10 of the Most Creepy Ghost Towns Around the Planet

Ghost towns hold a special place in the heart of people all over the world. After all, we all love the idea of wandering through a deserted main street with nothing but tumbleweed and memories for company.

You might be surprised to learn that the planet is filled with more ghost towns than you probably imagined. You will find them everywhere from North America to Africa and Asia.

10.Tawergha, Libya

The Libyan conflict caused the whole population of Tawarga (also called Tawergha) to get driven out by militia groups, who saw it as a pro-Gaddafi stronghold. The 40,000 population is now dispersed and dreaming of returning home at some point. News reports suggest that military groups are still stopping the ex-residents from returning home.

9.Bodie, USA

North America is filled with fascinating ghost towns, and Bodie is one of the best of them. It is a National Historic Landmark and receives about 200,00 visitors every year. There used to be gold in their hills, but so did all the residents when it ran out.

8.Humbestone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works, Chile

If you go to the driest desert in the world, you don´t expect to find a lot of life, but you probably don´t expect to discover ghost towns. Having said that, these former saltpeter works and surrounding towns north of Iquique are now reasonably interesting tourist destinations. At least for anyone interested in seeing abandoned saltpeter works in the desert in Chile. Which probably rules in most of us.

7.Bannack, USA

Another North American ghost town can be found in Montana. This used to be a thriving gold mining area, and some of the buildings are still well preserved. Bannack also has a fascinating history, with tales of hangings, ruthless gangs, and a gold hunting doctor.

6.Okuma, Japan

One of the world´s most recent ghost towns was created with the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Over 11,000 people lived here, but recent reports suggest that little over 100 have returned there after the natural disaster that struck the area.

5.Ordos, China

There are several modern ghost towns in China where no one has ever lived in the houses. The first empty Chinese city to hit the news in the rest of the world was the creepy Ordos. It was planned to be the home for a million people, but recent reports suggest that it still sits eerily empty, despite many homes being built and ready to live in.

4.Plymouth, Montserrat

Back to cheery natural disasters for a while, eh? The city of Plymouth was Montserrat's capital in the Caribbean until it was buried under an avalanche of volcanic material after an eruption in 1997. It now sits deserted and utterly creepy.

3.Kolmanskop, Namibia

Diamonds were the reason this town existed in the first place. It was built in a luxurious German architectural style and was a rich place for a while.Strange facts alert: Kolmanskop had the claim to fame of being the first place in the southern hemisphere to have an x-ray station. Then the diamonds ran out, and you can´t expect a town to survive on x-rays alone, can you? Tourists now visit the ghost town and find the houses half-filled with drifting sand.

2.Craco, Italy

This is one of the world´s most spectacular ghost towns. A series of natural disasters led to the good people of Craco upping sticks and moving elsewhere. Well, except for those who had already been killed by floods, landslides, and an earthquake.

1.Pripyat, Ukraine

If you lived anywhere near the Chernobyl nuclear plant in 1986, you would have been a terrifying bunny. So imagine living in Pripyat, right next door to the place. Almost 50,000 people lived here at the time that it was evacuated. Its long-abandoned Ferris wheel is a poignant reminder that people live here and have fun in the city.