Do More With Reuters
Partner Services

Travel Picks: Top 10 ghost towns around the world

Fri Oct 30, 2009 9:51am IST
 
Email | Print | | Single Page
[-] Text [+]

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Travellers seeking a quiet place need look no further than the numerous towns around the world that have been abandoned for one reason or another.

Travel review website IgoUgo.com (http:\\www.igougo.com) has compiled a list of the top 10 ghost towns around the world based on recommendations from its readers. Reuters has not endorsed this list.

1. Kolmanskop, Namibia

Before you enter this abandoned mining town in the Namib desert, you'll need to stop in nearby Luderitz for a permit -- a holdover from the days when Kolmanskop was a free-for-all for diamond hunters. The town was at its heyday in the 1920s but abandoned in 1956. It has since been partly restored.

2. Fatehpur Sikri, India

Built by Emperor Akbar to be the most beautiful city in the world, it was widely thought this goal was achieved -- until people realised the city lacked access to water. It was abandoned as the capital of the Mughal Empire after just 10 years and is today a perfectly preserved 16th-century town.

3. Oatman, Arizona, United States

Of the Arizona ghost towns, quirky Oatman has to be among IgoUgo members' favourite. It's here where wild burros roam the streets and $60,000 bills decorate the walls of the local hotel, where, incidentally, Clark Gable and Carol Lombard spent their wedding night.  Continued...

Pigeons fly in front of Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai November 26, 2009. Mumbai's police paraded past some of the city's landmarks in a show of strength as India's financial hub marked the first anniversary of militant raids that killed 166 people and ratched up tensions with Pakistan. The hotel was one of the sites of the attacks. REUTERS/Arko Datta
One Year Later

Mumbai held tearful memorials and police staged a show of strength as it marked the first anniversary of militant raids that killed 166 people and ratcheted up tensions with Pakistan.  Slideshow | Full Coverage 

A supporter of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds a picture of BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani during an election campaign rally in Balasinor, about 90 km (56 miles) east of Ahmedabad, April 14, 2009. REUTERS/Amit Dave
Liberhan Commission Report

The government published a long awaited report, recently leaked, accusing BJP leaders of a role in the 1992 destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya.  Full Article 

Thierry Henry's handball scandal

Barcelona's Thierry Henry takes part in a training session at Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona, November 23, 2009. Barcelona and Inter Milan will play their soccer Champions League match on Tuesday. REUTERS/Albert Gea
FIFA to hold meeting

FIFA to hold an extraordinary meeting before World Cup draw to discuss Thierry Henry's handball in the qualifiers and discovery of match-fixing ring by German police.  Full Article