Halloween 2017: Six of the scariest places to explore on holiday

The ultimate list of haunted destinations to see on your travels

Halloween is upon us and with the nights getting longer and darker, it’s the best time to explore a scary place on holiday. October 31st is a brilliant way to celebrate all things ghoulish, but if you want to experience something other than trick or treating, then you need to travel.

As intrepid explorers, we’ve curated six of the scariest places you can visit this October. If you’re a haunted soul looking for a thrilling adventure, then look no further!

Paris Catacombs, France

Fancy meeting your maker in the City of Light? If so, then any Halloween trip to Paris must include the ‘world’s largest grave’. The notorious catacombs are located 20 metres below street level and they form part of a subterranean labyrinth of 300km of skull-lined tunnels.

The bones of the city's dead have remained there since the late 18th century when the city's graveyards were closed due to public health concerns. If you want to converse with dead souls this Halloween, then remember not to the follow any ghosts in the tunnels, as you may never find the exit…

Macabre hostels are available from €12 per night

Brasov, Transylvania, Romania

If Halloween was a region, then it probably would be Transylvania in Romania. As the official home of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, vampire legends have made it the ultimate Halloween destination. Visitors be aware that no visitors are allowed after sunset, and one can only wonder why…

Blood sucking hostels are available from €10 per night

Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, United States

Image by FHKE (Flickr/Creative Commons)

Alcatraz was once the home of a federal prison that incarcerated some of America's scariest criminals. It was open for about three decades before it finally closed, but that hasn't stopped some of the inmates from sticking around...

Haunted hostels are available from €23 per night

Craco, Italy (near Matera)

Image by Basilicata Turistica (Flickr/Creative Commons)

Craco is the abandoned medieval ghost town of Italy. For fifty years it has been remained uninhabited after it fell victim to a fatal landslide. The hillside town is now like a decaying tooth with exposed holes where windows once lay. Left to crumble in decay, Craco’s landslide survivors abandoned the village and settled nearby. Since then, the ‘ghost town’ has remained a city of dead souls.

Sedlec Ossuary, Czech Republic (near Prague)

Image by Alex DROP (Flickr/Creative Commons)

Sedlec Ossuary is one of the scariest places in central Europe. Situated about 70km from Prague in Kutna Hora, there are about 40,000 people buried in this strangely beautiful cemetery. However, they aren’t just buried, the dead bodies were used to make chandeliers and chests, to name but a few uses for human parts…

Bone chilling hostels are available from €10 per night

Beelitz-Heilstätten, Germany (near Potsdam)

Image by Jürgen Glüe (Flickr/Creative Commons)

This terrifying former medical institution was originally built to treat tuberculosis patients and was a hospital centre during Germany's two world wars, where due to a lack of suitable drugs, surgeries were carried out with no anaesthetics. Some say you can still hear the screams of tormented patients in the hallways…