35 People Share Photos Of The Most Breathtaking, Forgotten Places
Thank you, urban explorers. You give us the gift of awe.
Abandoned places have a way of stopping people in their tracks, especially when nature has started taking them back. From crumbling castles to forgotten homes and eerie industrial relics, these spaces feel both beautiful and a little haunting.
This collection brings together photos shared by urban explorers who seek out places most tourists never see. Their shots capture the quiet drama of decay, history, and unexpected details that still linger in forgotten corners of the world.
Some of these spots look frozen in time, and a few are even stranger than they first appear.
1. "1400-Year-Old Yew Tree in Muckross Abbey, Ireland"
Abandoned Beauties2. "Polar Bears at an Abandoned Soviet Weather Station on Kolyuchin Island"
Abandoned Beauties3. "Abandoned Castle in Germany"
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4. "Abandoned House in the Republic of Karelia, Russia"
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5. "An Old Mansion Somewhere in Portugal"
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Some of these places look like they were left behind yesterday.
6. "Dunalastair Castle, Scotland"
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7. "A Decaying Neo-Gothic Turret Hidden Among the Hills - Italy"
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8. "1941 Packard 90 Eight-Door Open Top Tour Bus"
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9. "An Abandoned Victorian Home Dramatically Restored in Rarden, Ohio, USA"
"It was built in 1900 by Lafayette Taylor, who made his fortune mining sandstone and milling lumber in the Rarden area. Rarden has a population of just 159 people. Top taken in 1973, bottom taken in 2013."
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10. "Abandoned Castle De Leuhan, France"
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The details are doing a lot of the work here.
11. "Abandoned Library"
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12. "Abandoned Castle in Italy"
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13. "A 14th Century Abandoned Castle in Scotland"
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14. "Abandoned Library Somewhere in Italy"
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15. "Lennox Hospital, Glasgow"
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It only gets more surreal from here.
And if you like forgotten spots like the abandoned Soviet weather station, you’ll love the hidden corners of the world you’ve probably never heard of.
16. "MD-160 'Lun' Class Soviet Ekranoplan"
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17. "Abandoned Tree House in Redmond, Washington D.C."
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18. "Abandoned Beautiful Greenhouse"
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19. "Amazing 19th Century Staircase in an Abandoned Building"
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20. "Entrance of an Abandoned Castle, France"
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That entrance alone could carry the whole photo.
21. "McDermott's Castle, an Abandoned Fairytale Irish Castle in the Middle of a Lake, County Roscommon, Ireland"
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22. "Old Abandoned House"
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23. "Abandoned Villa with Sea View"
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24. "Abandoned 19th Century Greenhouse, France"
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25. "Abandoned Villa Zanelli, Built in 1907 in Savona, Italy"
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Urban explorers really know how to find the good stuff.
26. "Abandoned Chapel in France"
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27. "End of Line"
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28. "Italian Villa"
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29. "Raniji Ki Baori or 'Queen's Stepwell' Built in 1699 by Rani Nathavati Ji, the Younger Queen of the Ruling Rao Raja Anirudh Singh of Bundi in India"
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30. "Navigator's Position on a Tu-104 OK-LDC in Petrovice, Czech Republic"
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31. "Abandoned Mansion in Italy"
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32. "Abandoned Bedroom, France"
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33. "An Abandoned Railway in Taiwan"
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34. "Abandoned House in South Tyrol, Italy"
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35. "In Russia: The Factory is Located Next to a Marble Quarry, the Extraction of Stone from Which Began as Early as 1768"
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These photos are amazing, and we have the opportunity to enjoy them thanks to urban explorers.
They search the globe for enigmatic and surreal locations in the hope of capturing beautiful photos and sharing them online for the benefit of all. So, do you want to be a tourist, or a traveler and an urban explorer?
Want more “how is this real?” travel magic? Check out Tom Dobinson’s photos that turn everyday places unforgettable.
