Top destinations for an eerie getaway

From classic ghost tours to not-entirely-haunted castles, we’ve delved into data from Tripadvisor, Rotten Tomatoes, and World Population Review to uncover the best spooky destinations worldwide and have curated our specialists’ top experiences for exploring the macabre in each one. You might choose to walk the dark streets of Edinburgh with a guide, hearing tales of the city’s grisly past, explore an atmospheric castle, or visit landscapes once featured in classic horror movies.

Destination with the most “haunted” tours: the UK

Considered by some to be the most densely haunted landmass in the world, the UK tops the list for having the most classic paranormal tours (177).

One of the reasons for this is the country’s many castles — many allegedly home to a resident ghost that you’ll learn about on a guided tour. For example, a former chieftain named Flora MacLeod is said to walk the halls of Dunvegan Castle, just one of the many stories you can hear about on an after-hours tour with the caretaker.

The UK’s cities are thick with history, much of it tragic and giving rise to a rich tapestry of stories. On a night time ghost tour of Edinburgh’s Old Town, you can hear dramatic retellings of the often-grisly events that happened in its closes and wynds (Scottish words for narrow passages and alleys). Its grey Gothic architecture provides an appropriately grim backdrop for the tales, particularly in the wind-blown month of October.

The top five destinations with the most ghost and vampire tours:

1. UK — 177
2. Romania — 107
3. Italy — 70
4. Spain — 35
5. Czech Republic — 32

Destination with the most castles: Italy

Few types of building have the haunted reputation that clings to most castles — by their nature, they tend to be old and often the site of violent events. You can often soak up their atmosphere on guided tours, while many castles have been converted into luxury stays.

Italy’s history is riddled with strife, from Roman-era civil clashes to Renaissance invasions to the bombings of World War II. As a result, its countryside is punctuated with defensive fortifications — 45,000 are scattered across the landscape, earning it first place in our list of countries with the most castles. This is followed by France (40,000 castles), Ireland (30,000).

Italy’s castles range from fortified farmhouses in Puglia to canal-side palaces in Venice, and so many have been converted to stays that you could spend your entire visit sleeping in them.

To add to another layer to your castle-themed trip, you might take a tour of the hidden history of the Doge’s Palace in Venice. You’ll get to enter spaces that aren’t usually open to the public, including secret passages, prison cells that once held Cassanova himself, and the torture chamber.

France’s castles, however, are more fanciful — the Loire Valley’s abundant limestone and fertile soil made it a popular place to build elaborate pleasure palaces. Which is not to say that these beautiful buildings haven’t hosted some intrigue that resulted in ghost stories. The country’s most recognizable castle, Versailles, for instance, has its fair share of tales, which you can hear on a privately guided tour.

Ireland’s green landscape is wreathed in tales — fairy tales, fraught histories, ancient legends, remarkable archaeology — so it's no surprise that you’ll find plenty of ghost stories among the castles. On a tour of Castle Blarney, namesake of the stone said to give you a silver tongue, you might hear about the resident ghosts as well as the so-called “curse” that causes visitors to return pilfered souvenirs from all over the world.

The top five destinations with the most castles:

1. Italy – 45,000
2. France – 40,000
3. Ireland – 30,000
4. Germany – 25,000 5
5. UK – 4,000

Destination with the most horror-movie locations (outside the US): the UK

Many modern-day ghost stories are told first on the silver screen, and a list of the top 100 horror films of all time revealed that the UK is the setting for the most horror movies outside of the US — ten, to be exact.

With a tradition of storytelling, a windswept landscape, and a Gothic literary heritage that includes the likes of Mary Shelley and Wilkie Collins, it’s no surprise that the UK tops the list. While you may not be able to visit the exact locations, you could take a trip that explores the ghost-riddled castles of Scotland, the millennium-old campus of Oxford where academics and archbishops walks the streets as apparitions, and the ancient streets of Bath, where eloping lovers are still sometimes seen in a horse drawn carriage on the Royal Crescent.

France and Japan come in second, with each hosting four horror movies from the list — the former thanks to its rich cinematic legacy. After all, the first ever horror film was shot here in the mid-1890s: Le Manoir du Diable or The Haunted Castle. On your trip to France, you could take a tour of the Opera House in Paris, home to the city’s best-known haunt, the Phantom. You can also explore the bone-stacked tunnels of the catacombs, an eerie subterranean world stacked with the remains of more than 6,000,000 people.

Meanwhile, Japan’s distinctive horror movie genre draws on a wealth of stories about yōkai (supernatural beings), which date back to the Edo and Meiji periods. These films are presented with uniquely Japanese styles and conventions that make them popular among fans around the world. You can delve into Japan’s storytelling culture by visiting Studio Ghibli’s Anime Museum, and explore the Edo origins of the geisha in Kyoto.

The top five destinations with the most horror movie locations:

1. UK — 10
2. Japan — 4
3. France — 4
4. South Korea — 3
5. Germany — 3

Whether you’re interested in an entirely ghost-themed vacation, from start to finish, or just want to add a visit to a “haunted castle” to your travels, our specialists can create a trip around what intrigues you most for your next Halloween vacation.