Europe is undoubtedly one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Just take a look.
- Europe remains the most popular tourist destination in the world, with 713 million international arrivals.
- Europe accounts for 50% of the world’s tourist arrivals.
- 35% of the world’s tourism expenditure comes from Europe.
Tourists love Europe for many different reasons – history, food, architecture. The latter is, without a doubt, the reason worth spending your money. Europe has it all: old-fashioned mansions, villas, and, of course, breathtaking castles that make you feel yourself in the fairytale.
But while Europe’s castles are pretty to look at, some of them have a quite disturbing history, and some of them are even haunted. So, if you’re planning your vacation around Halloween in 2020, here are some wonderful picks of beautiful but spooky castles in Europe.
Akershus Festning, Norway
For our first trip, we’re traveling to the cold and mysterious Norway. There, you’ll find Akershus Festning – a fortress, which is believed to be the most haunted castle in Norway. Built in 1300, this castle served as a prison, and during World War II, this fortress was occupied by the Nazis, who executed a lot of prisoners here. So, you can imagine how many disturbing stories happened in this place.
There is a rumor of the ghost of the demon dog called Malcanisen, who guards the gates to the fortress. There is a belief that whoever Malcanises approaches will be sentenced to a horrible death in the following months. Some TripAdvisor users confirm their haunting experiences, saying that they have also seen a ghost of a woman in the white robe having no facial features.
Would you dare to go there?
Moosham Castle, Austria
Now, let’s travel south to beautiful Austria, where we will visit the beautiful place with a very disturbing history – Moosham castle. This is a medieval castle that is situated in the woods and has terrific scenery around it. However, behind its beauty, there are very spooky and disturbing stories that make this one of the most haunted places around Europe.
Renedrivers [CC BY-SA 3.0 AT]
This castle served as a place of witch trials, where hundreds of witches were executed. “There are cages in the cellars, and when you pass by them, you hear women whispering in your ears,” shares Clark Halzmann, a developer at Axonim. One of the most haunted areas in this castle, however, is ‘the room of Toni’ – a place where people report feeling a ‘dark presence’ and hear whispers and voices.
Peter Tritthart [CC BY]
Ghost Hunters International came to Moosham castle to investigate its gruesome history and the presence of the supernatural. You can check their experience to learn more about this place and its history.
Colchester Castle, UK
Colchester Castle is not on the list of the most popular castles in Britain. It looks like most of the towers in the UK that served as prisons for a long time. Indeed, Colchester castle served as a prison for many years, making it one of the most haunted places in the UK. For this particular reason, Buzzfeed Unsolved came there to record an episode and see if the castle had the supernatural presence that it was deemed to have.
George Gastin [CC BY-SA]
And they found plenty of evidence. Loud steps, voices, women screaming, whispers – these are all recorded pieces of evidence of the supernatural presence in this castle.
For the bravest of the visitors, the castle organizes daily ghost tours late at night. Besides that, you can attend the event called Colchester Castle Ghost Hunt, organized two times a year. Participants receive special equipment, with which they can record ghost encounters while visiting the castle’s vaults and cellars.
The original uploader was Sannse at English Wikipedia. [CC BY-SA]
Isn’t that a perfect activity for Halloween this year?
Go to Europe to Hunt Some Ghosts!
In Europe, there are destinations for every taste. For those who love spooky experiences, there are plenty of haunted castles with terrifying stories and actual ghosts you can encounter.
Akershus, Moosham, and Colchester are definitely in the list of the top haunted castles in Europe, which you should definitely visit this year for Halloween.
Do you like our picks? Would you visit these castles?
Let us know your opinion in the comments!
Author Bio
Ryan is a passionate writer who likes sharing his thoughts and experiences with the readers. Currently, he works as a content strategist, you can check his website here. He likes everything related to traveling and new countries.