Ever wonder what is inside that dark tunnel or deserted structure you pass on your way to work every day? There are a vast number of spooky and surreal abandoned buildings that populate even the densest countries, states and cities. Organized into helpful categories here are thirty must-bookmark resources for would-be urban explorers around the world, from urbex forums to photo sites and more. In addition to those listed below (right-click on the screenshots to jump), sites like DarkRoastedBlend and LookAtThis have entire categories dedicated to abandoned places and vehicles also worth exploring, and check oo our complete collection of Urban Exploration Tips, Tricks and Guides. Abandoned Factory above via Noctophotographer on Flickr. 

[Introduction to Urban Exploration – The Best Sites to Start With]

Opacity is a great place to start developing a taste for the allure of abandonments. Tom Kirsch, the site’s creator and primary photographer, has traveled the world photographing deserted buildings. Some of the images are enhanced and retouched for effect and the results are very compelling. Not all of the locations are named to protect the integrity of the abandonments but for visual inspiration the site is unparalleled.

Infiltration is one of the oldest and most respected urban exploration websites around. The site’s founder has since passed away but back issues of their zine are still available for purchase as well as images and stories from past explorations and on-site forums. The site’s creator also wrote one of the definitive books on urban exploration – purchase at your own risk!

28 Days Later is definitely one of the most active urban exploration forums on the web and is focused mainly on British building infiltration. Explorations are divided into category by building type including tall structures, military installations, recreational facilities, underground sites and international (non-UK) sites. Many explorers upload stories as well as images of their adventures at various urban and rural locations.

UER is another very useful urbex forum that is structured somewhat differently from 28 Days Later. There is a single dedicated section for photography with other sections relating to tools and tutorials, new urban explorers, general urban exploration information and terms and locations related to urbex. Best of all: UER has threads based on geographical location to help people connect and share urbex info regionally.

Flickr has many collectives dedicated to different kinds of abandonment imagery, including the above-linked Urban Abandonments group. The group consists of over 200 members and over 2,000 images and shows a broad range of photographic possibilities in color as well as black-and-white, retouched and shot as-is, that demonstrate the various approaches different explorers take to shooting their subjects.

Wikipedia is of course a good place to start looking for information on many subjects but has a particularly well-rounded article on urban exploration. A number of useful books are listed as well as the appearances of abandonments in prominent films and television. Also included are links to related subjects like caving, parkour and ghost towns as well as various urbex categories like draining and exploring active buildings.

[Urban Exploration Websites Organized by Continent and Country]

Europe: Urban Travel has an incredibly well-organized database of their adventures in building infiltration and photography from all over mainland Europe at dozens of locations. You can browse by building type or country and dig back through years of archived images. This is definitely a site to visit and revisit. There is also a very active Flickr group dedicated to European Urban Exploration.

United Kingdom: Urbex UK has been featured in a number of national and international publications as an outstanding collection of urban explorations and building infiltrations that feature rich images, stories and other background information including maps and building plans.

Australia: Sleepy City is an ever-evolving collection of one man’s adventures in urban exploration around the world but in particular his encounters with interesting abandonments in his home country of Australia. His main focus is on buildings but he also covers abandoned cars, subways, sewers, bridges and more.

Russia: Abandoned dot RU features very raw, rough-and-ready images from various unfinished and abandoned building sites located around Russia. There is little attempt to glorify or even explain these ruins – viewers are given a full tour and it is at visitor discretion to assess the meaning of each location.

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30 Awesome Websites For Adverturous Urban Explorers Urbex Forums Photos And More

(Check out our complete collection of 100+ Abandoned Buildings, Places and Property.)

The European Union may appear on the surface to be a unified body but underneath each member country retains a unique and complex history. The rich stories of individual European nations can be read in part through the amazing abandoned buildings found across the continent. It is truly remarkable how intact some of these structures are even after centuries. From Finland to France, Belgium to Denmark and Poland to England here are seven amazing abandonments from all over Europe.

German Military and Hospital Complex

Berlin, Germany has been at the center of European history in many regards, most recently as the divided core of Germany before East and West reunification. This abandoned complex located in Beelitz (just outside of Berlin) dates back to the 19th century and was used by the Germans as a military hospital through the second World War. From the 1940s on it was continuously occupied and used as a military hospital by the Russians complete with a surgery, psychiatric ward and rifle range before being abandoned in the 1990s. During its years of operation, famous (or infamous) patients included Adolf Hitler and former East German leader Erich Honecker.

Belgian Beautiful Castle and Cathedral

Mesen, Belgium is the smallest town in Belgium with fewer than 1,000 residents. However, it is the home of one of the most beautiful abandoned castles one could imagine, built, rebuilt, modified and expanded from the 1500s onward. This gorgeous structure evolved from a defensive fortress to a boarding school over time before being abandoned in the middle of the 20th century. It has has decayed by natural means with very little outside interference or vandalism and conjures picturesque images of beautiful deserted buildings. Nonetheless, it is under threat of destruction. It seems that only in Europe, where such buildings are more abundant, could such a lovely structure be considered common enough to not necessarily warrant rehabilitation.

Danish Deserted Refrigeration Factory Complex

Copenhagen, Denmark has developed a rich tradition of industrial production in part due to its geography. Flanked on virtually all sides by water, it is no wonder this country has spawned many facilities like the refrigeration factory featured above. These pictures show the internal story of desertion, fire and other internal tales as well as the future plans for redevelopment on the site. Adjacent condos (shown in the last image) represent the likely direction of this abandoned property as waterfront real estate continues to replace old industrial uses.

English Abandoned Water Pumping Station

Ryhope, England is home to an abandoned water pumping station that almost seems like a retrofuturistic structure straight out of a cyberpunk novel. This deserted structure is a monument to the Victorian era of industrialization, dating back to the middle of the 19th Century. It was an important step in the modernization of clean water distribution in an era where urban densification and disease went hand in hand. Though the station is no longer in active use all of the machinery still works, a true testament to the capabilities of Victorian English engineers.

Finnish Abandoned Match Factory

Tempere, Finland is one of many places that saw considerable growth and prosperity during the industrial revolution. With a thriving Finnish timber industry came the matchstick factory featured above. Built between world wars, the factory was in continuous use until the mid-1970s at which point it switched industries with the times, become (among other things) an automobile plant for a period of time. Since being entirely abandoned the main building and surrounding structures have become hangouts for local teens as evidenced in the images above.

Polish Abandoned Chemical Factory Complex

Warsaw, Poland has had a long and trying history of war and strife. It is perhaps no wonder that even in the heart of a relatively prosperous Polish city one can still find a vast abandoned factory complex. This series of deserted structures began as an electric lamp production facility in the 1920s before being converted to construct radios for submarines by the Germans during World War II. It reverted to its old function after the war but was poorly managed and eventually abandoned altogether, with remnant containers of chemicals and other assorted scientific equipment left behind as a testament to its earlier uses.

French Abandoned Metro Station and Lines

Paris, France is notorious of late-running Metro trains due to frequent worker strikes – but perhaps less well known for its numerous abandoned Metro stations. Urban explorers manage to find their ways into some of these abandoned subway tunnels while others have been converted to new uses including (appropriately enough) official homeless shelters. Some of the tunnels can even be visited privately late at night in groups led by sanctioned rail-expert tour guides.

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Ever see an impressive derelict structure and wonder just how a building so elegant, sizable or centrally located could be abandoned? There are amazing abandonments all over the world, but some may be closer than you think. Many are even located right in the heart of major cities like New York or Los Angeles and are decades or even centuries old. From zoos to steel mills, prisons to offices complexes and monasteries to cemeteries here are 7 abandoned wonders of the USA.

Abandoned Cemetery in New York

Rochester, New York: Built in the early 1800s, Mt. Hope Cemetery was the first munipical cemetery in the United States with graves older than the official graveyard itself. Such famous persons as Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglas are among those buried there in everything from lawn crypts and columbariums to family mausoleums. It seems strange, then, that the chapel at such an historically significant location would be abandoned to the elements, though it remains elegant even in its disrepair.

Abandoned Prison in Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Western Penitentiary is over a century old and was finally abandoned a few years back, only to be reopened a few months ago. The site was, in a way, one of the world’s most temporary abandonments, left in pristine condition during its period of disuse and lending itself to the surreal experience of a recently working prison for visitors. Originally used in the 1800s to house Confederate Army war prisoners, it is now used for medium to low security containment of inmates requiring drug and alcohol treatment.

Abandoned Factory in New York

Lacawana, New York: The Bethlehem Steel Company was once the second largest steel mill in the United States. They manufactured everything from railroad cars and bridge and building parts to World War II battleships. After nearly 150 years in operation, the company finally declared bankruptcy less than a decade ago and has left behind a series of remarkably intact abandonments.

Abandoned Island in New York

North Brother Island, New York: This abandoned 20-acre island sits amazingly close to the bustling center of New York City yet is completely unused. It was home to a hospital in the 19th Century, then housed veterans after World War II before becoming one of the first drug treatment centers for teens in the 1950s. Corruption and failure caused the facility to close and the island has since been off limits to the public, though some urban explorers have made their way onto it anyway. The island was also the site of an infamous shipwreck in 1904 in which over 1,000 people drowned or burned to death.

Abandoned Tech Office in California

Palo Alto, California: During the dot-com bubble, Sun Microsystems experienced incredible growth and rapidly expanded in all areas including personnel, infrastructure and office space. Sun has since had ups and downs and has streamlined their operations and few people think twice about the amazing remnant abandonments they have left behind, save for a few intrepid urban explorers. Along with other things, the (above) adventurers found shotgun shells, cans of malt liquor, rows of servers and even working light fixtures.

Abandoned Monastery and School Complex

Staten Island, New York: St. Augistine’s Monastary sits atop Grymes Hill and was once a school but now has been closed for over a half a century. Originally built as a school for boys, it was later converted and then sat idle until purchased in the 1980s. Each new owner, though, has since fallen into debt and the school was eventually purchased by a local college to avoid unwanted development, yet even Wagner College apparently has no plans to develop the property.

Abandoned Los Angeles Zoo Site

Los Angeles, California: The Griffith Park Zoo in Los Angeles is neither the oldest nor the newest of L.A.’s massive animal habitats. Though this location was abandoned decades ago it is unusually available to visitors even today. It isn’t every day that a set of abandonments not only survives for generations but also remains available to the public as a kind of museum or window into the past.

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(Check out our complete collection of 100+ Abandoned Buildings, Places and Property.)

Missile silos might be the world’s most amazing abandonments. There is something about their immense scale, implicit secrecy, loaded history and and underground location that makes them an exciting target for urban exploration. Here are some fascinating examples of deserted subterranean silos one can visit and even purchase!

One set of intrepid building infiltrators set about breaking into the above missile silo (location undisclosed) at risk of both personal injury and federal penalty. Despite their retroactive warnings not to follow their example, these adventurers produced an amazing photo-documentary of their journey. As you navigate their website, it becomes a kind of choose-your-own-adventure tale allowing you to pick your path.

The Minuteman Missile Tour exists at the opposite end of the legal spectrum, providing a fun and interesting but completely safe and legitimate tour through an abandoned missile complex. Located in South Dakota, annual summer tours regularly fill completely with people who are curious about America’s past and the days of the Cold War, when fears of Mutually Assured Destruction haunted the country’s psyche. Also be out this amazing collection of missiles, rockets and other weapons.

Last but not least, it is even possible to buy your own abandoned missile silo and associated complex! Even better: you can do so from the comfort of your computer via eBay for 15 million dollars. Of course, you may have have to sell your house to afford the $300,000 downpayment, but wouldn’t it be worth it? The people who bought one and converted it into a luxury home with a private landing strip certainly thought so (below) as well as the retired couple living in one shown in this video:

Guest Article by Al Ebaster of Forgotten Pennsylvania:

(Check out our complete collection of Urban Exploration Tips, Tricks and Guides.)

Urban exploration is a lot of fun, but responsible adults might not be thrilled by the idea of getting caught. In many historical abandonments, urbexers are more likely to get a ticket than fall through the floor. And anyway, who can enjoy an abandoned building while worrying about the cops? Fortunately, with these tips, urban exploration can be a legitimate hobby without the risks of illegal building infiltration.

Stick to actual historic sites. “Historic” doesn’t have to mean tidy. Eastern State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania is a museum, but it’s barely preserved at all. Concrete City, PA and Tahawus, NY are other good examples of legal abandonments worth exploring.

Ask permission. After finding an abandonment to explore, check your local government offices for property information. Tax records are a good place to start, and will usually reveal the owner’s information. Googling “registry of deeds [your town]” may turn up some useful sites as well. After finding the owner, it may be better to visit in person than to call. This makes it easier to sign liability releases, waivers, and obtain paperwork that prove you are allowed on the site. Getting permission to visit a site is usually easy, but it depends on the landowner and on the site itself. If the building is crumbling, the owner may not want explorers there, even with a waiver.

Contact the local police if all else fails. Some abandoned places can be accessed by asking them. This won’t be the case with every location, but it’s a good idea if the owner is difficult to find or contact.

Arrange a tour. This can be very easy with sites that are unpreserved but of historical value. Often, either the owner or a preservation group will take visitors on a private tour. Some urbexers don’t like being accompanied, but the guide can offer rare information about the site’s history or architecture.

Don’t call yourself an “urban explorer.” “Photographer” is far more likely to garner permission or tours. Everybody knows what a photographer is, but “urban explorer” can be confusing at best.

Don’t bring screwdrivers or other tools. Anything more than a camera and a flashlight can cause problems if the police question you.

Don’t take souvenirs. It’s tempting to grab that old magazine on the floor, but it’s a bad idea for you, and for the hobby in general. If the owner finds something missing, he probably won’t give permission to the next explorer. Also be sure not to litter. As they say, “take only pictures, leave only footprints.”

Legal urbex does take some legwork, but it makes for a worry-free way to explore and photograph amazing abandoned places!

Al Ebaster is a photographer and urban explorer in Pennsylvania. While not exploring, he’s either writing, reading or playing video games. His travels have included Centralia and the abandoned PA Turnpike. Have a tip or article suggestion? Submit your content to Web Urbanist!