The 40 Most Breathtaking Abandoned Places In The World

A tree growing through an abandoned piano

Overgrown palace, Poland

In 1910, this grand palace was built as a home for Polish Royalty. The rest of the century proved uncertain for the country and under communist rule the palace became an agricultural school, as well as a home for mentally handicapped adults and children. The former palace was deserted following the fall of the USSR.

Jet Star Rollercoaster, Seaside Heights, New Jersey

The Jet Star Rollercoaster was left submerged in the Atlantic Ocean after Superstorm Sandy in 2013. It stood rusting for six months, until it was plucked from the sea.

Abandoned House in the Woods

Church in St. Etienne, France

An abandoned church with a few lingering parishioners, Netherlands

Doll factory, Spain

Tree growing around an abandoned bicycle

Shipwrecks in a sandbar, Bermuda Triangle

Floating forest, Sydney, Australia

Movie theater in Detroit, Michigan

With Detroit's decline, many of its historic buildings have fallen into disuse. This movie theater is both a fascinating and sad example.

Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California

The Mare Island Naval Shipyard acted as a submarine port during both of the World Wars. In the 1990s, the building was abandoned and flooding has since created an amazing mirror effect.

Victorian-style tree house, Florida, USA

Forgotten Bugattis

The Titanic wreck

The titanic took its first and last voyage in April, 1912. It was not until 73 years later that the decaying wreck of what was once the greatest ship in the world was discovered. The 1,500 souls lost with the vessel had been devoured by sea life, leaving behind a ghost ship.

Chemin de fer de Petite Ceinture, France 

The "little belt railway" was a circular railway system built in 1852 to supply Paris' fortifications. When the city outgew its defenses in 1934, the railway system was also left to run wild.

Spreepark, Berlin, Germany

Spreepark, opened in 1969, was the only amusement park in East Berlin during Soviet rule. When the wall fell, bigger and better parks opened, leading to Spreeparks closure in 2001.

Library, Russia

Island Home, Finland

Chris McCandless’ magic bus, Stampede Trail, Alaska

Bus 142 was left behind by the workers who built the railway at Stampede Trail. Christopher McCandless, an American hitchhiker whose story was told through the movie "Into The Wild, lived and died in what he referred to as the "magic bus" during the summer of 1992.

Turquoise Canal, Venice, Italy.

Just like any other city, areas of Venice are boarded up and abandoned.

Staircase to nowhere, Pismo Beach, California

Once giving access to the beach, the walkway that connected this staircase to the bluffs has long since rotted away.

Nara Dreamland, Japan 

Nara Dreamland was built in 1961 after Disneyland took the world by storm. The entrance to the park was almost identical to Disneyland and included its own version of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. The park closed in 2006 because of low visitor numbers.

Abandoned mining track, Taiwan

Abandoned Jetty

Bare footprints in an abandoned nuclear reactor

An abandoned waterpark

Boathouse, Obersee Lake, Germany

Abandoned hallway

Methodist church, Gary, Indiana

Gary, Indiana, was founded in 1905 during the boom of US steel. During the 1950s, more than 200,000 people worked in the bustling city. As the manufacturing sector declined, nearly half of the city fell into disuse.

Church in the snow, Canada

Blue spiral staircase in a European castle

Soviet naval testing station in Makhachkala, Russia

Church steeple peeking out of a frozen lake, Reschen, Italy

Lake Reschen is an artifical reservoir which submerged several villages and a 14th century church.

Glenwood power station, New York

The Glenwood Power Station, built in 1906, has long been obsolete. After closing in 1968, the sight was used as a backdrop for creepy thrillers and zombie movies.

Flooded mall

Abandoned theater

Car graveyard, Ardennes, Belgium

Many American soldiers based on the Western front during World War 2 purchased cars for personal use. When the war ended, they proved too expensive to ship home and many were left abandoned in this eerie graveyard.

Driverless bumper cars, Chernobyl, Ukraine

Abandoned hospital bed. Chernobyl, Ukraine

The city of Chernobyl was totally abandoned after the nearby nuclear disaster in 1986. Due to radiation, it has been left untouched ever since the incident and will be for many thousands of years into the future. Nature now rules the city in what resembles an apocalyptic movie.

Abandoned House in Virginia

Poveglia Island, Italy

Poveglia is an island in the Venetian Lagoon which under the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte became a dumping ground for plague victims and later an asylum for the mentally ill.

These eerie destinations give a strange, yet fascinating look at our planet after people.