13 Eerie Abandoned Places You Can Visit

Pripyat, Ukraine

Pripyat is, without a doubt, one of the most unusual places you can tour: a crumbling Soviet-era town so still that you can hear dead leaves rustling inside the deserted apartment buildings. With a special government-sponsored tour, you can explore the Exclusion Zone's amusement park, riverboats, and even the nuclear reactor responsible for the catastrophic meltdown at nearby Chernobyl. Visits to Pripyat are relatively safe, as radiation levels have continued to drop, but nothing should be removed or consumed while at the site (for obvious reasons).

Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Want to enjoy all of the amenities of jail without being a violent criminal? Eastern State Penitentiary can help you do just that. The 1829 prison's gothic corridors and cell blocks are partially restored but still perfectly creepy, and its legendary Halloween event, Terror Behind the Walls, makes your local haunted hayride look like a breezy Sunday drive.

Maunsell Forts, England

Off the Suffolk coast, an eerie, alien-like corps of WWII-era forts rises surreally out of the sea. Designed to deter German air raids, the tiny towers were decommissioned in the 1950s. A band of pirate broadcasters moved in; then, in 1964, a man actually declared one fort a sovereign nation called the Principality of Sealand. Today, you can see the forts via a boat tour from nearby Whitstable.

Six Flags New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana

After Hurricane Katrina roared through New Orleans in 2005, this Six Flags outpost was left flooded and ruined in her wake. Only one roller coaster was spared and relocated elsewhere. Unfortunately, the park was never able to reopen, and it's now popular with photographers and movie studios that shoot on the eerie, abandoned lot (you can see the park in the upcoming Jurassic World reboot).

North Brother Island, New York City, New York

Tragic circumstances seem to surround this small island that lies abandoned in the East River. It was the location of Riverside Hospital, infamous for housing Typhoid Mary, as well as the site of the deadly General Slocum steamship wreck in 1904. The abandoned island is now a designated bird sanctuary. You'll need permission from the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation (and a small boat) to visit.

Gunkanjima, Japan

The "ghost island" of Gunkanjima is a small battleship-shaped spot of land about nine miles off Nagasaki. Mitsubishi owned and operated the island's coal mines and towering concrete apartment blocks until the 1970s, when it was creepily deserted in a matter of days. Today, you can actually visit the ruined isle: A small portion was reopened in 2009 and several operators provide transportation and tours.

Disney Discovery Island, Florida

It's hard to imagine that this wild island was once a theme park bustling with birds, reptiles, and tourists in Mickey Mouse hats. When newer, shinier Animal Kingdom debuted in 1998, Disney suddenly relocated the animal residents and shut down Discovery Island, never to open again. The park and its rotting buildings remain closed to human visitors, but you can easily see the abandoned island from the passenger ferries that pass close by.

Michigan Central Station, Detroit, Michigan

Despite a nascent tourism renaissance, Detroit is still known for the many abandoned buildings that dot its blighted downtown. Michigan Central Station, a towering beaux arts train depot, is the most recognizable—and a popular subject for ruins photographers and urban explorers. Note that trespassing is illegal, but Roosevelt Park on the station's front lawn offers close-up views of its grandiose exterior.

Coco Palms Resort, Kauai, Hawaii

This hotel, made famous by Elvis Presley in 1961's Blue Hawaii, was shuttered after Hurricane Iniki blew through in 1992. Then, much of what remained of the main building was ruined in a fiery blaze earlier this year. But a Category 4 hurricane and a devastating fire can't destroy Coco Palms for good. Hyatt's plans to restore the iconic property are underway; in the meantime, a movie tour can take Presley fans inside.

Villa de Vecchi, Italy

If you're looking for a lush Lake Como spread, you may want to look elsewhere. According to urban legend, this intricate 19th-century villa has a tragic past of murder and missing children. Now, nature and graffiti artists have reclaimed the decaying mansion, and it's a popular stop for vacationers who fall in love with the house's haunted, misty setting.

Centralia, Pennsylvania

Fans of the Silent Hill film and video game franchise may already be familiar with this near ghost town in Pennsylvania. Ever since an underground fire broke out in 1962, the Pennsylvania coal town (population: 10) has been mostly condemned and abandoned. Visiting is dangerous but not technically illegal, and several graffiti-pocked roads run through the area. Offroaders offers good tips about safe visiting.

Fordlandia, Brazil

Henry Ford didn't just export automobiles. At Fordlandia, a planned community in Brazil, he attempted to export an American way of life. In the 1930s, Ford set out to create the largest rubber plantation in the world in this small tract of land next to the Amazon River. Bad weather, rocky soil, and disgruntled workers shuttered the property, but you can still see evidence of Ford's crumbling manufactured paradise: ruined homes and rotting buildings nestled amid the jungle.

TWA Flight Center, JFK Airport, New York

At the groovy TWA terminal at JFK Airport, the golden age of travel isn't dead, merely napping. The Eero Saarinen-designed space, with its famous airy interior and low-slung leather banquettes, opened in 1962 and was hailed as an architectural masterpiece. When TWA ceased operations, the terminal was closed. However, it briefly reopened for tours this year, and New York's Port Authority is weighing proposals for future restoration (rumor has it that Trump wants in).

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