15 spooky activities to do in Europe this October

Posted on by Marta

Spooky season is getting closer and closer. Are you ready to celebrate Halloween and the month of October this year? Do you want to feel inspired on what to explore this Autumn? In this blog post, I’ll show you 15 spooky activities to do in Europe this October to celebrate this year’s Halloween and spooky season.

Overview

*Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, if you click through to make a purchase, I earn a small commission – at no extra cost to you!*

Capela dos Ossos, Portugal

In the town of Évora, in the south of Portugal, you can find a very special church. This is a XVII century church with the special feature of having its walls covered by human remains. The idea of this building was to show the transience of human life. Besides that, the church also was used as a way of free space that was being used by several cemeteries in the region.

What we can see nowadays in Évora is a church whose walls and pillars are covered with multiple skeletons recovered from the cemeteries of the region. Besides this, there are also several poems inside the church, all of which also indicated the transience and fragility of human life.

To visit this church, often known as Capela dos Ossos (Church of Bones) you can buy a ticket to visit the church, museum and the nativity collection for 5€. You can do so from 9am to 6.30pm in the Summer or 5pm in the Winter. The tickets are bought in the church but you can learn more about what you can visit here (in Portuguese).

You can also visit this landmark and several other beautiful megalithic landmarks in this day tour from Lisbon to Évora!

Catacombs of Paris, France

If the around 5000 bones in the Portuguese town are not enough for your spookiness level you can also visit the French capital, Paris. Bellow the city you can find ossuaries that hold the remains of not 5000 but 6 million people. These bones cover the walls of several tunnels that connect to each other below Paris.

The construction of the Catacombs of Paris happened as a measure of elimination of the overflowing cemeteries and to free space in the city, just like in Évora. In the 19th century, the ossuary became famous because of several concerts and events that happened there.

To visit the catacombs you can buy your ticket online. The access can be done from 9:45 to 20:30 from Tuesday to Sunday. To get there you need to head to 1 av. du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy. The tickets are close to 30€ however you can buy them for half the price if you wait to buy them on the same day that you are visiting! You can also include this visit with a Seine Cruise in this tour!

Skull Tower, Serbia

Still in the land of the dead, in the south of Serbia, in the city of Niš, you can found the Skull tower. This tower was constructed by the Ottoman Empire. This tower has a story quite more macabre than the previous ones. It was constructed in 1809 by the Turkish General Hurshid Pasha. Its construction followed the First Serbian Uprising. The macabre part is that the tower was made of the skulls of the fallen rebels… as a warning to anyone rising against the Ottoman Empire… This tower is 4.5 meters high and contained 952 skulls on its walls.

Since its construction, several skulls have fallen off the walls and some were taken away for burial. Today, there are still 58 skulls on the walls of the towers.

To get to the tower you need to pay around 2€. The monument that now exists to remember the rebels that fell fighting for their country is opened from Tuesday to Friday from 9am to 4 pm and at the weekend from 10am to 3pm. You can learn more about the monument on their official website (in Serbian and French) or you can go on a tour from Sofia to Niš.

Dargavs, Russia

The last monument dedicated to the deceased in this blog post is located just outside the little village of Dargavs in Russia, near the border with Georgia. This group of necropolis are known as the City of the Dead and is composed of almost 100 different tombs and crypts. The bigger crypts of the groups can be 2-4 stories high!

The crypts and tombs are located close together on hills and a tower has been constructed to “look over the dead”.

Inside the buildings, you can find boat-shaped coffins (indicating the belief that to get to the underworld you must cross a river) and also some human remains.

This is not a very touristy place. This is mostly because of the difficult dirt roads over breakneck passes. Visiting this region is free as long as you can get there. But be careful! There is a legend that says that no man that enters the cemetery, would ever come out alive.

Muncaster Castle, UK

This 16th-century castle is located near the town of Ravenglass in Cumbria. Before that, there was an earlier medieval castle in the place where the Muncaster Castle exists today. The castle belongs to members of the Clifford family that have lived in the castle since the 17th century.

Today the castle and its gardens can be visited. You can also buy an audio tour (in English or Japanese) narrated by members of the family. This audio tour takes at least 40 minutes and provides an introduction to the castle and family. Besides that, you can also learn about the ghost stories about the castle and some of the people that lived there.

All the information can be found on the official website. This website also lets you buy tickets for the castle, gardens, hawk and owl centre and flying displays with a 10% discount. You can visit the gardens until November 1st from 10.30am to 5pm and the castle can be visited by yourself from 2.30pm or on a guided tour at specific times that you can see when you buy the ticket (but that happen from 30 to 30 minutes from the 11.45am to 1.15pm).

Besides all of this, the castle is also home to several events. One of these is the Halloween Week 2021. This event goes from October 23rd to October 31st and includes the Scary Maze, fire juggling shows, alchemy workshops, kids crafts in the Ghostly Grotto and Axe Throwing. You can choose one of three tickets that allow entry from 10.30am and include different things. You can learn all the information about this event also in the official website. On this website, you can also buy your ticket and guarantee your spot at the event.

Frankenstein Castle, Germany

This castle is located on a hilltop in Odenwald, near Darmstadt. It is believed that this was the castle that inspired Mary Shelley to write her novel Frankenstein, hence the name. The castle was first mentioned in the 13th century and since the 14th-century, two family lines of Frankensteins lived in the castle. It was then sold to another family and finally, the Grand Luke Ludwig II rebuilt the Castle of today.

You can visit the castle from 9am to 8pm and eat “medieval or haunted dinners” all year round and not only on Halloween. However, since the 1970s, there has been a Halloween festival at the castle that became the biggest of its kind in Germany.

The event takes place from October 22nd to November 6th and you can learn all about it on the official website (in German). You can also buy your tickets starting at 30€ (the price is lower in the first few days and higher on October 31st).

Bran Castle, Romania

The last castle in this list of 15 spooky things to do in Europe this October is the Bran Castle. This castle is the most visited attraction in Romania because it is believed that this was the castle that inspired Bram Stoker to write the story about Dracula. You can get to the castle, as also visit several other castles in the way if you join this day trip from Bucharest.

The castle was built in the 13th century to defend the Southeastern border of Transylvania from the Cumans and the Pechenegs. The construction of the castle was finished in the 14th century on a steep cliff between Măgura and Dealul Cetăţii.

The Dracula story in the castle starts in the 15th century when Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Tepes, the probable inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula) was allied with Bran and Brasov but it is not known if Vlad Tepes captured Bran Castle. You can learn more about the history of Dracula and the castle on the official website of the castle.

However the castle was remodelled in the 18th century and in the 20th century when Transylvania became part of Romania, the castle was gifted to Queen Maria of Romania who restored it and used it as a residence of the royal family, increasing its popularity.

You can visit this castle all year round and for 45 LEI (around 9€, half the price if you are a student) you can visit the Castle. The tickets can be bought online on the official website. However, on Halloween, there are special tickets and activities at the castle. There is not yet information about 2021 but you can learn more about the 2020 festival here.

Derry, UK

Next on the list of 15 spooky things to do in Europe this October, we have the biggest, oldest and more famous Halloween festival in Europe. The Derry festival is a massive celebration of Halloween traditions that occurs on October 31st.

The city of Derry is located in North Ireland and is the only completely walled city in the UK. The old town is surrounded by walls and there the Halloween magic occurs every year. Haloween is a huge deal in Ireland since the birthplace of the tradition is there. Haloween originated from the Samhain Celtic tradition, which was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.

This festival is the first and longest-running Halloween festival in Ireland. Usually, the festival occurs within the walls of the city centre, but this year (2021), it will grow beyond them. As a result, the festival this year consists of three Spirit Worlds in the city, one in Donegal and another in Strabane.

Another advantage of this festival is that you can both learn about the city, the Irish traditions, the history of Halloween and all for free because there are no tickets to be purchased for this activity.

Kürbisausstellung Ludwigsburg, Germany

Next on the list of 15 spooky things to do in Europe this October we have the biggest pumpkin festival in Europe and in the world.

This festival includes an impressive pumpkin exhibition with around half a million pumpkins arranged in several sculptures. This year’s theme of the sculptures is Underwater so be ready to see pumpkin sharks and whales.

You can visit the Pumpkin Festival at Ludwigsburg from August 27th to December 5th from Monday to Sunday at different times depending on what you wish to try. You can learn more and buy your tickets here (this is the official website and is in German).

If you are not visiting in the Autumn you can also visit the region at other times of the year because there are always interesting things to see such as the spring exhibit, the sand sculpture exhibit, etc.

The ticket is 10€ and includes the exhibition, but also a visit to the gardens. Besides that, you can also experiment with several amazing pumpkin delicacies. You can buy your tickets on the official website, here.

Corinaldo, Italy

The last festival Next on the list of 15 spooky things to do in Europe this October is the witch festival in Corinaldo. Corinaldo is a beautiful town on the east coast of Italy. The town has well-preserved medieval walls and besides the delicious food is known for its Halloween witch festival.

The witch festival, also known as Festa delle Streghe, occurs in October and transforms the quaint town into a Halloween-themed amusement park. There are actors playing witches, skeletons, and monsters around the town streets and there is also a haunted house and a contest for the best witch.

There are other events and festivals in Corinaldo such as the jazz festival and the national photographic competition.

There is not much information about the 2021 festival but you can learn about the 2019 edition here.

Crooked Forest, Poland

In the northwest of Poland, quite close to the German border, in the town of Gryfino, you can find a very odd forest. Here, the trees have very sharp 90º degree curves really close to the floor. After this curve, they just keep growing normally, vertically. Despite the weird shape, the trees don’t seem to have any problem and grow tall like any other tree.

No one really knows for sure what happened to these trees to have a shape like this. There are however several theories with not much evidence to support the hypothesis. One of these theories is that there is a gravitational pull that caused the weird growth. Another interesting idea is that when the trees were small, heavy snowfall in the area weighed down the trees causing the shape that we see today. The most likely explanation is that local farmers planted and manipulated the trees when they planted them in 1930. If you want to know everything about how to visit this forest read my post The crooked forest of Poland.

This forest got to this list of 15 spooky things to do in Europe this October because of the eery atmosphere and because of these mysterious plants. I mean… we don’t know why the trees grew like this so maybe there may have been some supernatural force to shape them?

Hoia-Baciu Forest, Romania

Back in Romania, the other forest in this list of 15 spooky things to do in Europe this October is the Hoia-Baciu Forest. This forest takes the place of the scariest forest in the world so it had to be included in the list. This title was given to the forest because of the paranormal activity that is felt constantly in the area. These phenomena include unexplainable light, odd voices and even a circular dead vegetation zone where nothing ever grows. There has also been a report of UFO sighting in the region, in the 1970s, (maybe it created the circular dead vegetation zone? Who knows?…). This place is also called the Bermuda Triangle of Romania because of the strange happenings of the forest. The name of the forest, Hoia Baciu, is a homage to a sheepman that disappeared in the region with its 200 sheep.

Would you dare to enter and explore the world’s scariest forest and meet all its ghosts and apparitions? If so, it may be a great place to visit this spooky season in Europe.

Zadar’s sea organ, Croatia

This is a man-made architectonic feature of the city of Zadar in Croatia. This wonder of architecture combines the sound and the movement of the waves that hit it into a melody that you can easily hear. These sounds are transformed by a network of pipes of various lengths, diameters and slopes, tubes and whistles that create a perfect Halloween symphony, especially if you go at night. The sounds can however be quite relaxing and soothing but if you have the “right” state of mind when you are listening to them, they can also be scary, especially if you go there at night.

Hill of Crosses, Lithuania

In Lithuania, there is a unique hill covered with many crosses… When I say many… I mean 200 000 crosses… This hill is a pilgrimage site for Catholics and a must-see for those visiting Lithuania and expecting to see most of the country. It is located near Siauliai, 2h30 away from Vilnius, 2h from Kaunas and 1h40 from Riga, Latvia. You can participate on this tours that will get you to the landmark.

The crosses have been left in the hill for over 200 years and the collection keep growing and growing. Since the medieval period, this hill has represented the peaceful resistance of Lithuanian Catholicism to oppression. There are crosses literally everywhere which is an impressive view and also a slightly creepy view. The creepiness exponentially increases if you visit the place at night. Especially is there is a soft breeze that blows through the forest of crosses producing sounds that can be interpreted both as beautiful and spooky.

Stalingrad movie set in the Saperny village, Russia

Lastly, on this list of 15 spooky things to do in Europe this October, we explore Russia a little bit further. In 2013, a Russian movie about the battle of Stalingrad was released. The movie was filmed in a filming set built near the village of Saperny. This battle was one of the bloodiest in history and left the city of Stalingrad virtually wiped out. When you get in the set it seems abandoned and completely destroyed but that was made on purpose by 400 people that dedicated themselves to recreate that destruction in the movie set.

You can visit the set and see every single detail to remember the previous city and the horrors of war. All these details make the place twice as creepy, in particular the half-destroyed statues of children playing in the town centre.

Have you been to any of these places? Do you have any advice or new idea about these or other spooky places in the old continent?

Would you like to have more ideas about what to do in Europe this October or how to celebrate the spooky season in Europe? I have here the best Halloween thing to do in every eastern European country or the best Halloween thing to do in every western European country.

In case you are wondering, all these pictures were taking with the following equipment:

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