Grytviken, South Georgia has fascinated me for years. It’s inhospitable nature at the far end of the world, along with being the final resting place of the great Sir Ernest Shackleton gives it a special place in my imagination. And … Read More
The Hanging Coffins of Sagada is a strange sight and is part of a tradition that is believed to go back 2,000 years. The clue is the name of course. The people of Igorot Sagada, within Luzon in the Philippines … Read More
To stand in the Kaya Valley region of Turkey, amongst the ruins of Kayaköy is an eerie experience. The stone buildings of this once-bustling town stand empty, after being abandoned abruptly in 1922. The citizens fell victim to the purges … Read More
The Lombroso Museum of Criminal Anthropology is a fascinating place and a highly recommended visit for any dark tourist in Turin. Once only available to academics, this museum of skulls is a product of the criminal anthropologist Cesare Lombroso. His … Read More
Eltz Castle or Burg Eltz is considered to be the most intact and traditional of all Germany’s 20,000 plus castles. Its isolated location and dramatic medieval design simply take the breath away. The fact the same family has remained in … Read More
If you’re looking for a dark tourist location in Palermo, Sicily you need to head to the Catacombs at the Capuchin Monastery. This bizarre and somewhat morbid tourist attraction contains almost 8,000 corpses, most of which are dressed as if … Read More
Poveglia Island is situated just south of Venice. It has a gruesome history and is strictly off-limits to both locals and tourists; factors that are like a red flag to a bull in the eyes of the adventurous (if a … Read More
On a calm night at sea in March 1954, 23 Japanese fishermen were aboard their trusty vessel Daigo Fukuryū Maru, (Lucky Dragon 5). There was a flash in the predawn sky followed a few minutes later by a rumble and … Read More
Located on the south-eastern end of Pamban Island (or Rameshwaram Island) in Tamil Nadu, Dhanushkodi is an essential dark tourist destination for anyone exploring India. This once small yet prosperous town had all the amenities of a bustling community; a … Read More
If you had taken a walk through the quiet rural farming community of Carp, Ottawa between 1962 and 1994, you may have come across a small, unassuming white shed in the middle of a field. You would have carried on … Read More
Balaklava is a very interesting destination for those that like their dark tourism to be infused with top-level Cold War secrecy. This once unassuming fishing village based in Crimea, Ukraine became the location for a large secret Soviet submarine base … Read More
If you lived in Iceland in the 17th century, times were hard. So much so, in order to have a better chance of prosperity, you may have asked your best friend if you could flay their legs after they die … Read More
On a remote island off the coast of Cuba stands what was supposed to be a Presidio Modelo or “Model Prison”. The complex of circular cell blocks once housed a range of prisoners, from murderers to political dissidents and counterrevolutionaries. … Read More
Čachtice Castle is a dark tourist destination that requires a bit of imagination. The place is a complete ruin, and as yet, the Slovakian tourist board has done little to highlight the sinister history connected to the site. This is … Read More
Leuk may be a small town but it has a long history. Situated in Switzerland’s Rhone Valley, (not far from a bunch of popular Rhone-Alpes thermal spas), the Romans liked to hang out here. In fact, the first church in … Read More
The cover for Unit 731, while it was in operation, was a lumber mill. Situated in Harbin, which at the time was part of Japanese-occupied Manchuria, the complex would receive daily deliveries of new “logs” (maruta), and workers would come and … Read More
A must-see dark tourist site in Jodhpur has to be the grid of 31 sculpted hands at the entrance to Mehrangarh Fort. Coated in ochre paint, many of the handprints are child size and they are all female. Each belonged … Read More
The Castle of Wewelsburg has an extremely dark past. The forbidding fortress was once SS Chief Himmler’s Nazi Camelot, where some of the darkest deeds of WW2 were plotted. Labeled as ‘Naziland’ by critics, Heinrich Himmler forged plans for Nazi … Read More
Truk (Chuuk) Lagoon, tucked away among the islands of Micronesia approximately 1,100 miles northwest of New Guinea is a diver’s paradise. It is also a top spot for dark tourists that like to get in the water. First discovered by … Read More
Visiting the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM cave) in Belize is quite the experience. The name translates as “Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre,” and once you make it inside (the journey is a small adventure in itself) the Mayan artifacts are … Read More