The haunted hotels in Gettysburg do not need to invent anything, which sets them apart from most of the country.
Some couples do a spa weekend. Some friends do a long lunch. You want to sleep on a battlefield and go looking for whatever is still out there.
Over three days in July 1863, somewhere around 50,000 men were killed, wounded or went missing across the fields and streets of a town of 2,400 people. Every church, barn and front parlour became a hospital. Bodies lay in the open for days in summer heat. That is the context for every haunted hotel in Gettysburg: these are not buildings with a legend attached, they are buildings that were standing when it happened.
Below you’ll find 5 haunted places to stay in Gettysburg, on the battlefield and in the town centre, with what each building was in July 1863 and what people report now.
- Most haunted hotel in Gettysburg: Farnsworth House Inn – more than a hundred bullet holes still in the south wall
- Closest to the fighting: Inn at Cemetery Hill – the ground Union forces fell back to on day one
- Most central: Aspire Gettysburg Hotel – on Lincoln Square since 1797, and a hospital during the battle
- Best small inn: The Swope Manor – an 1840s manor on the street that sat between the two armies
- Best value: The Inn at Lincoln Square – on the square, and cheaper than the battlefield inns
A note before you book: the haunted hotels in Gettysburg below are all working hotels you can book tonight. The hauntings are what guests and staff report. The history is not in dispute.
Haunted Hotels in Gettysburg on the Battlefield
These three haunted hotels in Gettysburg stood through the battle itself, and two of them were used to treat the wounded.
01. Historic Farnsworth House Inn
The south wall still carries more than a hundred bullet holes from July 1863. Confederate sharpshooters fired from the attic across to Cemetery Hill, and it was a shot from this building that is thought to have killed Jennie Wade, the only civilian to die in the battle.
The inn runs ghost tours from its own cellar, which tells you how seriously it takes the reputation. Of every property here, this is the one with the least ambiguous credentials.
See dates & prices on Expedia →
02. Inn at Cemetery Hill
The name is not a marketing decision. The inn sits on ground fought over on the first day of the battle, at the point where Union forces fell back and dug in.
Guests report footsteps on the stairs and doors found open. It is walkable to the battlefield, which means you can do the history in daylight and the atmosphere after dark.
See dates & prices on Booking.com →
03. The Swope Manor Bed & Breakfast
An 1840s manor on Baltimore Street, in the part of town that sat between the two armies for three days. Houses along this street were used as field hospitals as the fighting moved through.
Staff and guests have reported movement in the upper rooms. It is small, it is genuinely of the period, and it is a five-minute walk from the square.
See dates & prices on Expedia →
Haunted Hotels in Gettysburg Town Centre
Both of these haunted places to stay in Gettysburg are on Lincoln Square, which puts you a short walk from the museum, the restaurants and the evening ghost tours.
04. Aspire Gettysburg Hotel
The hotel on Lincoln Square, in the centre of town, trading since 1797 and used as a hospital during the battle. It has changed names more than once and the building has not changed at all.
The two figures guests most often describe are a nurse and a soldier on the upper floors. It is the most central place to stay in Gettysburg and the easiest to get to without a car.
See dates & prices on Expedia →
05. The Inn at Lincoln Square
A small inn on the square itself, in a building that predates the battle and stood through all three days of it.
The reports here are quiet: footsteps, and the sense of someone on the landing. Practical, central and considerably cheaper than the battlefield inns in October.
See dates & prices on Booking.com →
Haunted Places to Visit in Gettysburg
Nobody comes to Gettysburg only to sleep. The town is small enough to walk and the sites are close together, so you can fill a day between check-in and the point where it gets dark enough to be interesting.
Gettysburg National Military Park is the obvious first stop and it is free. Devil’s Den and the Triangular Field are the two spots on the battlefield where visitors most often report cameras failing and photographs coming back wrong, and both are a short drive from the town centre.
The Jennie Wade House marks where the only civilian killed during the battle died, struck by a stray bullet while making bread in her sister’s kitchen. Sachs Covered Bridge, used by both armies and later, the story goes, as a hanging site for deserters, is the most photographed haunted spot in the county.
And you should do a ghost tour in Gettysburg. There are more of them here than almost anywhere in the country, most run in the evening from the town square, and the good ones are led by battlefield guides who know the history rather than actors in costume. Candlelit walking tours cover the town itself; the longer ones go out onto the battlefield after dark.
Haunted Hotels in Gettysburg: Your Questions Answered
What is the most haunted hotel in Gettysburg?
The Historic Farnsworth House Inn. Its south wall still carries more than a hundred bullet holes from July 1863, Confederate sharpshooters fired from the attic, and a shot from the building is thought to have killed Jennie Wade, the only civilian killed during the battle.
Which Gettysburg hotels were used as hospitals?
The Aspire Gettysburg Hotel on Lincoln Square, trading since 1797, was used to treat the wounded during the battle. Houses along Baltimore Street, including The Swope Manor, were also used as the fighting moved through the town.
Can you stay on the Gettysburg battlefield?
Yes. The Inn at Cemetery Hill sits on ground fought over on the first day, and the Farnsworth House Inn stood in the middle of the sharpshooting. Both are walkable to the national military park.
Why is Gettysburg considered so haunted?
Roughly 50,000 men were killed, wounded or went missing over three days in July 1863, in and around a town of 2,400 people. Every church, barn and parlour became a hospital, and the dead lay in the open for days in summer heat. The scale is what sets Gettysburg apart.
When should you book a hotel in Gettysburg for Halloween?
By August for late October. Gettysburg is small and the historic inns have very few rooms, so the Farnsworth House and Swope Manor fill first. The Aspire and the chain hotels on the edge of town hold availability longer.
What if Gettysburg is fully booked?
New Orleans, Savannah and San Antonio all have far more rooms and stay bookable much later. San Antonio is the closest in spirit, since its haunted hotels also sit on a battlefield.
The hauntings here are what guests and staff report. The history is not: the Battle of Gettysburg remains the bloodiest engagement ever fought in the country.
So, Which Haunted Hotel in Gettysburg Are You Booking?
Pick the one that made you stop scrolling, and book it by August if Halloween is the plan. Gettysburg is a small town with very few historic rooms, and they go in the order you would expect.
More Haunted Hotels and Haunted Places to Stay in the U.S.
If this city is booked out, or you just want to compare the options before you commit, here is the rest of the collection:
- Haunted places to stay in New Orleans – the deepest history and the shortest walk between a hotel bar and a cemetery.
- Haunted places to stay in Savannah – small, walkable and built on top of its own burial grounds.
- Haunted hotels in San Antonio – the easiest one to book late, and the Alamo is across the street.
- Haunted hotels in Salem MA – the October capital, and the one you have to book by June.
- Haunted hotels in New York – Manhattan rock-star ghosts, or a colonial inn open since 1766.
- The most haunted hotels in the USA – the full list, city by city.
- Haunted places to stay: 24 rentals and haunted Airbnbs – whole houses, so the ghost is all yours.