Mission Statement
This site primarily provides consistently presented, well-researched information on dark tourism, covering a wide range of categories (with a few exceptions that are beyond the scope of this site). Its core is the destinations section, which covers places around the globe and ultimately aims at being comprehensive and exhaustive. Why there is a need for this is explained further here.
This site is a hand-made product by an experienced traveller and author (see about), so it is NOT a mere blog, or an automated database, or one of those 'user-generated content' sites (which too often distract from what they should be about because too many people have axes to grind and just vent their anger, go hopelessly off-topic, or post totally unqualified drivel … yes, I know, I know, many such sites also offer very good information – but all too often you have to weed through tons of irrelevant stuff before you can find it). Instead this site aims to provide a well-organized and structured whole.
It's an ongoing project, which will necessarily never be 100% finished, but it already offers a more comprehensive account of dark tourism destinations than any other resource that I am aware of. Yes, there are other resources, but they are either leaning towards the academic discussion of tourism issues, or they only cover a certain sub-section of what is dark tourism, or they're just generally too patchy and sketchy (often almost randomly selecting some destinations while omitting many others of equal status) – all worthwhile in their own right, but not the comprehensive guide you'll find here. There's an emphasis on this site on the 'tourism' part of 'dark tourism' – some historical background information is usually provided, but the main focus is on guidance for travellers. Wherever possible this includes personal experiences of visiting the places in question. Of course, no traveller can have seen everything in a single lifetime, so there is always scope for more.
This site's information on dark destinations comes in two forms of entries – full entries and stubs.
That is to say: there are detailed chapters with subsections about background info, details of the experience to be expected (mostly based on what I found myself when I visited the site in question), practical travel information and suggestions for combinations, as well as – wherever possible - photos.
The other category of entries are short-ish paragraphs just outlining what a particular place is and why it is a dark destination. These shorter entries are 'stubs'. Stubs are temporary stand-ins, as it were. They are either awaiting elaboration that I simply haven't found the time to write up yet – or, more often, they provide a brief outline of places that I haven't actually visited myself yet, but which are on a dark tourist's comprehensive travel-wish-list for one reason or another. Over time 'stubs' will be turned into full-length detailed entries. As you can imagine, it's a mammoth task. So it will take time to turn all the stubs into full-blown entries and even more time to fill the gaps – new stubs/entries will constantly be added if I discover something new has come up or is being developed for dark tourism.
And speaking of gaps – obviously, no one can know everything or be aware of every single hidden destination that may also still be out there to be discovered. I would be grateful for any hints that steer me in the direction of places that have hitherto been overlooked or not given adequate credit on these pages. Please contact me with any such suggestions.
Many sites are "introduced" by a single small photographic image (normally one deemed representative or particularly striking) and at the bottom of many entries there is also an additional photo gallery, typically rather together with full entries than with stubs. These galleries work in the usual way: i.e. if you click on one of the small "thumbnail" images, it will open in a larger format and you can then click through the whole gallery.
Finally, there is a minimum of advertising on this site, though currently only in the form of a few 'sponsored pages' – these are longer entries promoting the services of a specific travel agent, guide, or even a hotel. These are hand picked and only there because I've used those services myself and was sufficiently impressed. By using them yourself after having been referred to them via this website you also support this website. Note that only very few such special sponsored pages are featured here, and that I will remove any of them the moment I get wind of the promoted services slipping in quality or if they no longer fulfil their promise in the way I had previously experienced it. Sponsored pages are primarily intended to help YOU, the dark tourist, find good-quality ports of call in your own concrete travel planning.
This site is a hand-made product by an experienced traveller and author (see about), so it is NOT a mere blog, or an automated database, or one of those 'user-generated content' sites (which too often distract from what they should be about because too many people have axes to grind and just vent their anger, go hopelessly off-topic, or post totally unqualified drivel … yes, I know, I know, many such sites also offer very good information – but all too often you have to weed through tons of irrelevant stuff before you can find it). Instead this site aims to provide a well-organized and structured whole.
It's an ongoing project, which will necessarily never be 100% finished, but it already offers a more comprehensive account of dark tourism destinations than any other resource that I am aware of. Yes, there are other resources, but they are either leaning towards the academic discussion of tourism issues, or they only cover a certain sub-section of what is dark tourism, or they're just generally too patchy and sketchy (often almost randomly selecting some destinations while omitting many others of equal status) – all worthwhile in their own right, but not the comprehensive guide you'll find here. There's an emphasis on this site on the 'tourism' part of 'dark tourism' – some historical background information is usually provided, but the main focus is on guidance for travellers. Wherever possible this includes personal experiences of visiting the places in question. Of course, no traveller can have seen everything in a single lifetime, so there is always scope for more.
This site's information on dark destinations comes in two forms of entries – full entries and stubs.
That is to say: there are detailed chapters with subsections about background info, details of the experience to be expected (mostly based on what I found myself when I visited the site in question), practical travel information and suggestions for combinations, as well as – wherever possible - photos.
The other category of entries are short-ish paragraphs just outlining what a particular place is and why it is a dark destination. These shorter entries are 'stubs'. Stubs are temporary stand-ins, as it were. They are either awaiting elaboration that I simply haven't found the time to write up yet – or, more often, they provide a brief outline of places that I haven't actually visited myself yet, but which are on a dark tourist's comprehensive travel-wish-list for one reason or another. Over time 'stubs' will be turned into full-length detailed entries. As you can imagine, it's a mammoth task. So it will take time to turn all the stubs into full-blown entries and even more time to fill the gaps – new stubs/entries will constantly be added if I discover something new has come up or is being developed for dark tourism.
And speaking of gaps – obviously, no one can know everything or be aware of every single hidden destination that may also still be out there to be discovered. I would be grateful for any hints that steer me in the direction of places that have hitherto been overlooked or not given adequate credit on these pages. Please contact me with any such suggestions.
Many sites are "introduced" by a single small photographic image (normally one deemed representative or particularly striking) and at the bottom of many entries there is also an additional photo gallery, typically rather together with full entries than with stubs. These galleries work in the usual way: i.e. if you click on one of the small "thumbnail" images, it will open in a larger format and you can then click through the whole gallery.
Finally, there is a minimum of advertising on this site, though currently only in the form of a few 'sponsored pages' – these are longer entries promoting the services of a specific travel agent, guide, or even a hotel. These are hand picked and only there because I've used those services myself and was sufficiently impressed. By using them yourself after having been referred to them via this website you also support this website. Note that only very few such special sponsored pages are featured here, and that I will remove any of them the moment I get wind of the promoted services slipping in quality or if they no longer fulfil their promise in the way I had previously experienced it. Sponsored pages are primarily intended to help YOU, the dark tourist, find good-quality ports of call in your own concrete travel planning.