In The Traveller’s Guide to Dark Tourism, we delve into what it means to be a dark tourist; uncover the ethics of such travel, including which destinations serve to educate and inform, as well as the dos and don’ts of visiting sites with sinister pasts. Elsewhere, explore some of the most significant sites to visit, from places that have been shaped by disasters – both natural and man-made – and battlefields of the world’s defining wars, to the living legacy of Europe’s recent history behind the Iron Curtain or the tombs and mausoleums of the most important leaders and revolutionaries.
Welcome TO THE TRAVELLER’S GUIDE TO DARK TOURISM
DISCLAIMER
Dark Tourism Guide
ARE WE ALL DARK TOURISTS? • DARK TOURISM - THE VISITING OF SITES ASSOCIATED WITH DEATH, CRIME OR OTHER GRISLY SUBJECTS - HAS EXISTED FOR CENTURIES. BUT IS IT PART OF HUMAN NATURE TO BE DARK TOURISTS?
WHAT (NOT) TO DO AS A DARK TOURIST • Follow these words of advice and you’ll make the most of the dark sites you visit while remaining respectful of their history
DISASTERS • FROM NATURAL TO MAN-MADE, DISCOVER THE DISASTER DESTINATIONS THAT APPEAL TO DARK TOURISTS
POMPEII • VISIT THE SITE WHERE MOUNT VESUVIUS EXPLODED
ARE WE SURE IT WAS IN AUGUST? • A humble charcoal scribble could drastically change what we know about one of the Roman Empire’s most famous events
PRESERVING POMPEII • Looking after a city that’s over 2,000 years old is far from an easy task
GATES OF HELL • EXPERIENCE UNDERWORLD FIRE AND BRIMSTONE IN TURKMENISTAN BEFORE YOU SHUFFLE OFF THIS MORTAL COIL
TOTALITARIAN DISNEYLAND • Beneath the gilt surface of its major cities, Turkmenistan hides some troubling truths
CHERNOBYL • THOROUGHLY IRRADIATED BY A NUCLEAR ACCIDENT MORE THAN 30 YEARS AGO, PRIPYAT IS A CURIOUS, PEACEFUL AND MOST DEFINITELY DEADLY DARK TOURIST DESTINATION
DODGING DEADLY RADIATION • Ten thousand people visit Pripyat every year – it’s gotta be safe now, right?
GROUND ZERO • THE SITE WHERE THE TWIN TOWERS OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER USED TO STAND HAS BECOME A KEY LOCATION FOR DARK TOURISTS
HOPE AND HEALING AT GROUND ZERO • Straight after the tragedy emotional pop-up memorials appeared all over the city, but one location was particularly poignant
FUKUSHIMA • DISCOVER THE FALLOUT FROM THE DOUBLE DISASTER OF 2011
FUKUSHIMA’S FORGOTTEN DISASTER • Rediscover the hidden carnage of the tsunami
ARAL SEA • EXPLORE THE ECOLOGICAL TRAGEDY OF THE SEA THAT TURNED INTO A DESERT
REBIRTH ISLAND • Uncover the Aral Sea’s toxic secret
ASSASSINATIONS • UNCOVER THE SITES THAT STAND AS A MEMORIAL TO THOSE BRUTALLY SLAUGHTERED IN PUBLIC
ROMANOV EXECUTION SITE • EXECUTED BY THE BOLSHEVIKS IN JULY 1918, THE LAST TSAR OF RUSSIA AND HIS FAMILY LAY BURIED IN A NONDESCRIPT MEADOW FOR DECADES
CHURCH-ON-THE-BLOOD • The infamous Ipatiev House stood until 1977, when the government ordered it to be demolished
ASSASSINATION OF JFK • THE US PRESIDENT WAS KILLED IN A MOTORCADE IN DALLAS, TEXAS, AND THE ASSASSINATION SITE IS NOW A MAJOR TOURIST DESTINATION
THE SIXTH FLOOR MUSEUM • Where an assassin once hid is now an important Dallas museum
THE CHE GUEVARA TRAIL • CHE GUEVARA’S FINAL JOURNEY HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO A SOCIALIST PILGRIMAGE, IN A LAND ONCE HOSTILE TO HIS CAUSE
THE CHE GUEVARA TRAIL • Beyond its unremarkable villages, the Che Guevara Trail forms a fascinating existential exploration among the Andean wilderness
THE MURDER OF JOHN LENNON • THE DAKOTA BUILDING IN MANHATTAN IS WHERE BEATLES LEGEND JOHN LENNON WAS GUNNED DOWN BY DAVID MARK CHAPMAN IN 1980
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER • Dedicated to Lennon on what would have been his 45th...