Dark tourism is certainly a controversial topic. It’s a topic I find a little unsettling but intriguing at the same time. Visiting places renowned with death is a tricky concept. Sure, it’s a chance to pay your respects to the victims, but, you have to be careful to see it as the site of a tragedy first-of-all and second as a tourist attraction.
“For many years humans have been attracted to sites and events that are associated with death, disaster, suffering, violence and killing.
J John Lennon
What is Dark Tourism?
Dark Tourism to put it in simple terms is tourism to places where the worst events in human history happened – places like Auschwitz, the killing fields in Cambodia and other places that owe its notoriety to death, disaster and atrocity. It’s a growing tourism movement especially since the release of Dark Tourist on Netflix.
In this blog, I write about 10 popular Dark Tourist attractions that we’ve visited on our travels. And what we really thought about each attraction.
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My top 10 Dark Tourist Attractions
Here’s the summarized list of Dark Tourist attractions (scroll down to read about each attraction in detail) –
- S-21, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- Choeung Ek Killing Fields, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- Westgate Mall, Nairobi, Kenya
- War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
- Kigali Genocide Memorial, Rwanda
- Hotel des Milles Collines, Kigali, Rwanda
- Auschwitz
- Site of 9/11
- Pompeii, Italy
- Alcatraz, San Francisco
Warning you will need to be emotionally prepared for what you’re about to read…
1. S-21
Location | St.113, Boeung Keng Kang III, Boeung Keng Kang, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Opening Hours | Every day from 8:00am – 5:00pm
Also known as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, this is one of the most popular Cambodian genocide tours you can do. It is a former Secondary School which was used as a Security Prison during the Khmer Rouge regime which haunted Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During its time as a prison up to 20,000 people were imprisoned here and it was used as a torture and execution site (one of 196 in the country).
Prisoners were shackled to the walls, the floor or to a long iron bar in the larger rooms. They were forbidden to speak to one another. There day here began at 4:30am and they were served but a few mouthfuls of porridge and leaf soup daily. They were sometimes even forced to consume human faeces or urine!
Prisoners were regularly beaten with searing hot tools and electric shocks. More extremely they were hanged, suffocated with plastic bags or cut with knives. Prisoners were even used in medical experiments, without any anaesthetic they had organs removed or blood drained.
It is believed that more than 12,000 prisoners died here.
Book your half-day tour to S-21 and the Killing Fields
2. Killing Fields
Location | Roluos Village, Sangkat Cheung Aek, Phnom Penh Cambodia
Opening Hours | Monday – Saturday 7:30am – 5:30pm
Choeung Ek Killing Fields are one of the largest site of burial for the victims of the Cambodian Genocide. It is located about 17 km from Phnom Penh. Over 9,000 bodies were discovered at this particular site between 1975 to 1979. A lot more are said to be buried here and bones and skulls continue to come to the surface to this day.
It is believed there are 388 Killing Fields scattered across Cambodia, in total they are home to over 1 million graves.
One of the most harrowing sites at Choeung Ek is the glass Buddhist Stipa which is filled with more than 5,000 skulls. The mood at this attraction is predictable sombre. Your audio guide will explain how babies were killed by smashing their skulls against trees. It’s almost unbearable to hear.
My top tip | is to visit S-21 and Choeung Ek on the same dayas it will help you understand better the horrible history of the Khmer Rouge.
This 4-hour guided tour of The Killing Fields is highly recommended!
3. Westgate Mall
Location | 15 Mwanzi Rd Nairobi KE, Kenya
A little more unusual addition to the list as this isn’t a memorial, it is still a working shopping mall. But it was the site of the Westgate Mall Shooting Massacre which occurred from September 21st – 24th 2013. 71 people were killed here, including 4 of the attackers.
The Shopping Center was under a 4-day siege during the attack and the attack was claimed by militant group Al-Shabab.
Because this was quite a recent atrocity be careful not to take too many photos and don’t mention the attack aloud as a lot of the staff here were present during the attack and as you can imagine it would have been a very traumatizing experience for them.
4. The War Remnants Museum
Location: 28 Võ Văn Tần, Phường 6, Quận 3, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
Opening Hours | 07:30 – 16:30 every day
The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh city contains exhibits relating to the Vietnam War. It hosts a number of themed rooms all displaying different harrowing aspects of the war.
This full-day guided tour includes access to both the War Remnants Museum and the Cu Chi Tunnels.
One room contains tiger cages which was used to house prisoners during the war, another room houses very graphic images of the war. Most of these images show the effects of Agent Orange. – a chemical widely used by the U.S with devastating effects. What affected me most were the photos of innocent Vietnamese children maimed by this Agent Orange. You will also see a guillotine used by the French & South Vietnamese to execute prisoners.
The outside of the Museum is where the military equipment is held. Equipment like a UH-1 helicopter, a F-5A fighter and even an M48 Patton tank is on display here.
This dark tourist attraction attracts upwards of half a million visitors every year!
READ NEXT | all about our month in Vietnam
5. Kigali Genocide Memorial
Location: Gisozi, Kigali, Rwanda
Opening Hours | 8:00am – 5:00pm, 7 days a week
The Kigali Genocide Museum is the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, which happened in 1994, lasted for just 100 days & resulted in 600,000 deaths. It was a genocide by Hutu’s (the largest ethic group in Rwanda) against the Tutsi’s another ethnic group – it resulted in neighbors killing neighbors and friends killing friends.
Together with the Killing Fields in Cambodia – the Genocide Museum is probably the most emotional place on this list for me. I cried several time during the audio tour as victims recounted their stories. There is also a children’s memorial here as well as an exhibition on the history of genocidal violence around the world.
The museum explains the atrocities of the Rwandan Genocide with so much emotion. It is a meaningful tribute to the atrocities that occurred in 1994.
This full-day Kigali City Tour includes access to the Museum as well as a tour of a local market and other unique sights!
6. Hotel Rwanda
Location | Hôtel Des Mille Collines 2KN 6th Ave, Kigali Rwanda
Another unique addition to this list of dark tourist destinations throughout the world. Hotel Rwanda or Hotel des Mille Collines as its known today was made famous by the 2004 movie of the same name.
The movie is based on the true story of hotelier Paul Rusesabagina who welcomed more than a thousand Tutsi refugees to hide safely at his hotel during the Rwandan genocide. His heroic efforts saved the lives of many.
Today, the hotel still stands as a luxury hotel. You can choose to spend a few nights here like we did – the rooms are gorgeous as well as the stunning outdoor swimming pool and on-site restaurants. Or if you’re on a budget why not eat at one of their 3 restaurants.
Book your stay at Hotel des Mille Collines here
7. Auschwitz
Location | on the outskirts of the city of Oświęcim on national road 933, Poland
Opening Hours | see here
Perhaps the most famous of all dark tourism attractions – Auschwitz was the largest of the Nazi Concentration Camps. Over 1.1 million men, women & children lost their lives here.
Auschwitz is a symbol of terror, a word we’ve come to associate with some of the darkest days in European history. Your visit here is certain to emotionally affect you, so allow time for reflection afterwards.
The Auschwitz memorial holds the original camp blocks, gas chambers and crematoria. But the most touching aspect of the memorial was seeing all the personal possessions of the victims on display. You will see their shoes, their suitcases (some with their names) and their camp clothes. Here’s a detailed post about what to expect when visiting Auschwitz, I found it so helpful for my visit!
The number of prisoners at the camp at any one time reached 100,000.
Book your highly recommended tour of Auschwitz!
8. Site of 9/11
Location | 92 Greenwich Street, New York
Opening Hours | Wed-Sat: 10am-5pm. Sunday: 10am-4pm
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is a memorial of remembrance honoring the 2,977 people killed in the September 11th 2001 attacks on the Twin Tower buildings in New York City.
Two identical reflecting pools now stand where the Twin Towers once stood, they hold the names of every one of the 2,977 victims. 4.1 million have visited this attraction since its opening in 2006.
This attack was the largest foreign attack on American soil.
You can book this ground zero walking tour that includes museum entry here.
9. Pompeii, Italy
How to get here | see here
Opening Hours | Monday – Friday from 9:00am – 5:00pm
Way back in the year 79 A.D a huge volcanic eruption wiped out the city of Pompeii (close to current day city of Naples). Pompeii is perhaps the ‘least dark tourist attraction’ on this list and some may say it’s more of an important historic & archaelogocal site. Nevertheless I decided to include it as certain elements of Pompeii are very dark indeed.
The ash from the eruption preserved the city in an epic way, on your visit here you will see bodies encased in ash stuck in positions to protect themselves from the eruption. Bodies rolled up in a ball, bodies with their hands outstretched as if to stop the oncoming lava. There are even dogs in these same positions. It’s astounding that 2,000 years later we can witness Pompeii in almost pristine condition. It is honestly like a movie set.
Did you know – Pompeii is visited by over 2.5 million tourists annually
This tour of Pompeii with an archaeologist is a very cool experience, you will learn so much!
10. Alcatraz
Opening Hours | varies depending on season, see here for more
Also known as ‘The Rock’, Alcatraz remains a cultural icon to this day, it has been featured or referred to in many Hollywood movies, books and songs.
This famed former maximum-security prison once housed Al Capone & Machine Gun Kelly as well as many other notable names. It was in operation for 29 years and the aspect that former prisoners say they found the most difficult was being able to look across the water and see life continuing as normal in San Francisco.
Many of the cells and other areas within the prison remain much as they were when the prison was open.
Did you know – Alcatraz is the most-visited attraction in San Francisco
Dark Tourist attractions – why you should visit
Whether you visit just one or a couple of the dark tourist attractions on this list I’m sure it will affect you in some way. Dark tourism is certainly not for the faint-hearted and the relationship between tourism and death/atrocity is a curious one to say the least.
Those against the dark tourism movement say that its voyeuristic and inappropriate. But I feel dark tourism can be undertaken in a meaningful way – dress appropriately, don’t take selfies and try to take on a somber and respectful attitude during your visit.
Above all, we must always honor and respect the victims of these atrocities during our visit.
Tell me – have you ever visited a dark tourist attraction on your travels? Let me know in the comments below.
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6 thoughts on “Dark Tourist attractions – 10 of the worlds most gruesome attractions”
Awesome!
Pompeii is definitely a surreal place to visit. There’s also a church in Milan that has a small chapel with the walls and ceiling filled with skulls and bones which is interesting to visit.
I agree – visiting this kind of places changes you (and really can make you think deeply.) I feel like Hiroshima’s peace museum would fit well on this list too.
Very interesting read..I wish to visit these sites.we visited 9/11 memorial last year
Very interesting reading. I think that at the same time dark tourism is not for everyone, it is still a very important type of tourism. I have been in some of the places you listed here, and even if it was hard, it is the reality of what happened and what we never want to happen again. It is historic and educational at the same time, and places for reflection and to pay our respect to the people who suffered.
While these kinds of mueums & memorials are important I don’t necessarily feel a need to visit. I avoided the killing fields & genocide museum in Phnom Penh as Cambodia’s tragic history is evident throughout the country. These places are so depressing & I always feel very distressed afterwards.