A Traveler's Guide to Dark Tourism


Exploring the World's Dark & Unusual Travel Destinations

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Rhyolite, Nevada – Abandoned Gold Rush-era Ghost Town

Founded in 1904, Rhyolite was once a booming late Gold Rush-era mining town on the edge of Death Valley. People flocked there in the promise of finding gold. Within a few short years, Rhyolite was a bustling mini-metropolis, with two … Read More

Museum of Tolerance

Museum of Tolerance – Los Angeles (A Complete Guide)

The Museum of Tolerance in L.A houses a series of important permanent exhibitions that cover some of humanity’s deadliest in-tolerances towards one another. It ranges from hate-filled contemporary social-media to coverage of the holocaust and other genocide fuelled atrocities throughout … Read More

The Sidoarjo Mud Volcano – Indonesia

Sidoarjo is the biggest mud volcano in the world and the resulting mudflow is an eerie, desolate sight. The current eruption has been active since 2006, and it has transformed the area south of Sidoarjo, Indonesia. The cause is also … Read More

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Visiting the Sri Lanka Tsunami Train Wreck

The 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami was one of the most devastating natural disasters in the last 20 years. Countries bordering the Indian Ocean suffered greatly, with an unprecedented loss of life. Sri Lanka was hit hard, with the Queen of … Read More

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Museum of Death, Los Angeles, California

The Museum of Death, in Los Angeles, California boasts the world’s largest collection of serial killer artwork. That’s quite a claim to fame. It also has a vast collection of macabre exhibits related to, well you’ve guessed it, death. No … Read More

tolland man dark tourism denmark

Tollund Man – A Bog Body in Silkeborg, Denmark

On May 8, 1950, the police in Silkeborg, Denmark were called to a potential murder scene. A couple of local peat cutters (Viggo and Emil Hojgaard) had discovered a body in a bog near Bjældskovdal. However, the police quickly realized … Read More

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A Trip to Tarrafal Camp – Former Penal Colony, Cape Verde

Tarrafal was once known as Campo da Morte Lenta (the “Camp of the Slow Death” in Portuguese). Those unfortunate enough to end up there suffered greatly. A notorious concentration camp in the Portuguese colony of Cape Verde, it was established … Read More

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Plokstine Missile Base – Dark Tourism In Lithuania

Plokstine missile base was an important underground military base in the Soviet Union. It is now an excellent Cold War Museum and a must-see visit for dark tourists in the area. Situated near Plokščiai village, north of Plungė, Lithuania, the … Read More

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Kura Hulanda Museum – Slavery in the Caribbean

Visiting the Kura Hulanda Museum in Willemstad, Curaçao is a hard-hitting experience. Chronicling European colonization and the slave trade in the area, the exhibits certainly evoke an emotional response from those that venture inside. From original Ku Klux Klan robes … Read More

Red Terror Memorial Museum

Red Terror Memorial Museum – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The “Red Terror” Martyrs’ Memorial Museum in Addis Ababa is one of the most emotional experiences I have had when visiting a dark tourist destination. This could be because I was completely unaware of the atrocities that took place in … Read More

White_Sea–Baltic_Canal dark tourists

Traveling the White Sea Canal – A Waterway Built on Blood

The White Sea-Baltic Canal in northwest Russia has a dark history. It was one of the first large construction projects, fully conducted by the forced labor of gulag inmates. Stalin’s Five Year Plan and tyrannical push to prove that Russia … Read More

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Sanctuary Wood & Hill 62 Memorial – Ypres, Belgium

Sanctuary Wood Museum is a popular destination in the Salient for dark tourist battlefield visitors. Located 2 miles from Ypres, it is arguably one of the best-preserved trenches from WW1. We have a farmer named Schier to thank for this. … Read More