Most excursions involve visiting museums, ruins, old fortresses. There are many similar facts in the history of famous sights. So, in almost every ancient Russian city there is a fortress that burned down more than once, and in German there is a town hall that has been restored many times. Recently, unusual excursions have become increasingly popular - excursions for sophisticated tourists who have seen a lot and are little surprised.
Sadly, travel companies make big money from disasters. Many agencies offer unusual excursions to places that have undergone severe destruction. Such a journey is dangerous. However, there have been many thrill-seekers at all times, and therefore travel agencies do not suffer from a lack of customers. Chernobyl, for example, in 2011 was visited by more than three thousand people. Unusual excursions also include:
- The sewers of Paris.
- Funeral in Bali.
- Indian slums.
- Red Light District in Amsterdam.
Paris Sewers
A visit to a museum located underground in Paris is one of the most unusual excursions in Europe. Thanks to such a journey, you can get basic information about the history of the sewers of Paris since the 14th century. Museum exhibits are able to plunge an unprepared tourist into a slight shock.
There are no shop windows here. The visitor examines the dungeon, where an epidemic of plague and other ailments once originated, knocking down a good part of the French capital. The situation in the sewers has changed little since the 15th century. But this is a misleading impression. The most unusual excursion in Paris is safe.
Funeral in Bali
The people of Bali are not as gloomy about death as the Europeans. The funeral here is a solemn event in which there is no place for sadness. This unusual and informal tour is free. Relatives of the deceased are only welcome guests. Still, to a person who finds himself in Bali for the first time, attending the funeral of a stranger may seem unethical to say the least.
Indian slums
Whoever read the book "Shantaram" by Australian writer Gregory Roberts, knows approximately what is happening in disadvantaged areas of Bombay. Once in India, he wants to feel for a while one of the heroes of this work. There is such a possibility. One of the most unusual excursions in Indiansightseeing involves visiting the slums. It is aimed at lovers of contrasts.
Any person after visiting the Indian slums understands how successful his own life has been. Such unusual excursions of local residents are by no means embarrassing. Tourists usually donate money, naively believing that they can somehow change the situation for the better. On the demonstration of poor neighborhoods and travel agencies, and the inhabitants of the slums make good money.
Red Light District
This part of Amsterdam is visited not only by men who want to use the services of affordable Dutch women. "Red Light District" is one of the main attractions of the city. Tourists plunge into the unknown world. You will not see anything like this in any European city.
On the trail of a serial killer
One of the unusual tourist programs in Los Angeles is a tour in the footsteps of the Manson sect. A tourist visits places where nonhumans killed their victims, among whom were Hollywood celebrities (for example, Sharon Tate, director Roman Polanski's wife). This tourist route is for people with strong nerves. Are there similar unusual excursions in Russia?
In Shakhty, where Chikatilo committed his first murder, there are no travel companies that would offer to visit places associated with the name of the serial killer. But among the guests of this town there are those who are not indifferent to the biography of the maniac. He committed his first crime in a small house located at Mezhevayalane, house 26. Curious people sometimes visit here.
The area of the Mines is said to be quite gloomy. In addition, there are many rumors about the so-called cursed zone around this city. It is believed that the situation in the Eastern Donbass is unfavorable, which affects the appearance of serial maniacs. Here, in this city of the Rostov region, several murders were committed by a “follower” of Chikatilo Mukhankin.
Chernobyl
On the territory of the former Soviet Union, the Chernobyl exclusion zone is the most visited site of the disaster. Moreover, thrill-seekers from different countries come here.
The level of radiation in Chernobyl has decreased after the implementation of measures to eliminate the consequences of the accident. It happened in the early nineties. The first tourists appeared about five years later. In 1995, an organization was created that controls trips to the Chernobyl zone. However, not everyone could get there. In 2010, the entrance was opened to everyone.
Before the trip, guides advise tourists to take shoes that you do not mind throwing away. The fact is that there is still a high level of radiation. The exclusion zone should not be visited by people who are impressionable and endowed with a rich imagination. These are beautiful yet dark places that could serve as the backdrop for any thriller.
During the tour, many tourists experience a feeling of fear, confusion. The dead city is an eerie sight. You can still see toys on the destroyed playgrounds that remind of the haste in which people fled from here. And how many died. Especiallygloomy thoughts suggest an abandoned kindergarten and the well-known Ferris wheel.
Unusual Moscow tours
Sights around the Kremlin are familiar to everyone. But there are places in the Russian capital that excite the imagination of suspicious citizens. And not everyone knows about them.
At the beginning of the 20th century, in the area of Kitay-gorod, where today the most expensive restaurants and shops are located, thieves, murderers, fugitive convicts, horse traders, beggars and other asocial elements lived. This area was called Khitrovka. There was nothing for a respectable citizen to do here.
One of the unusual excursions in Moscow involves visiting places where there were once slums. This tourist program is called "Criminal Moscow". The cost is 400 rubles. Duration - 2.5 hours.
The tour is of interest primarily to those who have read Gilyarovsky's book "Moscow and Muscovites", know the history of the Russian capital or are familiar with the work of Boris Akunin, whose works depict the life of dysfunctional Khitrovka.
Another gloomy place in Moscow is the building located at 2 Serafimovich Street. This building appeared in the early 1920s. The House on the embankment was erected, and this is the name it received among the people, for officials of the highest rank. According to legend, it was built where mass executions were carried out in the Middle Ages.
In 1938, the apartments were suddenly empty - almost all the tenants were repressed. They say that all this time Chekists lived in entrance No. 11, wholistened to the inhabitants of the house. Today, a museum is located within the walls of the House on the embankment. The cost of the tour is 600 rubles.
Most of the House on the embankment is occupied by residential apartments. Ordinary people live in them. But being in this house for the first time, a person experiences an unpleasant sensation. Even if he knows nothing about what happened here almost a hundred years ago.
Unusual excursions around St. Petersburg
Sights known throughout the world are best visited with a guide. But in St. Petersburg, as well as in Moscow, there are places where not all guides take their wards. These are streets, courtyards, unusual monuments that are not included in popular tourist routes, but are no less interesting than famous palaces and parks.
The old courtyards and front doors of St. Petersburg is an unusual tour that allows you not only to see the festive, glossy side of the Northern capital, but also to walk through the back streets where petty officials, factory workers, and cab drivers wandered in the 19th century. There are districts in the city that have preserved the spirit of Dostoevsky's times.
The duration of this unusual tour of St. Petersburg is an hour and a half. The cost is 700 rubles. Held only in Russian.
Visit unusual monuments - another unusual excursion in St. Petersburg. Indeed, among the sights of the city on the Neva, not only sculptural compositions located in the historical center are worthy of attention, but also rather unusual intricate monuments thatare outside of it. You can get around these sights on your own, without a guide. Unusual monuments of St. Petersburg:
- "Ostap Bender", Italian street, house 2.
- "Chizhik-Pyzhik", Fontanka Embankment, 1st Engineering Bridge.
- "Hare on a pile". Hare Island, a pile near the Ioanovsky bridge.
- Behemoth Tonya, Birzhevoy proezd, house 2.
- "Photographer", Malaya Sadovaya, house 3.
- "Cat Elisha and cat Vasilisa", Malaya Sadovaya, house 3.
- Gryphon Tower, 7th line of Vasilievsky Island, building 16.
- "Lamplight", st. Odessa, house 1.
Viewpoints of St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg rooftop walks - one of the most interesting sightseeing routes, includes visiting the best viewing platforms in the city. Namely:
- The Dome of the Singer House.
- Roof on Vosstaniya Square.
- The roof opposite the Kazan Cathedral.
- Leader Tower Observation Deck.
- The bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
- The roof of the "Etazhi" loft project.
- Colonnade of St. Isaac's Cathedral.
- Eliseevsky shop.
- The roof opposite the circus on the Fontanka.
The cost of the tour in Russian is 800 rubles per person. In English 1100 rubles.
It's easy, knowing the addresses, to find buildings from the roofs of which offer a bewitching view of St. Petersburg. But it’s not worth it to go on such a trip on your own. The guide gives instructions - how to walk on the roof, what you can hold on to and what you can’t.
