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A different kind of escape
Famous haunted places, extraordinary history and local legends. Plan your days with a map and at least six good places to stay nearby.
Photo: Greyfriars Kirk
Edinburgh, Scotland
Burial-ground history & city ghost lore
Follow Edinburgh’s steep closes from Greyfriars to the castle, then spend an evening with the Old Town’s ghost stories.
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Photo: Bran Castle
Bran & Brașov, Romania
Border fortress history & Dracula folklore
Climb into Bran Castle’s layered rooms, spend a day among Brașov’s stone lanes, then turn toward the Carpathian landscape that makes the legend feel so enduring.
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Photo: John Andrews / Destination Salem
Salem, Massachusetts
Witch-trial history & attributed ghost traditions
Walk between the surviving house, the memorial and the collections that keep the people of 1692 in view, then make room for the coastal city around them.
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Photo: Drivephotographer / Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0
Himeji, Hyogo, Japan
Castle history, protective folklore & temple mountains
Climb Japan's great surviving castle carefully, walk its formal garden, and take the ropeway toward Engyoji for a quieter view of the city and its stories.
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Photo: -jkb- / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania
Convict history, cemetery stories & a lantern-lit ghost tour
Give the World Heritage convict landscape a full daylight visit, cross to the Isle of the Dead with an official guide, and approach Port Arthur's ghost stories as part of the site's long history of remembrance and retelling.
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Photo: Ricardo Liberato / Wikimedia Commons, retouched by Ikiwaner · CC BY-SA 2.0
Giza, Egypt
Ancient history & the pyramids
Stand beneath the pyramids, make time for the Grand Egyptian Museum, and come back to a hotel you look forward to.
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