May Matthews (left) and Romy Clark from Bonhams Edinburgh carry a carved wooden model of an Atlantic Salmon by Rogers Brookes (estimate £1,500-2,000) during a photo call for the upcoming Home and Interiors sale, and Sporting and Wildlife sale, at Bonhams, Edinburgh, on September 16, 2020. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images)

Grand banqueting halls, opulent lobbies and vast ballrooms; you could easily be forgiven for thinking this was a collection of photographs was documenting some of Europe’s grandest hotels. However, a closer look will reveal the majestic rooms to be engulfed in swathes of dust and moss; hotels that once hosted royals and high society abandoned to the elements. This is the latest result of urban exploration photography, going beyond “no entry” signs to capture images of dilapidated buildings across Europe. IT worker Thomas Windisch, from Graz in Austria, indulged his passion for photography by traveling across the continent, visiting over 100 abandoned hotels along the way. Here: inside a hotel in Austria. (Photo by Thomas Windisch/Caters News)

In this December 18, 2013 photo released by Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, 32 men dressed as Santa Claus ride the 150-foot tall SkyScreamer tower swing ride at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Calif. (Photo by Jason Quintos/AP Photo/Six Flags Discovery Kingdom)

A picture made available on 20 October 2015 shows a foreign tourist posing for a souvenir photograph with a figure of a tiger head at a private zoo on Phuket Island, Thailand, 17 October 2015. Each day hundreds of tourists, including young children, visit the private tiger zoo where visitors are allowed to touch and pose for photographs with unchained tigers inside their enclosures. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

VIETNAM: A Vietnamese woman, wearing the traditional “ao dai” long dress, poses for photos along peach blossom flowers ahead of the Vietnamese “Tet” (Lunar New Year festival), in a field in Hanoi, Vietnam, February 2, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

Honda Spanish rider Marc Marquez crashes with Aprilia Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira during the MotoGP race of the Portuguese Grand Prix at the Algarve International Circuit in Portimao, on March 26, 2023. (Photo by Marcelo Del Pozo/Reuters)

A woman sits in lotus prayer pose during the “Yoga at the Sunrise” event on Copacabana beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Saturday, June 22, 2024. The activity celebrates International Yoga Day proclaimed by the United Nations as June 21. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, Spain's tennis player Rafael Nadal gestures during a training session at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Friday, November 15, 2024. (Photo by Manu Fernandez/AP Photo)