Top 10 Halloween Destinations

It's pumpkin spice season which means Halloween is right around the corner! Now that I'm older, I find it harder to get into the spirit of the holiday, but I still get excited every time October 31st rolls around. Before we booked our tickets to Barcelona for November, I was thinking about doing a Halloween-themed trip, so I started researching places that could be fun. We're probably just going to do something around Oxford (maybe another ghost tour?) but I wanted to share some of the cool places I found in case you're inspired to do a Halloween-themed getaway.

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Here they are in no particular order:

1. New York, NY - The Village Halloween parade is so fun to watch in person. Around 50,000 people dress up and parade down Sixth Avenue. Even more fun? Riding the subway with everyone in costume.

2. Transylvania, Romania - Home of Dracula's Castle, need I say more?

3. Oaxaca, Mexico - The city celebrates its annual Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) festival October 31st to November 2nd, and costumed party-goers pay visits to local cemeteries and decorate the streets with flowers, skulls, and skeletons.

4. New Orleans, LA - Even on a normal day, this city is pretty creepy thanks to the voodoo shops, old cemeteries, and haunted history. And on October 30th, you can get the Mardi Gras experience with the Krewe of Boo.

5. Estes Park, CO - If the thought of Stephen King's The Shining still gives you chills, try staying at The Stanley Hotel which inspired that story. It's supposedly haunted by at least three people. You can even attend an adults-only masquerade ball at the hotel on All Hallows' Eve.


6. Paris, France - If bones don't freak you out, head to the Paris Catacombs where millions of long-dead Parisians line the tunnels. This place is so creepy it inspired Edgar Allen Poe in the “Cask of Amontillado.”

7. Hallstatt, Austria - And speaking of bones, this town's ossuary is another super scary place to see tons and tons of bones. What sets it apart from others in Europe (and makes it a good Halloween destination) is the fact that the skulls are decorated by family members. Cree-py!

8. Salem, MA - Home to the infamous Salem Witch Trials in 1692, this town is full of haunted history. The Witch House Museum, which is the only building in Salem that still has a direct link to the trials, has extended hours in October.

9. London, England - The London Dungeon showcases over 1,000 years of the city's murky and past through a 90-minute guided tour by professional actors. They have special Halloween shows promising "the biggest and boldest Halloween full of scary fun, mischief tricks and treats, gripping storytelling, jump through the roof surprises and pumpkins aplenty."

10. Sleepy Hollow, NY - The legend of the Headless Horseman comes to life in the ultimate haunted house experience at Horseman's Hollow. The event sounds downright scary!

What are your plans for Halloween this year?