The more gruesome side of social history has always appealed to the darker side of people's curiosity and in recent years, prison museums have become much more popular, with many now offering ghost tours, overnight stays and other experiences to pique a visitor's interest. Some prison museums are a place to learn about the terrible criminals kept within their walls, whereas others are memorials; places for remembrance of atrocities committed against people who were wrongfully imprisoned. Whatever their history, there is no better place to get a true understanding of what life was like for those inside than a visit behind their once locked doors.
With the article Prison Museums in the UK being such a big hit with readers, we have decided to expand to Prison Museums around the World. Unable to visit them all, we enlisted the help of other travel writers who have each written about a prison museum they have visited.
Click on the arrow next to each title to expand the listing
Prison Museums in Europe
Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin
Spike Island, Ireland
O Vello Cárcere, Lugo Spain
Alcazar of the Christian Monarchs, Spain
Helsinki County Prison / Katajanokka in Helsinki, Finland
The Conciergerie, Paris
The Hohenschönhausen Memorial, Berlin
Auschwitz Birkenau, Poland
The National Prison Museum in Veenhuizen, the Netherlands
Ninth Fort, Lithuania
Lukiškės Prison, Lithuania
Prison Museums in The Americas
Alcatraz, San Francisco Bay, USA
Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, USA
Old Idaho Penitentiary, Boise, USA
Yuma Territorial Prison, Arizona, USA
Kingston Penitentiary, Ontario, Canada
Ushuaia Prison Museum, Argentina
The Salvation Islands, French Guiana
Prison Museums in Africa
Robben Island, South Africa
Changuu Island, Tanzania
Prison Museums in Asia
Con Dao Prison, Vietnam
Seodaemun Prison, Korea
The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Hoa Loa Prison, Hanoi, Vietnam
Prison Museums in Australia
Melbourne Gaol, Melbourne, Australia
Port Arthur, Tasmania
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