Ghost Adventures Around the World

Explore some of the most harrowing destinations around the globe.

Ghost Adventures Around the World

Eerie Bran Castle (otherwise known as Dracula's Castle) is a national monument and landmark in Romania.

Ghost hunting is no longer an activity left only to clairvoyants and experts with specialized gear.

These days, anyone with a penchant for the paranormal can embark on a ghost hunting adventure in cities around the globe. From haunted hotels to abandoned penitentiaries, these sites are sure to thrill and spook even the most unflappable visitors.

So pack a flashlight and put on a brave face — these destinations are not for the faint of heart. Enter at your own risk.

Visit a Haunted Canadian Ghost Town

The small town of Wayne in the Badlands of Alberta, Canada was a mining community in the early 20th century and home to the infamous Rosedeer Hotel, which opened in 1913. When the mine closed during the Great Depression, most Wayne residents packed up and left town, according to the Vancouver Sun.

Today, ghost hunters return to the otherwise quiet town to visit the Rosedeer Hotel.

The hotel is made up of three floors, but the top floor is closed to the public after reports of ghost activity. During the mining days, Ku Klux Klan members were allegedly on the lookout at the hotel saloon for Communists that threatened to unionize the mine workers.

The story goes that the Klan members took Communists to the third floor to violently send the message that they weren’t welcome in Wayne, and after one incident went too far, some say that a pro-union ghost haunts the halls of the hotel.

Walk Along New York City’s Boroughs of the Dead

If you think you can only find ghost stories in long-deserted hotels and rural communities, think again. Boroughs of the Dead is a boutique tour company that offers walking ghost tours right in the Big Apple.

Join in a two-hour walking tour of hand-picked ghost stories through the East Village and Greenwich Village, or visit horror legend H.P. Lovecraft’s one-time home in Brooklyn. In Queens, discover the dark side of Astoria and its history of voodoo, murders and poltergeists.

In the Bronx, learn about the connection between the Titanic and a local cemetery where many of the ship’s passengers were laid to rest. On Roosevelt Island, tours lead guests through the island’s former hospitals and asylums, including the New York City Lunatic Asylum, which was made infamous by journalist Nellie Bly’s undercover exposé.

Visit Dracula’s Castle in Romania

Dracula may be a character from fiction, but author Bram Stoker based the blood-sucking count’s castle on the real-life Bran Castle in Romania.

The medieval castle is a national monument that’s popular with tourists for its lush and mountainous surround landscape, but don’t be fooled by the fortress’s natural beauty. Some locals believe that evil spirits called “steregoi” haunt the area between midnight and sunrise, and Stoker allegedly created the character of Dracula based on this local lore.

But is there any truth to the myths? Find out for yourself with a visit to the castle, which is open daily. You can also learn more about the castle’s history dating back to the 13th century and refuel at the castle’s quaint tea house if you work up an appetite while ghost hunting.

Tour the Haunted Rose Hall Plantation in Jamaica

By day, Rose Hall Plantation is home to a stately historic mansion in an idyllic tropical paradise, located in Jamaica’s Montego Bay. But by night, only the brave are willing to venture into the former sugar plantation’s Great House where they may come face to face with the White Witch who haunts the grounds.

Rose Hall offers guided candlelit tours of the haunted mansion. Visitors meander through each room of the house while sipping a rum “Witches Brew” cocktail and learning the legend of Annee Palmer, the aforementioned White Witch, who is said to have tortured numerous slaves and murdered her three husbands on the property.

The tour concludes in an aptly spooky manner, with a visit to Annee’s grave.

Go Ghost Hunting Down Under

Port Arthur Historic Site is tucked away on the island of Tasmania off the southern coast of Australia, and this UNESCO World Heritage Site was once a penal settlement established by the British Empire.

Today, Port Arthur is an important historic landmark on the island — and it’s also home to more than its fair share of hauntings.

After sunset, gear up with a lantern for a guided ghost tour of the site. For 90 minutes, you’ll learn about mysterious events and paranormal activity that persist today, long after the last convicts left the premesis.

To learn more about the site’s dramatic history, join in the Escape Port Arthur tour to learn about the convicts who risked brutal punishment to escape. Other tours also take visitors to the Isle of the Dead cemetery, which is home to the remains of more than 1,000 people buried on the island.

See Ghosts by Daylight in Scotland

A stop in the daytime walking tour of the most haunted parts of Edinburgh by Mercat Tours.

Afraid of the dark? You can still get your ghost kicks before sundown in Scotland. Book a daytime walking tour of the most haunted parts of Edinburgh, because — as Mercat Tours puts it — “things don’t only go bump in the night.”

A cloaked guide will lead you through the eerie Old Town and into the city where you’ll learn of age-old atrocities, from torture to body snatchers. If you’re feeling emboldened by the daytime hour, take heed — Mercat vows that the experience is 100 percent authentic: “There are no tricks or jump scares on our ghost tours.”

The tour’s skillful guides and storytellers are sure to send a shiver up your spine while recounting the harrowing tales of Edinburgh’s lurid past.

A Maritime Ghost Experience in Florida

The Pensacola Lighthouse has endured plenty of hardship in its 159-year history: It survived gunfire during the Civil War, was struck by lightning twice, and even came out unscathed after an earthquake. But the lighthouse can’t quite shake the ghostly inhabitants who are allegedly haunting the premises even today in north Florida.

The lighthouse has been featured on the Travel Channel and investigated by SyFy Channel’s “Ghost Hunters” for its paranormal activity, and today, visitors can join in the ghost hunt with a tour of the Keeper’s Quarters.

Bring your own ghost hunting equipment or borrow equipment from the Pensacola Lighthouse and Museum to determine for yourself whether the quarters are still home to supernatural tenants.

Ghost Encounters With a Side of Guac

Margaritas Mexican Restaurant in Concord, New Hampshire serves up the usual fare of enchiladas, nachos and tacos, but visitors to the restaurant will also find an unexpected surprise: A ghost who haunts the space.

The restaurant used to be a police headquarters and a jail, and local legend has it that these days, a ghost named George takes pleasure in moving chairs, drinking from beverages, hiding leftovers and throwing food.

Luckily, George is mischievous but not malicious, although the remaining cells and bars in the restaurant may cast a sinister shadow over your meal or your happy hour margarita. If you’re eager to meet George yourself, there’s no reservation required — stop by for a bite to eat in downtown Concord and you may be seated with a ghostly guest.

Discover the Dark Side of Rome

Dark Rome — Rome's Castel sant' Angelo at night.

For many, the city of Rome is synonymous with romance, religion, fine art and delicious Italian food. But there’s a darker side to the city that tourists can explore through a Dark Rome tour.

Guided tours in English lead small groups through the city to explore Rome’s underworld, including sites of mass murder and plazas were heretics were tortured to death. You’ll hear local ghost legends and, if you’re lucky, you may even witness a ghost carriage bolting across the Ponte Sisto Bridge.

This nighttime tour is not for the faint of heart, and afterwards, you may never see the Eternal City the same way again. For a tailored tour experience, book a private ghost tour with your own personal guide.

Visit the Wild (and Haunted) West

In Arizona, the “wild west” takes on new meaning with a slew of ghost tours and unexplained incidents that many attribute to ghosts and their kin.

In Jerome, two- and four-hour walking tours bring guests through the old mining town where the ghosts of characters like Headless Charlie and the spirit of a slain prostitute are said to haunt visitors. In Old Brisbee, visitors say they’ve felt the presence of a ghost cat who starved to death in a saloon more than 100 years ago.

In Tucson, a haunted Amtrak station is home to the ghost of a man killed in a shootout on the tracks, and in Prescott, visitors say they can still feel the presence of Faith Summers, a woman who took her life after her husband disappeared on their honeymoon in 1927.

Investigate the Missouri State Penitentiary

A tour through the Missouri State Penitentiary — nicknamed “the bloodiest 47 acres in America” — is not for the faint of heart. The prison opened in 1836 and housed nearly 5,000 inmates at its peak.

Bring your own flashlight for the ghost tours that guide visitors through the “strange and unusual occurrences behind the walls.” Serious ghost hunters can book a five- or eight-hour overnight investigation.

Use your own devices or check out equipment from the penitentiary to conduct your very own in-depth investigation of the building’s paranormal activity.

Take a Spooky Walking Tour in Poland

The historic Rynek Glowny square in old town Krakow at night.

Kraków is best known as a city rich in medieval history, but when you look beyond the charm, you’ll discover the city’s sinister side.

For spooky story enthusiasts, the 80-minute walking tour of Macabre Kraków lives up to its name. Start at the meeting point between St. Florian’s Gate and Barbican and listen to local lore from your guide as you saunter through the old town.

Learn about the Lady in Black as you walk past medieval torture devices from centuries past. Feel a hangman’s knot with your own hands as you learn about executioners and hear the chilling tales of serial killers from the last century — stories that are all too real, and that may lead to some paranormal sightings of your own.