Halloween season is upon us! If you’re looking for a getaway to a spooky place this fall, consider the places below.
Visit One of the Most Haunted Places on Earth, Poveglia Island
Poveglia Island in Venice, Italy’s lagoon was used as a quarantine station for plague victims in the 16th century. Legends claim the soil is made of human ash and a mental hospital was built on the island in 1922. The Italian government has heavily restricted the access to the island, but you can book a private boat excursion or water taxi from Venice to cruise around the island’s perimeter to view the abandoned buildings, bell towers, and coastline. Other alternative islands accessible to the public in the lagoon include the Armenia monastery San Lazzaro degli Armeni and San Servolo, a former island hospital and asylum.
Wander Deep Into the Paris Catacombs
About 20 meters (~65 feet) underneath the busy streets of Paris sits a collection of dark pathways lined with millions of real skulls and femurs arranged in patterns and arches called the Paris Catacombs. Created in the late 1700s, visitors are greeted by a grim sign “Arrête, c’est ici l’empire de la mort” or “Stop, this is the empire of death”. The catacombs hold the remains of an estimated 5-6 million people, there is no cell service and many have gotten lost in the dark along its many (unmapped) paths. In 2017, for example, two teens had to be rescued after being lost in the maze for 72 hours!
View Artwork Made from Human Remains at the Sedlec Ossuary
Sedlec Ossuary, also known as the “Bone Church”, this Roman Catholic chapel located in Kutná Hora, a day trip away from Prague, Czech Republic, is decorated with the remains of 40,000 to 70,000 people. Features include a bone chandelier reportedly containing at least one of every major bone in the human body, garland-like strings of human skulls and femurs, skeletal pyramids made of mounds of skulls and long bones, and a family coat of arms made of human remains.
The location became a highly desired burial place after holy soil from Jerusalem was scattered across the location. After the Black Death and Hussite Wars in the 14th and 15th centuries, the graveyard overflowed, leading to the bones of older bodies being dug up and stacked in the basement chapel of the Cemetery Church of All Saints.
Visit an Island of Creepy Dolls near Mexico City
In the canals of Xochimilco, south of central Mexico City, is the Island of the Dolls (Isla de Muñecas), where hundreds of decaying, dismembered dolls hang from trees. Legend has it a reclusive farmer, Don Julián Santana Barrera, found the body of a drowned young girl in the canal, became haunted by her spirit, and he began collecting broken and discarded dolls from the trash to hang around the island as a protective offering. In 2001, he died by drowning in the canal where he found the girl.
To reach the island, hire a traditional colorful boat known as a trajinera from a local dock. The journey is 1-3 hours each way through the city’s ancient canals. Thousands of visitors have left their own hanging toys to continue the tradition.
Tour the Birthplace of Solitary Confinement at Eastern State Penitentiary
In 1929, the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania housed inmates that lived, ate, and worked completely alone. Inmates wore dark hoods when moved outside of their cells, endured extreme physical punishments and were often driven to mental breakdowns. Infamous criminals including Al Capone served time in the penitentiary, where he claimed he was haunted and tormented by a ghost.
Visitors, guards, and ghost-hunting teams often reported paranormal activity including whispers, crying, and footsteps in empty cellblocks. After being abandoned for decades, today the 10-acre complex welcomes visitors for Halloween, preparing five haunted houses, historic flashlight tours, lounges, and live performers in the cellblocks.
Risk Disappearing in the Hoia Baciu Forest in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Hoia Baciu Forest, as the Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania, this forest full of eerie tree shapes, local ghost legends, and claims of strange activity attracts fans of paranormal activity. Ghost and UFO sightings are commonly reported, and a near-perfect circular clearing sits in the middle of the woods that science has not been able to explain. Local folklore points to disappearances and hearing disembodied voices. The area is accessible for daytime walks or guided night tours.
From eerie islands and underground catacombs to bone-covered chapels and forests steeped in paranormal legend, the world is filled with destinations that seem made for Halloween. This spooky travel guide takes you to six unforgettable places where history, mystery and the supernatural collide, including Venice’s haunted Poveglia Island, the skull-lined Paris Catacombs, the haunting Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic, Mexico City’s eerie Island of the Dolls, Philadelphia’s historic Eastern State Penitentiary and Romania’s mysterious Hoia Baciu Forest.
Whether you’re a dedicated ghost hunter or simply looking for an unusual fall adventure, these destinations offer plenty of reasons to add a little fright to your next getaway.