It seems that the older a country is the more haunted sites you’ll find in it, which is why Europe is chock full of them. You’re definitely going to need your European health card on this trip because these haunted sites will give you a heart attack! If you love a good ghost story, visit some of the most haunted places in Europe:

Photo Tridekker CCL

The Top 5 Most Haunted Places in Europe

England – The Tower of London

Photo Davide D’Amico CCL

With over 900 years of torture in its history, it’s no wonder that the Tower of London is one of the most haunted places in the UK. Everyone knows the story of King Henry VIII and his many wives and it is believed that one of the less unfortunate wives still haunts the towers today. Ann Boleyn was executed for adultery, high treason and of conspiring to kill the king with her lover although charges of witchcraft and incest are also included in some history books. Whether or not Ann Boleyn was actually guilty of these is something of a mystery, which might be why she’s still seen haunting her place of death. Some people have also seen two little children wandering around the tower, thought to be princes sent to the tower after they were deemed illegitimate. If Shakespeare’s version of history is correct, it was their uncle Richard III that ordered to have them killed in secret and it was their skeletons that were later found under the White Tower’ s staircase.

Italy – Poveglia Island

Photo FOTOlogie CCL

To this day, many locals dare not step foot on this small island in the Venice Lagoon. This place was used as a quarantine zone throughout history. This is where infected dead bodies were disposed of and victims of the Black Death went to die. There is some speculation that the site was also used as a hospital/mental asylum during the 1800s with many stories being shared concerning sadistic practices, horrifying experiments, and doctors jumping to their death from the bell tower. However, this might just be a myth. Witnesses agree that they hear screams coming from the island and see dark shadows. There have also been cases of possessions occurring and visitors being suddenly overcome with madness.

Romania – Hoia Baciu Forest

Photo Swithun Crowe CCL

While there isn’t a lot of history to this haunted site, there are more than a few stories that people share. Mentioning this haunted forest will inspire stories about everything from UFOs to ghosts. In the very centre of the forest there is said to be a patch of earth where nothing grows and any electronic devices you bring will mysteriously stop working as soon as you set foot on this ground.  Trees around the forest also grow abnormally crooked and have charred branches even though no fires have been reported.

France – The Paris Catacombs

Photo Fraser Mummery CCL

One of Europe’s largest catacombs is a maze of underground tunnels filled with the bones of millions of corpses. This 200-mile labyrinth of death is very easy to get lost in and there is a story that in 1793 the body of Philibert Aspairt went missing from the catacombs for 11 years, only to be found in front of the exit with no explanation.

Scotland – Edinburgh Castle

Known to be one of the most haunted places in the world, Edinburgh castle has a history of torture, imprisonment, violent battles, murder, and quarantined victims of the plague, and ghost stories that go back just as far. Commonly people that visit see the ghosts of the old castle staff, young boys who died in battle and the poor souls that got lost in the tunnels beneath the castle. People experience the feeling of ghostly hands pulling and pushing them and sense that they’re being watched while unexplained mists inside the castle have also been described by witnesses along with sudden, intense feelings of sadness and despair.

Feature Tom Hicks CCL