Deception Island, Antarctica
The whaling and research station on Deception Island in Antarctica’s remote South Shetland Islands was abandoned following repeated volcanic eruptions between 1931 and 1969, leaving rusting boilers and beached boats scattered across the site. Visitors arriving by cruise can also spot chinstrap penguins and even soak in a natural hot tub nearby.
Houtouwan, China
The village of Houtouwan, on Shengshan Island east of Shanghai, once housed over 2,000 fishermen before residents abandoned it in the early 1990s in search of better education and easier access to food and services. A few holdouts remain, but hundreds of tourists now wander its ruins which have been almost entirely swallowed by ivy.
The Maunsell Sea Forts, UK
Rising from the Thames estuary, these giant metal towers were built to defend England from Nazi air raids. Decommissioned in the 1950s, they later became bases for pirate radio broadcasters – and one now hosts the (unrecognised, self-proclaimed) micronation Principality of Sealand!
Mojave Air & Space Port, USA
More a site of abandoned things than an abandoned site, part of the Mojave Air and Space Port doubles as a desert boneyard where retired Boeing, Airbus, McDonnell-Douglas, and Lockheed jets sit stripped and sun-bleached in the dry air. Mojave also made history as the first licensed US commercial spaceport, launching SpaceShipOne into sub-orbital space in 2004.
Oculus Tower, Italy
In a country famed for its ancient ruins, the abandoned Oculus Tower, offers something very different. Originally built as a circular sugar refinery in the 1930s, and later converted into an alcohol distillery, its futuristic, cathedral-like interior and looming central tower still impress despite decades of neglect. Even chemical residue and old rail lines remain from its working days.
Rummu Prison, Estonia
One of the creepiest underwater sites in the world, Estonia’s Rummu Prison was Soviet built in the 1940s with inmates forced work the adjacent limestone quarry. Abandoned following the nation’s independence in 1991, the quarry soon flooded allowing scuba divers to now explore submerged buildings and rusting mining equipment below the surface.
Nara Dreamland, Japan
The amusement park Nara Dreamland opened in 1961 as Japan’s fairytale answer to Disneyland, replete with a castle and a huge wooden rollercoaster. Its fortunes faded once an official Tokyo Disneyland opened in 1983, and the opening of Universal Studios in Osaka in 2001 further sealed its fate. The park closed its doors five years later.
