With dark tourism being all the rage at the moment, why not take a twist and become a Hellfire Tourist instead. Dark legends, volcanic fury and ancient rituals, scattered across the globe at sites once feared as literal entrances to the underworld. Yet rather than avoiding them, people flock to these “hell gates,” drawn by the thrill of danger, the pull of myth and the age-old human urge to stand at the edge of the unknown…
Here are some of the world’s most notorious and strangely magnetic gateways to hell, and why we can’t resist visiting them…
Darvaza Gas Crater, Turkmenistan
Cost: Moderate (permits & tours required)
Danger Level: ★★★★★
Thrill Level: ★★★★★
In the heart of Turkmenistan’s blistering Karakum Desert, the Darvaza Gas Crater burns like a wound into the earth. Created in the 1970s when Soviet engineers accidentally collapsed a natural gas pocket and set it alight to prevent toxic emissions, this gaping pit (about 70 meters wide) has been on fire ever since.
Visitors endure scorching desert heat and bone-rattling drives to witness the inferno firsthand, often pitching tents right beside the flames. By night, the crater casts a surreal orange glow across the dunes, transforming the barren landscape into something otherworldly, beautiful but also deeply unsettling – a sight so raw and dramatic it feels less like tourism and more like staring into the earth’s living fury.
Hekla Volcano, Iceland
Cost: Low (self-guided hike or tour)
Danger Level: ★★★★☆
Thrill Level: ★★★★☆
Nicknamed “The Gateway to Hell” in medieval Europe, Hekla has long haunted Icelandic lore. Its slopes, streaked with ancient lava flows, were said to be gathering spots for witches and condemned souls. Since the year 874AD, it’s erupted over twenty times, sometimes explosively, blanketing skies with ash and reshaping entire valleys. Modern hikers venture cautiously along its trails, drawn by lunar vistas, steaming fissures and the thrill of standing atop a volcano that could, in theory, roar back to life without warning. It’s an eerie, awe-inspiring place: wind howls across black rock fields and the silence feels strangely alive, as if the mountain itself is waiting…
Ploutonion at Hierapolis, Turkey
Cost: Low (included in Hierapolis–Pamukkale ticket)
Danger Level: ★★★☆☆
Thrill Level: ★★★☆☆
In the sunbaked ruins of Hierapolis lies a small cavern once feared across the ancient Mediterranean: the Ploutonion, or “Gate to Hades.”
Deadly volcanic gases seeped from its mouth, silently suffocating birds and small animals released in sacrifice, while temple priests, privy to secret air currents, emerged unharmed, dazzling worshippers with apparent divine protection. Today, visitors peer into this unassuming grotto, mindful of the invisible peril once believed to mark the boundary between life and death. Beyond the cave itself, the surrounding ruins and nearby Pamukkale terraces create an atmospheric, almost dreamlike journey through history, faith and fear.
Fengdu Ghost City, China
Cost: Low–moderate (ferry & site ticket)
Danger Level: ★★☆☆☆
Thrill Level: ★★★☆☆
Perched above the swirling Yangtze River, Fengdu Ghost City is an elaborate complex built around the Chinese belief in Diyu, the underworld.
Sculpted demons, judges and spirits guide visitors through a playful yet unsettling vision of the afterlife, complete with moral “tests” meant to challenge virtue and expose vice. The air of kitschy horror masks something deeper: an ancient cultural meditation on life, death and what may come after it…
Wandering its bridges and climbing the “Ghost Torturing Pass,” travellers find both humour and quiet unease, reminded that the boundary between the living and the dead might not be as distant as we’d like to think.
Mount Osore, Japan
Cost: Moderate (entry & travel)
Danger Level: ★★★☆☆
Thrill Level: ★★★☆☆
Remote, windblown and ringed by volcanic peaks, Mount Osore feels like the very picture of a mythic underworld. Sulphurous steam seeps from the cracked earth, and lifeless grey stones surround Lake Usori, a lake said to separate this world from the next…
Each year, blind mediums known as itako gather here to channel messages from the deceased, creating an atmosphere equal parts pilgrimage, ritual and raw emotion. Visitors walk among stone cairns left as offerings, the air pungent with sulphur and experience a landscape that seems frozen between worlds, a stark, quiet reminder of loss, memory and the hope of contact beyond death.
Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave, Belize
Cost: Higher (mandatory guided tour)
Danger Level: ★★★★☆
Thrill Level: ★★★★★
Hidden deep within Belize’s rainforest, this cave’s twisting passages hold the chilling legacy of ancient Maya rituals.
Visitors swim into its mouth, clamber over rocks slick with mineral water and finally reach sacred chambers adorned with sacrificial ceramics and calcified skeletal remains, including the haunting “Crystal Maiden,” (believed to be a 17 year old victim of sacrifice) whose bones sparkle under torchlight.
The journey itself, through chest-deep pools and narrow tunnels, feels like an initiation, equal parts history lesson and raw, physical adventure. It’s a rare chance to witness an untouched ritual site where the boundary between spiritual reverence and primal fear is as thin as a flickering headlamp beam.
