London Today Barbican Ghost Tours 2026
Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London · Organised by Barbican Centre
Check dates and book at the Barbican Add to calendar
- Dates
- 8 Oct 2026 – 13 Dec 2026
- Format
- In person
- Tickets
- £19.50 – £26.50
- Organiser
- Barbican Centre
A concrete arts centre from the 1970s is not where most people would look for a haunting, and the Barbican knows it — that is the hook of its own ghost tour. The estate sits on close to two thousand years of the City: a Roman fort, burial grounds, plague pits, fire, war and ruin. After dark, a guide walks you over all of it, and through the stories the building's own staff tell.
Dates and times
Thursday 8 October to Sunday 13 December 2026. Tours leave on the hour in the evening. In most weeks they run Wednesday to Sunday, usually at 6pm and 8pm midweek, 8pm on Thursdays and, from mid-November, 5pm and 7pm at weekends. Over half term, 24 October to 1 November, there are tours every evening, and on Halloween six of them, from 4pm to the last at 9pm. The Barbican adds dates as it goes, aiming for about a month ahead.
What is left
When we checked on 11 October, every tour in October was sold out, Halloween night included. The first free place was at 7pm on Sunday 1 November. Through November there were places on most weekends and on several Wednesdays and Fridays, and in December every date had one except the two Thursdays.
The tour
It starts at the Tours Meeting Point outside the Barbican Shop on Level G, where you show your e-ticket, and lasts 75 to 90 minutes, part of it outdoors. Between the Roman and plague history come the staff accounts: voices, figures glimpsed and gone, noises with no source, in spaces that change once the building empties for the night. It ends in the Library Stack Rooms, which the Barbican says have decades of sightings of their own.
Before you book
The age guidance is 12+, for themes of death, plague and the supernatural. The route has steps and uneven ground and is not wheelchair accessible at present; the Barbican's access team will advise on dates for a wheelchair-accessible tour. Dress for the weather.
Tickets
Standard £26.50, of which £1.50 is the transaction fee. Under-16s and unwaged visitors pay £19.50, students £21.50, and access tickets are £19.50 with a free essential companion. Members pay £20, and Young Barbican — free to join for 16 to 29-year-olds — £8, both subject to availability. The £1.50 fee is charged per transaction rather than per ticket, and not at all when you book in person.
Programme
- Wednesday to Sunday evenings, most weeks
- Tours on the hour, usually 6pm and 8pm midweek, 8pm on Thursdays, and 5pm and 7pm at weekends from 14 November.
- 24 October to 1 November — half term
- Tours every evening, Monday and Tuesday included.
- Saturday 31 October — Halloween
- Six tours, on the hour from 4pm to 9pm. All sold out on 11 October.
- Sunday 13 December — last tours
- 5pm and 7pm.
Book November, not Halloween. By 11 October the whole of October had gone, half term and the night itself included, while the weeks after still had room — and nothing on the Barbican's page sets the Halloween tours apart from the rest. November may be the better month for it anyway: once the clocks go back on 25 October, even a 5pm tour starts in the dark. If you are 16 to 29, join Young Barbican before you book; it costs nothing and turns £26.50 into £8 where those places are left. And book a group in one go, since the £1.50 fee is per transaction, not per ticket.
Barbican Centre, Silk Street on the map
Barbican Ghost Tours 2026: questions
When are the Barbican ghost tours?
From 8 October to 13 December 2026, in the evening, on the hour — most weeks Wednesday to Sunday, and every evening over half term.
How much is a Barbican ghost tour?
£26.50 standard, including a £1.50 transaction fee. Under-16s and unwaged £19.50, students £21.50, members £20, Young Barbican £8.
Is there a ghost tour on Halloween night?
Yes — six on 31 October, from 4pm to 9pm. All six were sold out when we checked on 11 October.
Can children go on the Barbican ghost tour?
The age guidance is 12+, because the tour deals with death, plague and the supernatural.
How long is the tour and where does it start?
75 to 90 minutes, partly outdoors. It starts outside the Barbican Shop on Level G and ends in the Library Stack Rooms.
Source: Barbican Centre checked against the source
