fun. Our family will be talking about last night for a long time

Kelli B.

We had a bridal party. 1/2 took this bus tour. First the bus driver complained he had to fill in for someone and doesn’t want to be there. He would rather be home. The female tour guide was not at all friendly and didn’t get us into the stories at all. Our other 1/2 of the party did the walking tour with a different group. They had a blast. And said the stories were greatly told. Honestly do the walking tour not with this company.

Renee M.

I went with my sisters and mom. The bus was full and a man spread across so you had to climb through the seats to get up and instead of asking the man to move over so the bus could load, the bus driver told us to go the blocked way anyway. It was awkward.

Next was the guide. You couldn’t hear her on the handheld amp, so they had to turn the ac off in the van. It was 86° outside and too warm. She also seemed like she was frustrated with us and kind of snarky for no reason.

The graveyard tour was awkward because they gates were open and people were walking around so we decided to and were suddenly reprimanded and told we couldn’t walk there. Why? No reason. Okay…
Same with the miner house. No signs saying you couldn’t tour the house, but they freaked out if you walked around. It’s not like we wandered far and we understand time constraints, but don’t just say go and then get upset when we don’t follow rules we don’t know.

This was really NOT worth the money.

Tammy S.

We were on a little get away and our 13yr old daughter asked if we could do a ghost tour so we set out to set something up. We were staying at a hotel on the edge of town and saw a huge house with a sign in the front yard of the house next door with the name Amelia's Ghost Tours and a little bus with the same name on it in the back drive so my husband and daughter went to the door to ask about it and the lady who answered the door was kind of rude and said we were in the wrong place their office was downtown however it was closed at that time and he should go on line and book it. He didn't want to book it based on his interaction with her but our daughter asked if could please do it. We booked the tickets and took the tour.
The driver and the "guide" were very entertaining and we had a very nice time with them. We were very thankful they were both wearing masks and practicing social distancing.
We were able to use several different pieces of equipment that really entertained the 13 year old. It was a nice evening and we were thankful we didn't let the 1st impression of the rude lady put us off and thankful she wasn't part of the tour. Maybe if she doesn't want to be bothered she should put the office location and phone number on the sign.

Nichol M.

My favorite part of the tour was when we stopped at the cemetery. We got out of the van and the guide shared a little history about it. We couldn’t go in the cemetery during the tour, but totally understand the liability issue. I also enjoyed stopping at the miner’s house, but I think too much time was spent there. Also the bus temp felt amazing. Nice and cool!

The reason for the 2 stars really comes down to the guide. I couldn’t understand about half of what she said while we were in the van. She seemed annoyed several times throughout the tour. Also when at the cemetery she told us she hated the town of Galena and when I said well, at least she has a fun job she responded that moving there was one of the worst decisions of her life. Yikes! Probably shouldn’t tell the tourists that. It’s the same guide you’ll read about in several of these reviews. With a different guide, the experience could have been much more positive.