Charlotte Private Booze and Boos Tour

The Private Booze and Boos Tour is a two-hour walk through the historic Wards around Uptown Charlotte, with stops at two haunted bars and a finish in front of a third. At each bar the group stays for a drink while your guide tells you about the regulars who never left, then it is back out past the Dunhill Hotel and its temperamental elevator, the McGlohon Theatre where a performer is said to have died on stage and never exited, and Old Settlers Cemetery, where the Queen City's earliest residents are not all resting quietly.

This is the format Charlotte offices book for team-building and holiday parties, and the one friends book for birthdays, bachelorette weekends and visiting relatives who think Charlotte is all banks. Because it is private, you set the terms: start between 6 and 9 pm or go earlier in the afternoon, drop a stop to shorten the night, skip the drinks or have the guide meet your group where you are having dinner. Guests at the Dunhill, The Ivey's, Holiday Inn Center City or Aloft Uptown at the EpiCentre can meet their guide in the hotel lobby at no extra cost.

Pricing starts at $350 for up to 10 guests, with extra tickets from $30, and steps up during the mid-September to mid-November season. One guide takes 15 to 20 people depending on the date; larger groups add a second guide. Everyone must be 21 or older with ID. The LYNX streetcar stop at Trade and Tryon is a short walk from the meeting point, and street parking is free after 6 pm if you can find it.

What's included

• 2-hour private haunted pub crawl, your group only
• Costumed guide and professional storyteller
• Two stops at haunted Uptown bars, ending at a third
• Free hotel lobby pickup at four Uptown hotels
• Customizable start time, stops and meeting point
• Not included: drinks, food, taxes, fees and gratuity