Though costume parties for October 31st are growing increasingly popular across the continent, most countries in Europe still do not celebrate Halloween in quite the same way as the United States does. Trick or treating has just not caught on yet.

To get your spooky fix on that next European vacation — whether on All Hallows Eve or any other time of year — check out one of these spine-tingling tours and attractions.

More spooky posts on EuroCheapo:

• EuroCheapo’s Spookiest Hotel Ghosts (7 photos!)
• Five haunted (and free!) spots in New York City
• Free haunted walking tours in NYC

Paris: The Catacombs

From the late 1700s to the mid-1800s, the remains of about six million Parisians were dug up from cemeteries around the city and reinterred in a central ossuary, known as the Catacombs of Paris, a site that should be on every traveler’s shortlist of must-see Paris attractions.

Visitors descend 130 steps beneath the Paris streets for a 1.2-mile trek through poorly lit passageways. Whoever designed the Catacombs definitely had a taste for the macabre: An engraving above the entranceway to the ossuary reads, “Stop! For this is the kingdom of Death,” and the bones are artfully arranged in mounds with scores of skulls on top that seem to stretch on indefinitely. Perhaps the creepiest thing about the Catacombs is the pile of bones at the street exit — the artifacts that visitors have tried to take home as souvenirs.

Details: 1, Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy. Admission is €13.

London: Jack the Ripper Tours

We may never know the identity of the UK’s most famous serial killer, but the legend surrounding Jack the Ripper still scares the bejeezus out of us. Tramping through the back streets of East London on a dark October night seems a fitting tribute to this grisly murderer.

Though many groups offer similar excursions, London Discovery Tours claim to have the “original” Jack the Ripper tour. With a published historian at its head, the company certainly promises a thorough background in the murders, the suspects, and neighborhood history. The two-hour circuit winds through cobblestone streets to point out sites where the victims lived and died.

Details: Tours start at the Aldgate East Underground station at 7 pm nightly. Reservations must be made in advance; the cost is £10 per person.

Exploring the spooky Underground Vaults in Edinburgh. Photo fw42

Edinburgh: The Underground Vaults

Many cities boast myths of people living underneath the streets, but in Edinburgh the legends are true. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, a veritable underground city of chambers, vaulted rooms, tunnels, and passageways existed below South Bridge. In these darkened, confined spaces thousands of people lived — and some say their spirits never left. Abandoned in the 1830s, the Underground Vaults reopened to the public in 1996.

Your guide into this underground world is Mercat Tours, who will lead you on a 1-hour and 15-minute tour of the haunted vaults.

Details: From October to March, Mercat offers tours daily at 3 and 5 pm. Reservations are £13 for adults.

Budapest: Nighttime Visits at the Labyrinth of Buda Castle (currently closed)

Located underneath Buda Castle, the Labyrinth is eerie enough in the daytime when it’s illuminated by electric lights. After dark, however, with only a lantern as a guide, the stone passageways are downright spooky. Personally, we’d steer clear of the Labyrinth of Love (where couples start at opposite ends of the maze and meet in the middle for a “romantic” rendezvous undisturbed in one of the chambers), but a Dante-themed program makes our skin crawl in a good way. Forty minutes alone in the darkened halls with visions of the Divine Comedy in our heads? Let’s not think about what demons may be lurking just around the corner!

Find your own way out of purgatory by booking your night tour in advance via the Labyrinth of Buda Castle website (hours and days vary by tour; the Dante tour is available Mondays at midnight, Wednesdays at 11 pm, and Saturdays at 5 am). Adult tickets cost 2,000 forints (about $9) and include one regular admission during daytime hours.

Note: the Labyrinth is temporarily closed and is undergoing government inspection — we hope it will be back open sometime soon!

About the author: Liz Webber is an associate editor at ShermansTravel.com, a leading site for hand-picked travel deals and expert destination advice.

The post Boo! Spooky places to celebrate Halloween in Europe appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

And after so many years of kooky characters living virtually on top of one another, New York‘s streets and buildings and parks have their share of chilling or amusing ghost stories. Here, I present my own personal brand of the Halloween treat: five New York places to get your fright on (for free).

Central Park Pond
59th Street

Sunk in between trees at the base of Central Park, the 59th Street Pond feels secret and serene. It can also function as a haven, as it must have for Victorian-era sisters Janet and Rosetta Van Der Voort. Growing up in a wealthy household on Central Park South, the girls were prohibited by their over protective father to venture anywhere unaccompanied, with the exception of the pond.

It was perhaps for this reason that the sisters seemed to fuse together over the years. Neither married, and they died within two months of each other in 1880. Today, their spirits live on and can sometimes be seen, all done up in their bustles, skating infinite figure eights over the pond’s smooth surface.

Green-Wood Cemetery
500 25th Street, Brooklyn

Don’t let its pretty park feel deceive you. The Battle of Brooklyn, one of the biggest of the Revolutionary War, was fought on this hilly outcrop, and now some of New York’s most fashionable reside here for eternity. The spirits are almost palpable as you wander among the trees and ornate crypts here, and you can visit everyone from tortured artist Jean-Michel Basquiat to Boss Tweed.

12 Gay Street
West Village

There’s a ghost party going on at this elegant 19th-century townhouse. The building once housed a speakeasy, and has been home to Frank Paris, creator of Howdy Doody, and the mistress of New York mayor Jimmy Walker, among many others. Over the years, myriad ghost sightings have been reported from this dwelling, the most famous being a regal man wearing top hat and opera cape.

St. Paul’s Chapel and Churchyard
209 Broadway

The churchyard behind St. Paul’s Chapel has sunken headstones dating back to 1704, but there is one ghost in particular that makes people, ahem, lose their heads. The extravagant and alcoholic British actor George Frederick Cooke was buried here in 1812. His head was not buried with him. Mr. Cooke had donated it to science as a means of settling some his debt. His skull is said to have appeared as a prop in a few Hamlet productions, so you might say the actor went on working. The rest of him, though, is said to wander the cemetery in search of his lost noggin.

The Public Theater (Astor Library Building)
425 Lafayette Street

Best known for bringing free Shakespeare in the Park to New York each summer, the Public Theater is based year-round in a glorious red-brick building in the East Village. Said building originally housed the Astor Library, which opened in 1849 and was the foundation of the New York Public Library.

It wasn’t long after the opening that ghosts were reported at the library. In 1860, the New York Evening Post reported that Library Director Dr. Joseph Cogswell, encountered a wealthy, recently deceased neighbor three nights in a row. Today, the architectural gem is said to be haunted by literary icon Washington Irving and Public Theater founder Joseph Papp. The latter is said to have a protective presence over his legacy.

Read more

If you’re heading to New York (for a haunting or just a visit), be sure to swing by our Cheapo guide to New York, with hotel recommendations and much more budget advice.

The post 5 haunted (and free!) New York City spots appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Grab the flashlights, marshmallows and sleeping bags while I light the fire. Boo la la! Who’s there?!

1. Eiffel Tower
16th arrondissement (Metro: École Militaire or Champ de Mars)

The Eiffel Tower is a virtual magnet for suicides. From the get-go, folks have been jumping off it like there’s no tomorrow. In fact, it’s one of the most popular spots to commit suicide in all of Europe.

She may not have been the first to say it, but perhaps she was the most memorable: “So sorry to rain on your parade,” Princess Anna Troubetzkoy shouted, as she fell from the top on Bastille Day in July 1931. At first it was ruled accidental, but a farewell note was soon found in her bag.

Turned out that back in May, Anna had married a certain Prince Serge in New York. They kicked off their European honeymoon in June and were set to renew their four-month vows in August when they reached Russia.

So what happened? Was the prince really Mr. Wrong or was she already envisioning endless crash diets and yet another round of dress fittings? Nobody knows for sure, but obviously something had already gone astray between the lovebirds to make her decide to fly the coop so dramatically.

2. Arc de Triomphe
Place Charles-de-Gaulle, 17th arrondissement (Metro: Charles-de-Gaulle)

Almost immediately after it was completed, desperate women began heaving themselves off its rooftop parapet, after climbing all 284 steps to get there. Occasionally their skirts tangle and catch on a cornice, leaving the poor women dangling a few long moments above the horrified crowds below, before the seams give way and they plunge to their deaths.

Figuring out which police station to contact after one of these unfortunate incidents is always a major source of confusion because the monument sits at the juncture of four arrondissements and they’ve never clearly settled whether it’s the departure spot or the point of arrival (i.e., the sidewalk) that should be the proper determining factor in establishing jurisdiction.

Atop the Arc, keep your eyes peeled for a particular spirit named Rose. After quarreling with her beau on Bastille Day in 1914, Rose jumped, narrowly missing throngs of tourists in her tumble. She is said to repeat this every time a parade goes by.

Is it uniforms? The music? Just what is it about Bastille Day that makes folks want to make a real splash?

3. Notre Dame
4th arrondissement (Metro: Cité or Saint-Michel)

A young woman known only by the initials “M.J.” appeared at the cathedral on a cold and rainy October day in 1882, begging to climb the tower. She was refused, because back then women weren’t allowed to ascend without a chaperone.

What to do? She quickly spotted an elderly lady who was also touring the church and decided to make friends. After buying her breakfast at a nearby café, M.J. asked the old lady to tour the tower with her. The lady agreed and they headed back to the church.

By the time they reached the upper parapets, rain had started to pour. While the elderly woman sheltered in the bell-ringer’s room, the young woman screamed and apparently jumped. According to witnesses, she fell onto the spiked railings below and was neatly severed in two.

No identification was found in her bag, but her kerchief was marked with the initials “M.J.” As for the elderly lady who agreed to escort her, she seems to have disappeared into thin air. If you happen to be up on Notre Dame, keep an eye peeled for either one—they’ve both been seen flitting between the gargoyles.

4. Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, The Grave of Allan Kardec
20th arrondissement (Metro: Père-Lachaise or Philippe Auguste)

In Pere Lachaise Cemetery, you’ll not only find the graves of famous folks like Chopin, Balzac, Modigliani, Proust, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf and, some say, Jim Morrison, but a few final resting places that are even more interesting because of the behaviors they induce. It’s worth buying a map at the entrance to help you locate them. The best time to catch the action is early in the morning.

One of my favorites is the grave of Allan Kardec in section 44. Here you can discreetly watch as true believers in spiritualism not only come to caress the shoulders of the bronze bust glaring from its niche (under what looks to be a crude prehistoric dolmen), and to whisper messages to their dead loved ones in his ear, but often also to put in requests for winning lottery numbers.

On the backside of the tomb is an official warning from the city of Paris (akin to the surgeon-general’s warning on a pack of cigarettes) that the municipal government can’t be sued if the numbers don’t win.

5. Dalida
At the dead end of rue d’Orchampt, 18th arrondissement (Metro: Abbesses)

Not all spirits are from the days of yore. On May 3, 1987, Yolanda Gigliotti, better known as the great pop idol Dalida, took a handful of pills, put on her sunglasses and “left our world for another,” as the official fan website puts it.

Ever since, the house has never quite felt the same. Though no one lives there anymore, sometimes a shadowy figure appears at the window as if to greet her fans—and she certainly still has them by the millions.

In addition to the house, the late diva’s grave is in the Cimetière de Montmartre, while her bust is at rues Girardon and Abreuvoir. Pilgrims still visit all three shrines to the “female Elvis” of France.

6. Pont-de l’Alma, Princess Di
7th arrondissement (Metro: Pont de l’Alma)

One more for the road. Just outside the Pont de l’Alma Métro station is the “Flamme de la Liberté” memorial, which now serves double duty as the unofficial Princess Di shrine, where pilgrims still leave poems, flowers, and love letters there.

According to my friend Ghislaine, who worked on two documentary films about the crash that killed her, “there are definitely ghosts in the Alma tunnel. After many nights spent filming there, I can tell you it’s eerie. It was as if Diana’s ghost was trying to urge us to find the truth. And I was certainly not the only one to feel this.”

Cheapos, do you have a tale to tell?

The post Paris: 6 ghosts you can visit this Halloween appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Get spooked, Cheapos. Here’s how:

Spooky Staten Island

Believe it or not, Staten Island is considered one of the most haunted places in the northeast. It’s worth the ferry ride (a great free way to get close to Lady Liberty!) to visit the Conference House, a simple stone building from 1680 that does not have a simple history.

It was here in 1776 that the Americans and British tried to reach an agreement that would have prevented the Revolutionary War. Several spirits are said the lurk about the place, including a few redcoats who may have been buried near the house during the war, the jilted fiancé of Captain Billopp, the original owner of the house, and a servant girl later killed by Colonel Billopp (his great-grandson). And that is only the beginning. Prepare for shivers.

Note: Admission is free to the house, $3 to enter the on-site museum.

Ghosts of Manhattan

Back in Manhattan, there are a host of ghosts and haunted spots to choose from. Start off your tour of ghoulish New York with a courage-building tipple at Bridge Cafe (279 Water St), one of the few remaining wooden buildings left in Manhattan. Built in 1794, it’s taken turns as a general store, brothel, and a bar frequented by pirates, some of whom are said to, uh, return for Halloween tricks.

But the most colorful ghost here is said to be that of Gallus Mag. Remember that fight scene in Scorsese’s Gangs of New York that took place in a tavern decorated with jars of pickled body parts? It’s an homage to the garishly tall Irish (female) bouncer who ruled Bridge Café’s former incarnation, Hole in the Wall, with iron teeth. Don’t worry, Gallus can no longer bite off your ear, but you may just hear her heavy footsteps.

Onward, take a walk north through the West Village’s Washington Square Park, well-known for its iconic arch and its role as a favorite—dare we say—haunt of folk singers and hippies. But this happening park in the middle of New York University-land was once a potter’s field where the poor were buried, and then a parade ground and gallows where criminals were executed. Just last year, in fact, a headstone of one James Jackson (died 1799) was unearthed during a renovation project. Think that the 20,000 or so people whose remains are still under the park come back for a stroll every now and then? I do.

Moving east, take a trip through Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral (263 Mulberry St.), New York City’s oldest church. Bishop John DuBois, founder of Mt. St. Mary’s College in Maryland, was buried under the front entrance in 1842 and has been “spotted” by visitors from time to time. Also occupying the church cemetery—in spirit, at least—is Pierre Toussaint, a freed slave-cum-hairdresser who helped raise funds for the building of Old St. Pat’s and attended daily Mass for 60 years. Toussaint’s remains were moved to the new St. Patrick’s Cathedral, but the spirit of the man who may soon be America’s first black saint have stayed close to his old haunt in Nolita.

Next up? The (in)famous Hotel Chelsea (222 W. 23rd St.) is frequented by decidedly less saintly spirits, like Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, who was accused in 1978 of killing his girlfriend Nancy in room 100 (also known as the “Sid and Nancy Room”). He can still sometimes be seen near the elevator doors. This bohemian mecca was built in 1883 and became a hotel in 1905. Over the course of its long history it’s played home to such creatives as Dylan Thomas, Janis Joplin, Eugene O’Neill, and Thomas Wolfe. Many of whom never really moved out…

Trick or treat or tour?

As for spooky stories, we’ve just hit the tip of the island. If you’re as obsessed as I am, you could shell out some cash and try out a guided ghost tour of New York. Ghosts of New York allows thrill seekers to track down the spirit of Edgar Allen Poe and Eleanor Roosevelt in Greenwich Village, or commune with John Lennon near his old home on the Upper West Side. Tours are $20 each, or $33 for two tours in the same night. Or for check out the Boroughs of the Dead tours for more spooky fun and insight into New York history.

Some freakish history

Can’t make it to New York this Halloween? Never fear! Tune in to The Bowery Boys, a free New York City history podcast hosted by Greg Young and Tom Meyers. (Full, eerie disclaimer: Tom is also the editor of EuroCheapo.) Every year the Boys give us chills with their “spooky stories” podcast. You can download all of their Halloween podcasts or read about other spooky tours here, if you dare…

The post Free Haunted Walking Tour of New York appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

That’s right Cheapos:  sometimes we take pictures of budget hotel ghosts!

Think we’re kidding? Just have a look at the photos below and see if you notice anything peculiar… mwaaahaaahaaa!

#1.  Creepy toilet

This bathroom shot was taken on a sunny day, in a room filled with natural light. So why does this toilet give us the creeps? Because it’s haunted!

#2. Floating leg in shower!

Looks like a typical bathroom scene in a trendy London hotel, right? Everything looks up to snuff, until you notice the floating GHOST LEG in the shower!

3. Haunted London bedroom!

This was nearly a “hotel crush,” until we developed this shot and noticed the menacing ghost orb floating above the bed—and the greenish pillow stains of guests long gone… (Editor’s note:  This hotel did not make our final cut…)

4. Phantom in Brussels!

This photo was taken by Meredith while making her rounds in Brussels last spring. So who’s that man in the corner? A G-H-O-S-T!

5. Ghost orb in Dublin bathtub!

Another orb appears… this time in a Dublin bathtub. We shouldn’t have been surprised. ORBS TAKE BATHS!

6. Pioneer man in Paris pension!

We swear, we were alone in the room when snapping this shot in the Latin Quarter. Who gave him a key? GHOSTS DON’T NEED KEYS!

7. Maverick looking out the window!

Imagine our shock when we studied this shot of an un-named London youth hostel (located “steps from the British Museum”). How did she get there? No wait, she’s just a figment of our imagination, VANISHING BEFORE OUR EYES!

SEND US YOUR CREEPY SHOTS!

Have any spooks shown up unexpectedly in your photos? Email them, we’ll post ’em! Happy Halloween, Cheapos!

The post EuroCheapo’s Spookiest Hotel Ghosts (7 photos!) appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.