San Francisco Haunted Marina Self Guided Ghost Tour

Most people see the Palace of Fine Arts in daylight. After dark, with the rotunda lit up over the lagoon, it's where this ghost hunt begins. From there the Questo app leads you through the Marina District, along Lombard and Chestnut and down to the water by the Marina Green. On the way you'll catch ten ghosts, each one by solving the puzzle it left behind: a hidden word in a bride's last note, a year buried in a senator's evidence, a closet key tucked inside one of a librarian's books. One of the ten has been feeding you a false clue, and the final puzzle is spotting who. None of these ghosts are historical. They were written for the game, so nobody in your group can know the ending in advance. Allow about 90 minutes for 1.7 miles of flat, easy walking. You can start at any hour, play solo or in a group, and lean on hints or 24/7 chat support whenever you need to.

1. 1

   Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

   22 min

   You'll start beside the Palace of Fine Arts, where the app hooks you up as a ghost hunter and checks your sight with a puzzle of glowing glyphs. Your first ghost is close by on Bay Street, a bride whose future mother-in-law poisoned her bouquet. Her last note hides the word you need.

2. 2

   Letterman Digital and New Media Arts Center

   22 min

   At the Lyon Street gate to the Presidio, a block from the Lucasfilm campus, a young doctor is still trying to save a patient he lost in 1952. You'll work through his chart of numbers and blood bags until the right type gives itself away.

3. 3

   Marina District

   22 min

   The hunt moves into the Marina's residential streets around Richardson Avenue and Lombard, then onto Chestnut Street, the neighborhood's main shopping strip. You'll find a code in an actor's last speech, work out the year at the heart of a senator's corruption case, compare four years of class registers to find the pupil who really went missing, expose an antique dealer's fakes, and use a wildlife poster with all the wrong animals to pick out the book that opens a librarian's closet.

4. 4

   Marina Green

   24 min

   The last stretch runs along Bay and Beach Streets toward the Marina Green and the yacht harbor. You'll date a professor's artifacts, empty a burning hotel in the right order and look into a priest who vanished in 1984. Then it's back to the Palace lagoon, where all ten clues come together and you name the ghost who lied.

• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• A charged smartphone with internet is required to play the game in the Questo app
• Comfortable walking shoes are recommended

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.