15 Places You Cannot Visit Even If you Want To

By: Lindsay Duncan
A collapsed school building covered by trees in the ghost city of Pripyat inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Pripyat was evacuated due to high radiation levels 30 hours after the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant disaster on April 26th of 1986. Getty Images / ©2019 Francisco Goncalves

When you start planning a vacation, the world is at your fingertips. Where will you travel next? How will you get there? What is waiting for you once you arrive? There are some locations, however, that you will never be allowed to visit, mostly for good reason! In this article, we are going to explore the locations that you either will never want to visit, or are just dying to find out what is there.

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1. Snake Island (Brazil)

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Located off the coast of Brazil, Snake Island contains Golden Lancehead Vipers. These snakes have venom that can melt human skin and kill extremely quickly. The Brazilian government has forbidden any travelers from stepping onto this island as it is predicted that there are around 4000 snakes, which equates to one snake per square meter. This location is definitely a nightmare concept for many.

2. Area 51 (Nevada)

Metal sign showing area 51
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If you don’t know what Area 51 is, you have some Googling to do! Area 51 is a government facility that conducts tests on…well, we aren’t sure what. In the past it was used to test certain aircrafts, which is what many people misunderstood as seeing Alien saucers flying through the sky. But this was years ago…so what happens now? We can only guess what is going on, but this area was not officially acknowledged by the government to exist until around 2013.

3. North Sentinel Island (Andaman)

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A fascinating island located off the coast of Thailand contains one of the most untouched tribes in the world. This beautiful tropical island is surrounded by a large coral reef that will wreck any boat that approaches. If you happen to make it past the coral reef, just know that the tribe waiting for you is considered one of the most dangerous tribes and you will most likely be killed. In the early 2000s, two fishermen got a little lost when they were out fishing and landed upon the shores of North Sentinel Island. They were discovered by the tribe and then killed. India has tried countless times to create a relationship with this group of people to no avail. Currently, you are not allowed to go within a three-mile radius of this island due to obvious safety concerns.

4. Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Norway)

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Created to stand the test of time, the Svarlbard Global Seed Vault contains 864, 309 samples of seeds from around the world. These seeds are protected from any disaster, man-made or natural, to provide an opportunity to rebuild after any possible disaster in the future. It is located on an island called Svalbard in Iceland where very, very few people even have the keys to the building. Only a select few are able to go inside on days when they are accepting new seeds.

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5. Bohemian Grove (San Francisco)

US cities on map series: San Francisco, California.
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Possibly the most unsettling and bizarre gathering in America is that of the Bohemian Grove. What sets this elite group apart from the rest of the cult-like gatherings, is that the attendees are the richest and most powerful men in America. To enter the club, you must pay $25,000 after being on a 15 year-long waiting list. Then, each year, you maintain your membership by paying $5,000. You must also have an Ivy League College Education.  Members have included George H. W. Bush, Clint Eastwood, and Richard Nixon. To make a long story short, this brotherhood involves a variety of groups within the Bohemian Grove that all have different roles. In addition to this, activities such as practicing rituals reminiscent of the Occult and dressing up in Drag Queen costumes have been caught on camera throughout the years. Only two individuals have witnessed this gathering. Alex Jones, a far-right-wing radio show host, and filmmaker snuck onto the premises and actually caught the bizarre rituals on camera.  Alex Shoumatoff, a writer for Vanity Fair was on the premises for approximately four hours before being arrested.

6. Surtsey (Iceland)

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This beautiful island is very young. It appeared in 1963 after a volcano erupted and caused this island to form. Today, no one is allowed to go near this island as it is one of the only landmasses untouched by humans. Scientists are allowed to visit the island to study it but must clean up thoroughly after themselves. They sleep in a tiny cabin on bunk beds in an effort to ensure minimal impact on the land.

7. Chapel of the Ark of the Covenant (Ethiopia)

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The Chapel of the Ark of the Covenant contains the two stone tablets that God gave Moses, containing the Ten Commandments. It is also claimed that Aaron’s Rod and a Pot of Manna is in the case as well. Manna is the edible substance given to the Israelite people by God to sustain them during their travels in the desert. Only one priest is allowed to view the Arc, if anyone else sees it, it is claimed that they will implode.

8. Pripyat (Ukraine)

A collapsed school building covered by trees in the ghost city of Pripyat inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Pripyat was evacuated due to high radiation levels 30 hours after the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant disaster on April 26th of 1986.
Getty Images / ©2019 Francisco Goncalves

Founded in 1970, Pripyat was a busy city with 49,360 people. Unfortunately located near Chernobyl, Pripyat was permanently evacuated in 1986, the day after the nuclear disaster.

9. Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory)

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Once inhabited by 2000 people, Diego Garcia is a beautiful small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. In 1973, the British evicted all inhabitants in order to allow the United States to build a Military Base on the entire island. Today it is still used for the American army.

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10. Lascaux Caves (France)

Lascaux Cave is a Palaeolithic cave situated in southwestern France, near the village of Montignac in the Dordogne region, which houses some of the most famous examples of prehistoric cave paintings. Close to 600 paintings – mostly of animals - dot the interior walls of the cave in impressive compositions. Horses are the most numerous, but deer, aurochs, ibex, bison, and even some felines can also be found. Besides these paintings, which represent most of the major images, there are also around 1400 engravings of a similar order. The art, dated to c. 17,000 – c. 15,000 BCE, falls within the Upper Palaeolithic period and was created by the clearly skilled hands of humans living in the area at that time. The region seems to be a hotspot; many beautifully decorated caves have been discovered there. The exact meaning of the paintings at Lascaux or any of the other sites is still subject to discussion, but the prevailing view attaches a ritualistic or even spiritual component to them, hinting at the sophistication of their creators. Lascaux was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1979, along with other prehistoric sites in its proximity. Valley, France.
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The Lascaux Caves are located in the southern part of France, containing cave paintings that are estimated to be 20,000 years old. They were originally open to the public to view in the mid-1900s, however, after an odd mold breakout (which was destroying the paintings), they closed this attraction to the public in 1963. As you can see below, an exhibit was created to recreate the artwork for the public to see in a museum.

11. Metro 2 (Moscow)

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Metro 2 are four lines of railroad estimated to be located about 50-200 meters underground that connects the Kremlin with the Federal Security Service. It is suggested that this railway was created during the reign of Joseph Stalin and is still used by the Ministry of Defence and Main Directorate of Special Programmes.

12. Bank of England Vaults (England)

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This is one of those locations that you know you just wouldn’t be allowed to go to. Yes, all those bars of gold are actual bars of gold that are traded between countries and individuals. Each bar has its weight and serial number printed on the bottom. Switching the ownership of one bar of gold from one owner to another means adding the serial number of that bar of gold to the new owner’s account, and removing it from the previous owner’s account.

13. Jiangsu National Security Education Museum (China)

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This museum is only available to Chinese citizens. It contains many artifacts of the techniques and inventions used in the past hundreds of years to win wars and to dominate enemies. Photographs are absolutely not allowed in this building and guests are carefully admitted to see these historic artifacts.

14. Javara Reserve (Brazil)

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The Javara Reserve is a heavily protected area of Brazil that is left untouched. After years of wondering whether or not there were tribes located in the Javara Reserve, images have been captured indicating tribes are still running in full force with longhouses, huts, and families inhabiting this dense land.

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15. Room 39 (North Korea)

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The ever so mysterious room in North Korea. If you can even get into North Korea, Room 39 is definitely off-limits due to its heavy involvement with much of the corruption throughout the country. It is alleged that North Korea is printing counterfeit American money to take the place of their own currency which is essentially worth next to nothing. But that’s not the only thing stored in Room 39. There are also a lot of illegal drugs stored in Room 39. Needless to say, you probably don’t want to go in there anyway.

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