Historic prisons are fascinating, tragic and often macabre places, which is why those that have been converted to modern hotels and hostels make such interesting accommodation options. With this in mind, Lonely Planet has rounded up 10 former prisons around the world that you won’t want to be released from after serving time there.
The Liberty Hotel was once home to some of Boston’s most notorious inmates
Have a drink at the Clink in Boston
The Liberty Hotel is an iconic National Historic Landmark Building that was formerly known as Charles Street Jail. Originally built in 1851, it was once home to some of Boston’s most notorious inmates, including James “Whitey” Bulger. The 298-room luxury hotel merges the past and the present, with features including replica jailer’s keys. Guests can peruse a gallery of historical images and tales from the previous 150 years, and dine at the aptly-named Clink restaurant.
Het Arresthuis still manages to look imposing from the outside
Hold a block party with a difference in The Netherlands
If you fancy an unusual setting, a hotel in The Netherlands is located inside a prison dating back to 1863. Het Arresthuis (The Arrest House) hotel comes complete with barred windows, original cell doors and cast-iron staircases. The cells have been transformed into rooms and suites that open out to a lounge in the old prison hallway, and there are four luxury suites, named The Jailer, The Lawyer, The Director and The Judge. The hotel will also let you rent an entire cell block for parties of up to 200 people.
Shepton Mallet prison’s former inmates included the notorious Kray twins
Get locked up inside the UK’s most haunted prison
Those with steady nerves can opt to spend a night locked up in an English prison reported to be the most haunted in the United Kingdom. The historic HM Shepton Mallet prison was built in 1610, and death sentences were performed on the site up until 1945. Famous former inmates include the notorious Kray twins. The prison closed in 2013, and now offers an experience where guests can spend a night there behind bars, including dinner and breakfast. They will get the opportunity to go on a tour after dark, and wander the wings alone at night to experience any strange goings-on.
Hostel Celica still has bars on its windows and doors
You won’t want to escape this Slovenian hostel
Hostel Celica in Ljubljana was once a military barracks for the Austro-Hungarian army and served as a prison for over 100 years. First constructed in 1882, it has been transformed into a unique hostel, with 20 former prison cells available to rent as well as six multi-bedrooms. Each cell has its own specific story and concept and has prison bars on its windows and doors. The hostel also has a Museum of Solitary Confinement that shows former cells buried deep in the basement of the building.
Sultanahmet Cezaevi housed famous political dissidents and artists
Serve time at this former Turkish jailhouse
Located next to the city courthouse, Sultanahmet Cezaevi prison in Istanbul was built in 1918 and housed famous political dissidents and artists. Now the Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet, the hotel has capitalised on the building’s dramatic neoclassical architecture with domes and towers in its luxurious makeover. You can still see elements of the prison structure throughout the hotel, including original wooden doors and arched hallways. The landscaped courtyard once served an exercise yard, and inmates’ names are carved on a marble pillar by former prisoners.
Barabas Luzern was named after a former prisoner
Sleep like an inmate in Switzerland
This historic central prison of Lucerne was built in 1862 and operated as a prison until 1998. It’s now a hotel called Barabas Luzern, named after a former inmate who was imprisoned until 1975 as a conscientious objector. Guests can see a fresco he created in his cell that captured everything he missed during his detention, such as women, money and wine. Barabas provides accommodation in former prison cells, and there are multi-bed rooms with a shared bathroom as well as private rooms. The library, offering a large number of crime novels, is also bookable as a hotel room.
Oxford Castle became a prison in the mid-17th century
Get detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure in England
Oxford Castle is a Norman medieval castle in England that became a local prison in the mid-17th century after most of it was destroyed in the English Civil War. It was renamed HM Prison Oxford in 1888 and served as a jail until 1996. It is now a luxury hotel, the Malmaison in Oxford, in which three cells have been converted to make each a hotel room filled with modern amenities. Guests can pop into the visitor attraction, Oxford Castle & Prison, and see the medieval remains of the castle, including St George’s Tower and crypt.
Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam was a former prison and juvenile detention centre
Explore this Dutch hotel’s colourful past
In its former life, Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam was used as a hotel for emigrants heading to South America, a shelter for Jewish refugees from Germany and a detention centre during World War II. After the war, it continued to function as an adult prison and later became a juvenile detention centre. In the ‘90s, artists’ studios occupied the building and it has been a hotel since 2004. All 117 bedrooms at Lloyd Hotel have different, eclectic designs and cover a range of budgets. Rooms are kept as a surprise until the guests arrive, but quirky features include swings and hammocks.
Guests can sleep in solitary confinement cells at Ottawa Jail Hostel
Spend time in solitary confinement in Ottawa
The HI Ottawa Jail Hostel was originally the Carleton County Gaol, more commonly known as Ottawa Jail. It was built in 1862 next door to the courthouse, and was connected by a tunnel. When the jail closed in 1972, it was converted to a hostel, which some say is haunted. Much of the structure has been left intact, including stone walls and iron doors, and guests can even sleep in solitary confinement cells. The top floor, which served as the jail’s death row, has been restored to much of its original condition and free daily tours are conducted.
Hotel Katajanokka, formerly a prison, once housed a Finnish president and prime minister
Amsterdam
Enjoy a short stretch at this former Finnish prison
Hotel Katajanokka in Helsinki was a prison from 1837 to 2002. As the Helsinki County Prison, its former inmates include former Finnish president, Risto Ryti, and prime minister, Väinö Tanner, who were both incarcerated following the country’s war-responsibility trials. During its later years, it functioned as Helsinki Remand Prison. Following extensive renovations and conversion work, the prison was reborn into the high-class Hotel Katajanokka in 2007. Its main hallway, exterior and surrounding red brick walls remain to remind visitors of the colourful and often tragic stories of its past.
Where to have an epic adventure in two weeks or less
The best adventures are experiences travelers hold dear for a lifetime and recount with reverence. They are trips you never forget and that become the standard by which all other adventures are measured.
Some bucket-list adventures can be life changing in under two weeks
Epic adventures change you in some way, but life-list trips don’t require you to spend months traveling or mean you have to quit your job. Take these big-impact, worldview-changing adventures: they all have elements of the unexpected, they all take you deep into the culture and nature of the places they go, and they’re all trips we promise you’ll never forget. But the longest trip is just 14 days.
Namibia safari by bike
On H&I Adventures Namibian Bike Safari, you pedal within spitting distance of megafauna and visit the iconic ochre-painted indigenous Himba. However, the best part – experiencing the Namibian landscape from the saddle of a bicycle – makes you part of the landscape as well as an observer. As you cycle from Namibia’s stark, sandy Skeleton Coast to the Huab River, you’ll pedal singletrack stamped in by wildlife, and lunar-looking farm and jeep track.
Cycle through the Namibian landscape and feel part of the environment
Along the way, you’ll spot a dazzle of zebra, a herd of oryx, leaping springbok, gentle giraffe and you may sight a rare rhino. A dawn scramble up the highest sand dune in the world lets you peer out over southern Africa before you step into a Land Rover in Etosha National Park with an expert guide to spot lion, cheetah and more. You don’t need to be an expert rider for this adventure, just comfortable on a bike, fit, and game to camp under the stars.
Cost: $4930
Duration: 12 days
Make it happen: H&I Adventures
Long Trail Thru-Hike
Most thru hikes take months, and a leave of absence from work and family, to complete. Vermont’s Long Trail, in the Northeastern United States, is different. The original thru-hike was completed in 1930 and served as the inspiration for the much longer Appalachian Trail. Winding a rugged 272 miles along the spine of the Green Mountains from Massachusetts to Canada, it is remote, immersive and challenging – and doable in 14 days.
Challenge yourself to a thru-hike that won’t require you to take too much time away
Start at the Massachusetts border, where the trail shares the same corridor with the Appalachian Trail for about 100 miles. Then the oldest long-distance backpacking trail in the United States splits off to scramble through hardwood forests and over mountaintops. The trail hits nearly every Green Mountain summit before you reach its terminus. Train up and pack light – the Long Trail sounds short, but it’s steep in sections and challenging.
Cost: under $500, including provisions, and a shuttle to and from start to finish
Duration: Approximately 14 days
Make it happen: Green Mountain Club
Sail through the Norwegian Fjords to a music festival
The best way to see northern Norway’s archipelagos is from a boat, and this eclectic excursion is a sampler platter of the best the region has to offer, including what’s been called one of the best music festivals in the world, which is only accessible by sea. Seil Norge sets sail for the Træna Music Festival with a fleet from quaint and cozy brightly painted Brønnøysund. The boats tack through thousands of islands, islets, and reefs. Along the way, aspiring captains can learn to sail. You’ll also fish for dinner, kayak, row, hike and even bag seven summits in a day if you’re game.
Sail, fish and enjoy the music on an adventure to a remote festival
You’ll come to shore to feast on the days catch, and then re-board your ship to sail under the midnight sun. Other optional excursions include landing to learn about sustainable agriculture from local eider farmers, and an eagle safari. And if you prefer to read a book or do nothing but take in the sights and smell the salty ocean breezes from the deck, that’s fine too. The fleet races Træna’s annual regatta, the Træna Ocean Race, then the three-day music festival begins.
Cost: $1698
Duration: 10 days
Make it happen: Sail Norway
Motorcycle through Ecuador from the Andes to the Amazon
Ride 1000 miles along Ecuador’s Pacific Coast, through the Andes Mountains, and into the Amazon jungle basin cruising cloud forests, coastal savannah, beach, desert, and rainforests and crossing the equator. On Freedom Bike Rental’s Andes to Amazon motorcycle tour, you’ll motor uncrowded backroads, including hand-maintained cobblestone streets. The curated route crosses through the most bio-diverse regions in the world in the shadow of Ecuador’s highest peaks, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo, where rare vicuña graze roadside.
Head into the Amazon on two wheels
Off the bike, you’ll splash in waterfalls and crater lakes, paddle and hike the rainforest with a local guide who is an expert in the region’s flora and fauna, and sample freshly made chocolate at a cacao farm. Make a stop to meet an indigenous community, and you’ll learn to hunt with a blowgun and pan for gold. You’ll stay in inns and boutique hotels, including a world-famous bird lodge in the Nono Biological Reserve. Add a session with a shamanistic healer, or adrenaline sports like parasailing and bungee jumping if that’s more your speed.
Cost: $4395
Duration: 9 days
Make it happen: Freedom Bike Rental
Local’s tour of Philippines’ Coron Island
Hidden beaches and coves, private lakes and emerald lagoons, fresh native cuisine and rustic and comfortable cabins, cottages and camping are Dream Boat Man’s signature experiences. Travel with this small, locally owned guide service on their Coron Island Life Expedition in the Philippines, and you’ll get to know the region’s hidden gems.
Indulge in the tropics with local tour operators
The crew, who are all from the Palawan Islands, prepare indigenous specialties and share island lore before seaside camping under the stars, or spending the night in a thatched roof cottages. Campfires and quiet nights are complemented by live music and a private island party to finish off the trip. And because you’re staying, eating and traveling locally, your trip bolsters the local economy directly.
