27 Places That Were Tourist Gold Until Everyone Forgot They Existed
Just a couple of decades ago, Britain had a large number of popular resorts – at least among locals. Investing in the tourism business was profitable – but nothing good actually lasts long. Low-cost airlines and globalization were absolutely ruthless – if you can fly to Spain for a couple of dozen euros, why pay more for the opportunity to swim in the cold North Sea?
In fact, there are dozens and hundreds of places in the world that were once a real paradise for tourists, but today they have either fallen into disrepair or have significantly lost their appeal. And in this popular online thread, many seasoned travelers point out such places worldwide.
Lebanon used to be extremely popular. It was considered the Switzerland of the East. The cafe culture in places like Beruit and Byblos along the Mediterranean was extremely popular in the 60’s and 70’s.
It hasn’t had a working government in several years. It’s currency is devalued by 95% since 2019 (one dollar is 89,000 LBP). It’s support and sending it’s militias in to close by conflicts isn’t helping.
Lebanon used to be extremely popular. It was considered the Switzerland of the East. The cafe culture in places like Beruit and Byblos along the Mediterranean was extremely popular in the 60’s and 70’s.
It hasn’t had a working government in several years. It’s currency is devalued by 95% since 2019 (one dollar is 89,000 LBP). It’s support and sending it’s militias in to close by conflicts isn’t helping.
Being constantly attacked and controlled by competing countries hasn’t helped
Acapulco, Mexico. Used to be a big tourist destination, but cartel violence has mostly scared tourists away.
Acapulco, Mexico. Used to be a big tourist destination, but cartel violence has mostly scared tourists away.
Mexico in general feels unsafe, in 2022 they registered 30 968 murders or 85 murders per day.
Syria! Unfortunately not forgotten about or abandoned, but attacked. If you find old tourist books, they will often recommend Syria over Jordan as a tourist destination. Six world heritage sites, many of them now damaged or destroyed.
It is desperately sad, the industry is picking up somewhat in recent times, but the tourists may never fully return.
Syria! Unfortunately not forgotten about or abandoned, but attacked. If you find old tourist books, they will often recommend Syria over Jordan as a tourist destination. Six world heritage sites, many of them now damaged or destroyed.
It is desperately sad, the industry is picking up somewhat in recent times, but the tourists may never fully return.
I’m lucky I got to visit before everything was destroyed.
It all started a few days ago, when the user u/FrozenOppressor asked netizens in the AskReddit community to point out several tourist places that were once very popular, but are now largely forgotten or even abandoned.
The topic starter themselves suggested several such places: Bodie, California, Varosha, Cyprus, Belle Isle Amusement Park in Detroit, Hashima Island (Gunkanjima), Japan and Spreepark, Berlin.
People responded to the call, and as of now the thread has over 2.2K upvotes and nearly 1.1K different comments. And we, Bored Panda, have compiled a selection of the most interesting, in our opinion, such places.
Basically every British seaside resort town now that you can take Ryan air to Spain for under 30£ each way.
Basically every British seaside resort town now that you can take Ryan air to Spain for under 30£ each way.
I stayed in Morecambe for a couple of nights, at the Midland Hotel, especially fun if you’re a Poirot fan
Anything related to route 66. I’ve never experienced it myself but from the movies and general media back in the day “going down route 66” used to be a thing.
Anything related to route 66. I’ve never experienced it myself but from the movies and general media back in the day “going down route 66” used to be a thing.
Here’s a bit of trivia. Route 66 ends at the Santa Monica Pier in California.
The Catskill mountains in upstate New York! Formerly a huge tourist destination for mainly Jewish residents of NYC, nowadays, it’s littered with defunct resorts and abandoned buildings. It’s quite economically depressed nowadays.
The movie Dirty Dancing takes place there in the 1960s (when the area started declining) and at the very end of the movie, the resort owner makes a comment that more widespread travel – such as trips to Europe – is causing the decline. .
The Catskill mountains in upstate New York! Formerly a huge tourist destination for mainly Jewish residents of NYC, nowadays, it’s littered with defunct resorts and abandoned buildings. It’s quite economically depressed nowadays.
The movie Dirty Dancing takes place there in the 1960s (when the area started declining) and at the very end of the movie, the resort owner makes a comment that more widespread travel – such as trips to Europe – is causing the decline. .
After watching The Marvelous Miss Maisel, I would LOVE to go stay at one of those places for a couple of weeks. Looks like a good time!
The main reasons why certain cities or entire countries lose their tourist appeal, as always, are economics and politics. Often closely interconnected. For example, the resorts of Syria on the Mediterranean coast were once a real gem for tourists – however, today, for obvious reasons, travelers are better off not venturing there.
The same applies to several towns in Cyprus, which ended up in the demilitarized zone during the military conflict of 1974. A classic example is Varosha, once a tourist quarter of the city of Famagusta, which was willingly visited even by world celebrities of the sixties like Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Raquel Welch and Brigitte Bardot.
Today Varosha has been closed to visitors for more than half a century; it has become a real “ghost town,” and only a few desperate travelers or journalists, who from time to time receive permission to go there, publish photo reports about houses that have forever remained in the mid-seventies…
Afganistan. There was a time when it was alll the rage. A very hippy spot, when d***s were moderately easy to get and its place on the Silk Road made it seem both historically important (it is) and welcoming (it was).
I’ve never been, but I’ve heard my family talk about it. I’d love for things to go back to that one day.
The photo is of the renovated Palace. Lived there for 5 years. Everyone still does Chicken Street
Beirut until the civil war wrecked it. I knew someone who grew up there, it was the happening glamorous beach resort of the Middle East in the early 70s.
It had quite a nice revival post civil war when I was able to visit. It was so fun, you would never think you were in the Middle East.
Many of the once-popular tourist destinations, however, are falling into decline due to competition, ill-considered management decisions, or economic crises. Some towns and places manage to find the right solutions, repurpose their activities for something else – and some remain on the sidelines of life, nostalgic about the lost greatness…
However, the only positive aspect of all this is that abandoned baths, hotels and castles sometimes look incredibly picturesque, so photographers from all over the world sometimes reveal the whole charm of the aesthetics of decline in their brilliant collections of images.
Varosha, Cyprus: Former Mediterranean resort that attracted celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor in the 1960s before becoming a ghost town after the 1974 Turkish invasion
Cyprus overall is still quite nice and the beaches are great.
Spreepark, Berlin: East Germany’s only amusement park that attracted 1.7 million visitors annually before closing in 2001
Could I get a bit more context…like why it closed
Well, some places that used to be truly popular among travelers are falling into decline due to the shift in the economic vector of development of entire regions. For example, if life was once in full swing in some areas – let’s say, because the mining industry was developed there – then sooner or later they were overgrown with places for entertainment.
But time passed – mines or factories closed, money left like melt water, and people left with it. Accordingly, these tourist places were also closed, remaining in human memory only as lines in this selection of ours, and some nostalgic photographs too.
Many destinations on the Hippie Trail. Most notably Iran.
It might not work for this because it’s still a major city, but I always think about Mogadishu, Somalia – Pearl of the Indian Ocean and fascinating history as a trading city.
In any case, we do think it will be really interesting to read this selection, look at the photos from places where life was once in full swing, big money was in circulation, and people from all over the world came here to enjoy life to the fullest…
So now please feel free to scroll this selection to the very end, take one more glance at the pics – and maybe add your own ideas of such places in the comments below the post.
* Rangitoto, New Zealand – Volcanic island off Auckland that was a tourist destination 100 years ago or so, there are several abandoned holiday homes there, still standing.
* Acapulco, Mexico – Was THE destination in the 50’s and 60’s, now infamous for cartel violence.
* Salton Sea, California – Accidental lake in Southern California that was a tourism hotspot, then became hazardous/toxic and was abandoned.
In terms of current destinations, there are several hotspots that don’t have the infrastructure to support growth and will go to hell if demand declines. Tulum and Bali come to mind.
In fairness. Rangitoto is a predator free conservation area. As for the baches (holiday homes) they were built on public land, subsequently found to have been illegal.
A few years ago, my (now) wife and I had a cruise booked to Cuba. About two or three weeks before the cruise, Trump goes on television (or maybe it was a tweet) and declares no more tourism to Cuba. I called the cruise company and they are in a panic because there was no prior notice and they literally had boats in the gulf (of Mexico) heading to dock in Havana. So, they told me to call back when they had more information, because they assumed everyone who had already booked would be grandfathered. But when I called back a few days later, nope. Just Cuban travel was cut off based on a side remark by the idiot-in-chief, probably because he saw something on TV about Cuba. He governs like an infant on a sugar rush with no concerns for how it affects businesses and citizens. So, never got to go to Cuba. The only bright spot was that the cruise company offered us a Bahamas itinerary at 50% off.
The casinos ruined a perfectly charming shabby resort town. I spent many boyhood hours there on the beach and boardwalk.
Pretty sure this didn’t accidentally fall off the map. It’s literally a toxic waste accident that can k**l you.
There’s an abandoned resort with multiple hotels in Kupari, Croatia (close to Dubrovnik). It’s a pretty neat place! It was abandoned after Croatia’s war of independence in the 90s.
Dubrovnik is stunning. I was there in the late 80’s before the war and before Game of Thrones.
Michigan’s entire UP used to filled with booming mining towns. Now it’s tourism and colleges so some parts feel abandoned. It is SUCH an underrated treasure though.
Spend a winter in the UP before you decide to move there permanently. There are other gorgeous parts of MI that aren’t the UP where winters aren’t so harsh.
Bodie, California: Once a booming gold rush town with 10,000 residents and countless visitors, now a preserved ghost town state park
Decline is the normal way for mining towns, and if mining was the sole reason for the town’s existence in the first place …
If you include amusement parks, **Marineland** in Niagara Falls, Ont.
I’ll never be able to forget the commercials (which were on Upstate NY TV stations for decades.).
Near Niagara falls, ON, is Ripley’s Aquarium, Toronto, Ontario, which is equally amazing to visit.
I didn’t realize this. We used to go often when I was a child, but that was a long time ago.
Belle Isle Amusement Park in Detroit: Early 20th century premier destination with 50,000+ daily summer visitors before closing in 1982
Belle Isle did not close in 1982, that’s an urban legend. It became a state park after Detroit’s bankruptcy, but it wasn’t “closed”. It’s coming back. Since Detroit got an administration that is focused on rebirth rather than remittance things are really turning turning around.
Hashima Island (Gunkanjima), Japan: Industrial tourism site with record population density in the 1950s, abandoned in 1974 when coal mining ceased
Oleg Tarasenko
Oleg Tarasenko
Denis Krotovas
Denis Krotovas
I don’t I was familiar with the hippie trail before today.
How’s Branson, Missouri faring lately? I’ve never been, but here of it from time to time.
Just put all of USA here with all the people I know boyycotting it.
There’s many reasons why USA is not popular right now. When that a******n is no longer in power and human rights are reinstated, we might reconsider.
I don’t I was familiar with the hippie trail before today.
How’s Branson, Missouri faring lately? I’ve never been, but here of it from time to time.
Just put all of USA here with all the people I know boyycotting it.
There’s many reasons why USA is not popular right now. When that a******n is no longer in power and human rights are reinstated, we might reconsider.
