Whaley House Museum

The Whaley House in San Diego’s Old Town is one of only two officially designated haunted houses in California (yes, official!). Built in 1856 on the town’s former gallows’ site, the house was once home to the wealthy but troubled Whaley family—and rumor has it that various members of the clan never left. Other ghosts that are said to haunt the house are a grand larcenist who fought ferociously to keep himself alive at the gallows, and a young playmate of the Whaley children who died under suspicious circumstances. Flatten the hair on the back of your neck afterwards with an Old Town Trolley Tour, a fully narrated ride around the city that takes in more than 100 points of interest (don’t miss Presidio Park, considered to be the birthplace of California when Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821).