It seems almost surreal to see some of the places below and realize that they are actually abandoned.
Haunting is the best word, I guess, to describe them once you see them, but the impact is even greater when you realize that some of these structures – man-built structures – were actually alive one day and never thought they’d become nothing but a place for ghosts and dust.
I want to share the 18 most amazing abandoned places on Earth with you today. These locations prove that we can build something incredible and then abandon it completely.
To help you plan your own urban exploration, I have included the exact locations, the year the doors closed for good, and whether you can legally visit them (at the moment of publishing).
1. Pripyat, Ukraine
- Location: Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine
- Year Abandoned: 1986
- Can You Visit?: Highly restricted due to ongoing geopolitical conflicts.
This city in Ukraine was evacuated in 1986 after the disaster at Chornobyl and now looks like the perfect setting for a post-apocalyptic movie. The levels of radiation prevent us humans from living there, but nature doesn’t seem to mind taking over.
The zone’s accessibility and security have radically changed since 2022, when the Russia – Ukraine war started and, while spectacular and extremely attractive for dark tourism, it’s a place best avoided for now.
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2. Seneca Lake Farmhouse, New York
- Location: New York, USA
- Year Abandoned: Unknown
- Can You Visit?: No (Private Property)
For some reason, old cars were abandoned near this farmhouse (which is also abandoned), turning the entire area into a creepy, strange graveyard of vintage cars and buildings…
I love the visual contrast between the rusting metal and the wild weeds growing through the floorboards. Please remember this is private property. You should admire it from a distance if you are ever in the area.
3. Willard Asylum, New York
- Location: Willard, New York, USA
- Year Abandoned: 1995
- Can You Visit?: Occasional guided historical tours.
We’ll stay in New York for a little longer for one of the creepiest asylums that ever existed. Throughout the time, it was home for over 50,000 patients, and it was known as the place that you can only leave if you’re in a box. Creepy!
I find its history deeply moving, especially because researchers discovered nearly 400 intact suitcases in the attic. These perfectly preserved bags contain the belongings of the patients who were left behind.
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4. Bannerman Castle, New York
- Location: Pollepel Island, New York, USA
- Year Abandoned: 1920s (after a powder explosion)
- Can You Visit?: Yes, via guided boat tours in the summer.
It seems that New York is the real deal when it comes to finding hidden gems. A real castle was devastated by an accident in the 1920s when a massive explosion destroyed it almost entirely.
It is now nothing but a ruin of a place that once looked like a fairy-tale palace. But this was not a royal residence: Francis Bannerman built it as a massive military surplus warehouse. He simply designed it to look like a Scottish fortress, which makes the entire thing even more spectacular.
5. Houtouwan, China
- Location: Shengshan Island, China
- Year Abandoned: 2002
- Can You Visit?: Yes, viewing platforms and limited walking paths are open.
Houtouwan was once a prosperous fishing village home to over 2,000 residents. However, its small harbor could not accommodate modern shipping vessels, and the lack of educational resources led residents to migrate to the mainland.
By 2002, the village was completely empty. Over the last two decades, subtropical humidity has allowed thick climbing vines to swallow the town whole. It turned the buildings into a stunning, uniform sea of green that looks like it’s out of a perfect post-apocalyptic movie.
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6. City Hall Subway Station – New York
- Location: New York City, USA
- Year Abandoned: 1945
- Can You Visit?: Yes, exclusively through the New York Transit Museum.
And we are back in New York with another extremely interesting project that never reached its full potential.
Originally opened in the early 1900s, the station closed down during the Second World War because people simply stopped using it.
You can see stunning Romanesque Revival details alongside skylights and brass chandeliers. It is arguably the most beautiful abandoned subway station in the world.
7. Bodie, California
- Location: Mono County, California, USA
- Year Abandoned: 1940s
- Can You Visit?: Yes, it is a protected California State Historic Park.
Bodie is the quintessential Wild West ghost town. At its peak in 1879, it was a booming, lawless gold-mining town with a population of 10,000 and over 60 saloons. But as the gold dried up, so did the town.
The California State Parks system maintains Bodie in a state of arrested decay. The buildings are not restored, but they are protected from collapsing. I love peering through the dusty windows to see tables still set and store shelves stocked with provisions from decades ago.
8. Hashima Island, Japan
- Location: Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
- Year Abandoned: 1974
- Can You Visit?: Yes, via official guided boat tours only.
Once a prospering coal minging town with over 5,000 inhabitants, Hashima Island now looks (and is) completely abandoned, as if a dark storm ravaged it before moving on…
I think this island is incredible because it was once the most densely populated place on Earth. Workers lived on a tiny speck of land surrounded by sea walls. When the coal ran out, the residents abandoned it overnight.
You might even recognize it as the inspiration for the villain’s lair in the James Bond film Skyfall.
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9. Plymouth, Montserrat
- Location: Montserrat, Caribbean
- Year Abandoned: 1997
- Can You Visit?: Yes, but only via certified guides due to active volcanic risk.
Plymouth holds the somber title of being the only ghost town that remains the official capital of a political territory.
In 1995, the long-dormant Soufrière Hills volcano erupted, forcing the evacuation of the city. In 1997, massive pyroclastic flows and mudslides buried the Georgian architecture under up to 40 feet of ash.
Today, it looks like a modern-day Pompeii. Only the upper floors of the tallest buildings poke through the grey, hardened mud.
10. Orpheum Theatre, Massachusetts
- Location: New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
- Year Abandoned: 1958
- Can You Visit?: No (Private Property)
Originally named the Majestic Opera House and hosting shows as well as being used as a place to train soldiers during the World Wars, it was eventually sold to a tobacco company that used it as storage space. Today, a part of it houses a supermarket, while the rest is completely abandoned.
11. Shicheng Underwater City, China
- Location: Zhejiang Province, China
- Year Abandoned: 1959
- Can You Visit?: Yes, for experienced scuba divers only.
A city founded over 1,300 years ago, Shicheng was flooded over 50 years ago when Xin’an River Hydro Plant flooded the area. It’s been underwater ever since, looking like the lost continent of Atlantis…
The deep water perfectly preserved the Ming and Qing dynasty architecture. I feel this makes it one of the most unique diving spots on the planet.
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12. Maunsell Sea Forts, United Kingdom
- Location: Thames Estuary, United Kingdom
- Year Abandoned: 1956
- Can You Visit?: No public access, but visible via boat tours.
Looking like buildings coming from a sci-fi movie, these forts were actually built to protect the river Thames during WWII and have been abandoned since.
I look at their towering, rusted metal legs and immediately think of the AT-AT walkers from Star Wars. They are an absolute marvel of wartime engineering left to rust in the sea.
13. The Great Wall, China (Jiankou Section)
- Location: Beijing, China
- Year Abandoned: Varies (Constructed between 1368 and 1644)
- Can You Visit?: Yes, though it requires strenuous, unofficial hiking.
Well, it’s not all beautiful (and sometimes dirty) with the Great Wall of China. The name does say that it’s huge and even a country like China can’t afford the insane maintenance costs to keep it clean and nice – plus, there’s no real point in that. So areas of it have been taken over by nature with spectacular results!
14. Buzludzha Monument, Bulgaria
- Location: Balkan Mountains, Bulgaria
- Year Abandoned: 1989
- Can You Visit?: The exterior is accessible; the interior is currently sealed for safety.
Looking like a massive concrete UFO crashed into the peak of the Balkan Mountains, the Buzludzha Monument was built in 1981 to celebrate the Bulgarian communist regime.
It required moving 15,000 cubic meters of rock just to flatten the peak for its foundation. Following the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the building was abandoned to the harsh mountain winters.
Looters stripped its copper roof, leaving its massive, intricate interior mosaics to decay.
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15. Military Hospital – Beelitz, Germany
- Location: Beelitz, Germany
- Year Abandoned: 1994 (Final Soviet withdrawal)
- Can You Visit?: Yes, via an elevated canopy walkway (Baumkronenpfad).
Also known as Hitler’s hospital because he was treated there when he was young, this military hospital was initially a 60-building treatment complex.
It was created to care for the increasing number of tuberculosis patients coming out of Berlin. Eventually, it was abandoned after the Soviets left.
Today, it looks like it came out of a nightmare, but a brilliant elevated walkway allows you to peer into the ruined windows as trees grow through the roofs.
16. Czestochowa Train Depot, Poland
- Location: Częstochowa, Poland
- Year Abandoned: Late 20th Century
- Can You Visit?: No (Restricted active rail property)
This is a graveyard for old steam and diesel trains and nothing more. It looks pretty amazing, actually, in its entire creepiness.
I enjoy looking at the peeling paint and rusted iron frames. It feels as if the mechanics just walked away during a lunch break and never returned.
17. Kolmanskop, Namibia
- Location: Namib Desert, Namibia
- Year Abandoned: 1956
- Can You Visit?: Yes, via purchased permits and guided tours.
Driven by a frantic diamond rush in 1908, German miners built a luxurious, European-style town right in the middle of the scorching Namib Desert. They included a casino, a theater, and the first X-ray machine in southern Africa.
When richer diamond deposits were found further south in the 1920s, the town was almost instantly abandoned.
Today, the desert is taking it back. The doors and windows of the stately homes are blown out, and many rooms are filled waist-deep with rolling sand dunes.
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18. Craco, Italy
- Location: Basilicata, Italy
- Year Abandoned: 1963-1980
- Can You Visit?: Yes, via mandatory guided safety tours.
Dating back to the 8th century, Craco is a visually striking medieval village built onto a steep, defensive hillside in southern Italy. Unfortunately, the very geography that protected it from invaders ultimately destroyed it.
A combination of poor agricultural infrastructure, severe landslides triggered by a modern water system, and an earthquake forced the total evacuation of its residents.
Its dramatic, empty stone streets have since been used as a filming location for several major movies.
Wrapping up
I think that we can all agree that these are some truly amazing and equally haunting abandoned places on our planet. If you enjoyed this article, don’t forget to like and share it to help us spread the awesomeness!