Walking Tours and Workshops

Historic Lewes celebrates over 50 years of embracing Lewes’ history by offering multiple tour options to the public. Discover historic destinations downtown, learn intriguing facts about our region’s maritime history, and experience history as it comes alive. Find out about our historic architecture, maritime monuments, lighthouses, cemeteries, and more.

All walking tours start on the Historic Lewes Town Campus (110 Shipcarpenter St.) outside of the Sussex Tavern. 

Please note: Tours often sell out quickly. Pre-registration is required for all tours and closes 30 minutes before the start time.

Basket Making Workshop: Beginner

$40 | 2-3 hours | Hosted in the Lewistown Coffee-House

10:00am, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025 & March 28, 2026

Join us for our Colonial Basket-Making Workshop, hosted in our Lewistown Coffee-House! Enjoy the warm aroma of fresh-brewed colonial coffee and hot chocolate as you learn traditional weaving techniques used by early American basket weavers. Personally guided step-by-step, you’ll create your own hand-woven basket to take home—perfect for history lovers, crafters, families, and anyone seeking a hands-on heritage experience.

You’ll be making a smaller square market basket that anyone, crafty or not, can learn to make!

Dates: December 20th @ 10:00 a.m., March 28th @ 10:00 a.m.

Guests are suggested to bring water and snacks!

Basket Making Workshop: Intermediate

$65 | 4-5 hours | Hosted in the Lewistown Coffee-House

10:00am, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026

Join us for our Colonial Basket-Making Workshop, hosted in our Lewistown Coffee-House! Enjoy the warm aroma of fresh-brewed colonial coffee and hot chocolate as you learn traditional weaving techniques used by early American basket weavers. Personally guided step-by-step, you’ll create your own hand-woven basket to take home—perfect for history lovers, crafters, families, and anyone seeking a hands-on heritage experience.

You’ll be making a regular sized market basket that is slightly more advanced than the beginner’s course. You do not have to take the beginner’s course before this one, although it might help prepare you if you choose to.

Dates: January 31st @ 10:00 a.m.

Guests are suggested to bring water and a lunch!

Book now

Haunting History: Paranormal Investigation

$35 | 2.5 hours | 1.0 miles

Do Spirits Remain? Some Say So. Join First State Paranormal Investigations in learning the true tales of past residents of Historic Lewes properties, while investigating the legends swearing that spirits still reside there. Experience for yourself the echoes of the past.

Tours start at either 8:00 or 10:00 PM depending on the date, please see the dates listed below for more information

From 8:00 PM until 10:30 Dates: March 14th, April 11, May 2, June 13, September 12, October 10, November 14, December 19th!

From 10 PM until 12:30 Dates: September 5th, October 3rd, November 7th, and December 12th!

Please note, the special Halloween Night Edition of the Haunted Histories Tour is $40 per person.

History Highlights Walking Tour

$10 | 60 minutes | 1.0 miles

11:00am, Thurs - Sat, April - Dec.

Short on time but keen on history? Explore key moments in Lewes’ 300-year story that shaped the character of this First Town in the First State in this daily 45-minute spotlight tour!

Lewes Legends Evening Tour

$20 | 90 minutes | 1.5 miles

6:00pm, Wednesdays & Sundays, April - Sept. Now available Wednesdays and Saturdays in November! 4:00-5:30 PM

This 90-minute walking tour will introduce you to stories of strange happenings in the town. Lewes is rich with historic happenings, legends, and tall tales.

A View into the Past: Historic House Tour

$10 | 60 minutes | 1.0 miles

4:00pm, Thursdays, April - Sept.

The buildings that now serve as up-scale shops, restaurants, and vacation homes once housed a vast support network of maritime trades, necessary to support the seaborne industries of Lewes. A walk through the historic district, the former families and home that stand the test of time.

Finding Their Voices: The History & Legacy of the African American Community in Lewes

$15 | 90 minutes | 1.5 miles

4:00pm, Tuesdays, April - Oct.

This 90-minute tour highlights and celebrates the history and accomplishments of an often overlooked and diverse community in Lewes.

Revolutionary Lewes

$15 | 90 minutes | 1.3 miles

6:00pm, Second & Fourth Fridays, May - Oct.

This 90-minute walking tour explores Lewes’ role in the American Revolution. Sitting at the mouth of Delaware Bay, Lewes was a lynchpin in the defenses of America’s most vital waterway, just 89 nautical miles from Philadelphia, where whispers of independence were beginning to take hold.

Dates: May 9 & 23, June 6 & 20, July 18, August 1 & 15, September 12 & 16, October 10 & 24.

Shipwreck Rescues

Shipwrecks & Rescues Tour

$25 per person | 60 minutes | 1.0 miles

7:00pm, Last Saturdays, June - Aug.

Going back to the 17th-century and beyond, the Delaware coast is a graveyard for over 2,000 ships who never made Lewes’ safe harbor. They were lost to storms, accidents, incompetence, and even acts of war. In this premier, one-hour program, walk the very beaches that were witness both to horrific disaster and incredible, life-saving heroics as these tales are brought to life by lively storytellers from Historic Lewes and Delaware State Parks.

This tour is proudly offered in partnership with our friends and colleagues at Cape Henlopen State Park.

Dates: June 28th @ 7:30 p.m., July 26th @ 7:30 p.m., August 30th @ 7 p.m.

Please note, tours run every 15 minutes after the initial start time. Click the booking option to learn more and select your time.