Dangerous Places for Tourists

Dangerous Places Tourists running with bulls
Running with Bulls – real ones, not those in Chicago …

Dangerous Places for Tourists | Imagine you are healthy, in good shape and not depressed at all. You are in a foreign country that is considered to be safe. What can happen? Nothing, unless you purposely go to these eight very dangerous tourist attractions:

Troll’s Tongue, Norway

Dangerous Places Tourists trolls-tung-norway
Dangerous Place for Tourists : Troll Tongue, Norway

1) Troll’s Tongue, Norway | The most famous tourist sites in Norway is also our #1 on the list of Dangerous Places for Tourists, and it’s not hard to understand why when you see the this rock perched on top of a cliff overlooking stunning Lake Ringedalsvatnet. This rock sits 700 metres in the air, making it an exceptionally dangerous vantage point especially given lack of guard railing around the cliff. Even the hike to get to the rock takes around 8 to 10 hours and ascends 900m. An Australian woman fell to her death from Trolltunga in 2017. It was the first recorded death at Troll’s Tongue.

Half Dome, Yosemite NP

Dangerous Places Tourists half-dome-yosemite
Dangerous place for tourists: Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California

2) Half Dome, Yosemite NP, California | Climbing to the summit of Half Dome in Yosemite NP is one of the most famous day hikes in the United States. Thanks to its popularity the area is often crowded, with scores of tourists waiting their turn to reach the peak. The almost vertical climb to the top has cables to help hikers make their way to the top. The peak sees an average of 10 to 15 deaths each year. Falls and drowning aren’t the only dangers. There are also records of hikers being struck by lightning while attempting to make the climb. The Yosemite Search and Rescue team estimates that about 60 percent of their duties involve rescuing hikers in distress. They rely not just on helicopters and preparedness for medical emergencies, but also on canine search and swiftwater rescue teams. Hikers are discouraged from undertaking the climb when conditions are wet, because the combination of slippery cables and slippery rocks can be deadly—so deadly, in fact, that the bottom part of the cliff on the same side as Mirror Lake is known as the Death Slabs. Even when it’s not wet and slippery, accidents are still well documented. In 2012, a man slipped from the cables and had to be rescued after trying to grab a radio dropped by a person above him. Deaths of 2011 include three hikers who ignored guardrails and fell into Vernal Falls, another man who slipped and fell onto the Mist Trail (ultimately swept away and killed by the same river), and a 26-year-old who slipped on the cables and fell 180 meters (600 ft).

Mount Hua Shan, China

Dangerous Places Tourists mount-hua-shan-china
Dangerous place for tourists: Mount Hua Shan, China

3) Mount Hua Shan, China | Our picture alone lets most of the readers ask: Why would I possibly go there? No freaking way! The rickety wooden plank path that runs along the edges of Mount Hua Shan in China has been described as the most dangerous hike in the world. It is actually not too hard to see why. There are few handholds along the path and at one point the planks fall away entirely, leaving walkers to make their way using footholds in the rock. Different sources claim that approx. 100 people per year lose their lives on Mount Hua Shan.

Caminito del Rey, Spain

Dangerous Places Tourists caminito-del-rey-spain
Dangerous place: Caminito-del-Rey, Spain

4) Caminito del Rey, Spain | El Caminito Del Rey is as dangerous as Mount Hua Shan. This walkway reopened in March 2015 after being closed for 14 years because of five deaths. El Caminito Del Rey is more than three kilometres long and runs along the dangerously steep walls above the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes Gorge in Spain. The walkway was built to provide workers at the hydroelectric power plants at Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls with a means to cross between them, to provide for transport of materials, and to facilitate inspection and maintenance of the channel. The construction began in 1901 and was finished in 1905.

Death Road, La Paz, Bolivia

Dangerous Places Tourists death-road-bolivia
Dangerous places for tourists: Death Road, Bolivia

5) Death Road, La Paz, Bolivia | If you would have this street for yourself: ok. no problem. Drive slow and everything will be fine. But unfortunately there will be heavy traffic waiting for you up there … The North Yungas Road (also known as ‘Death Road’) is a 69 kilometre long road in the Yungas region of Bolivia and is one of the world’s most dangerous roads. The way is known for its extreme danger thanks to the instability of the ground and lack of barriers keeping vehicles away from the 600 metre drop. A number of people have fallen victim to the road over the years and cross markings adorn the road. More than 200 people are killed on the road each year, according to some estimates.

Running with the bulls in Pamplona

Running with the bulls palmona spain
Dangerous place: running-with-the-bulls in Pamplona, Spain

6) Running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain | This eight-day festival honors Saint Fermin. It began in the 14th century. Ten bulls are released onto the streets of Pamplona where they run for 825 meters along with those people stupid enough to step in and join them. More than 20,000 sickos take part throughout the week and as many as 100 of them are injured each year. There have been 15 deaths at the hands of the bulls since 1910.

Acapulco, Mexico

Acapulco 2016: drug cartells keep the city in the News.
Acapulco 2017: drug cartells keep the city in the News.

7) Acapulco, Mexico | It is hard to say whether Acapulco (along with a few cities in Mexico) can still be considered a tourist attraction given the high rates of everything bad that exist in the city today. While it was once one of the most prosperous parts of Mexico, Acapulco has earned itself a nasty reputation as a place in which locals and visitors alike are under constant threat. While it is still one of the country’s major tourist towns, Acapulco is listed by Business Insider to be the third most violent city in the world, with a homicide rate of just over 104 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Obviously the drug interests in and around the city are more interested in getting their product to tourists, the crime epidemic in the city often affects them, as can be said of many Mexican cities.

Praia De Boa Viagem, Brazil

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A truly dangerous place for tourists: Praia-de-boa-viagem, Brazil. This is shark territory.

8) Praia De Boa Viagem, Brazil | Wide, sandy beaches, breathtaking sunsets, perfect weather, close proximity to urban nightlife, warm clear ocean waters … Sounds like a perfect vacation. Possibly, if it wasn’t for the sharks. Praia de Boa Viagem has long been Brazil’s premiere destination for tourists from all over the world, but since 1992, the beach has been plagued by shark attacks. Between 1992 and today, 65 shark attacks has been counted. That’s still less than Australia, but people have a better chance of walking away from a shark attack in Australia than they do at Praia de Boa Viagem.

Here half of all attacks end deadly. The sharks in question are bull sharks, problematic because they tend to like the shallow, coastal waters that they end up sharing with swimmers and surfers—and they’re not really the ones at fault. Porto Suape was built on breeding grounds for the sharks. When it opened in 1984, it also sealed off several estuaries that were once used by female sharks as a safe, sheltered place to bear their young. Tiger sharks are also thought to be a huge part of the problem, though less proof has been found of their attacks than of bull sharks. They’re attracted to the area for a different reason—they also prefer coastal areas, but that’s because they have a tendency to follow ships and eat the garbage that gets thrown overboard. When they run into tourists paddling.


Dangerous Places Tourists. By Chili & Chirp | © Hugging Horizons | Check out more Top Lists here -> 20 Travel Top Lists.