Australia's most haunted road trips, tours and stays

With the Spooky Season upon us, it’s time to focus on the most wonderful time of year… Halloween! And how you can incorporate these spooky visits into your next holiday or road trip adventure.

If you ever find yourself on a road trip in the Riverina region of New South Wales, popping into Australia’s “most haunted” house is a must.

Built in 1885 by local pioneer Christopher William Crawley, there’s a long list of spooky happenings at the homestead from over the years. The Victorian-style manor stands alone on a hill overlooking the town, and the Crawley family even remained in residence until 1948.

The house is open for self-guided day tours from Friday to Monday, but every Saturday there’s a package that includes dinner, an immersive 2.5-hour ghost tour and – if you’re brave enough - the option for up to 16 people to stay overnight. 

Guests have reported sightings of a woman in Victorian dress walking along the veranda at night and seeing bloodstained steps – the exact spot where a former household maid once fell.

Is there anything spookier than an old asylum and the ~ vibe ~ it gives off?

Beechworth is Australia’s second-oldest asylum, and those who have visited say you can hear children's laughter in the corridors of the old facility.

It’s estimated over 9000 patients died during their stay at Beechworth, which opened in October of 1867 and only closed in 1995. Yes, that’s right gals and ghouls, this spooky spot was still open less than 30 years ago.

There’s a range of tours to choose from, including ghost and paranormal to historical tours, but be careful… if you’re prone to ghosts and energies attaching themselves to you, you might just find yourself in conversation with the other side. It was reported that a 10-year-old boy on a ghost tour did just that.

His parents saw him talking to himself, while on a ghost tour, and he was asked who he was talking to, he replied saying it was a boy called James. After some research, it turns out a child by the same name had died at the asylum.

Dubbed Australia’s most haunted town and only 90 minutes outside of Sydney, Picton’s quaint small-town charm brings big-time spooky energy. Local legend says in 1916 a young woman by the name of Emily Bollard was walking through Redbank Tunnel when she was hit by a train and killed.

It’s hotly debated as to whether her death was intentional or accidental, but over the years residents and tourists all report seeing a white flowing figure of a woman who has no face within the tunnel. And if that isn’t giving you chills and making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, there are also multiple reports of lights floating above people’s heads, sudden drops in temperature, and ghostly children appearing out of the darkness.

Brave enough to visit? Just don’t go thinking you can go drive through the tunnel. While you can visit the location, it can only be viewed from the outside for obvious safety reasons.

Staying with spooky Sydney spots, the Q Station remains the NSW Spooky capital.

The North Head Quarantine Station was used to isolate people who had been exposed to diseases like the bubonic plague, Spanish influenza, and smallpox for over 150 years, with an uncountable number of patients dying from these diseases and neglect while living in filthy conditions.

Understandably so, it’s their spirits that are now said to haunt the now-defunct buildings.

There are ghost tours galore at the Q Station, including daytime tours for the scaredy cats, and ground tours after dark. If getting scared out of your wits is your thing and you’d like more, every third Friday of the month the Station is open for visitors to stay the night.

Shock horror! The old creepy jail is haunted!

The Old Melbourne Gaol is another super haunted spot, having once housed criminals, thieves and is where our most famous bushranger Ned Kelly and over 130 others were hanged between 1842 and 1929.

Again, no shortage of spooky stories from visitors sharing their creepy experiences of strange noises and sudden drops in temperature while walking through the old stone building. Old Melbourne Gaol holds ghost tours on weeknights.

This one is so niche but one I can personally attest to, having grown up in this North-West New England town. It’s almost a local rite of passage during high school to drive (or walk if you’re really brave) down the end of the road at night, turn around, and walk back towards the city.

You’re most likely to see a phantom set of headlights come flying towards you, or experience random electrical problems, like fuses blowing, the temperature in the car dropping, when the aircon is turned off. This road used to be a popular drag racing strip, and over the years there have been countless fatalities due to crashes, but their spirits are definitely still there.

Another stretch of haunted road is Sydney’s Wakehurst Parkway on the Northern Beaches.

This notorious road connects beachside suburbs Seaforth and Narrabeen but was also infamously used as a dumping ground for murder victims, and it’s local ghost ‘Kelly’ who is sure to give you a fright.

Local legend says if you’re driving on the road at night, Kelly will appear in your back seat and unless you tell her to get out, she will take control of the car and steer you off the road…

The story goes that this spooky occurrence happens in the black of night on this very dark stretch of road, so it might be a good idea to completely avoid driving on the Parkway by yourself if you scare easily.

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