Visiting The Gates Of Hell All Over The World (PHOTOS)

Grandma may be breathless over her trip to the Holy Land and your cousin may want to go snowboarding at Heavenly, but most people receive more personal recommendations to go to one place more than any other. That place is, of course, Hell.

Unfortunately, the people who issue the common directive to "Go to Hell," are normally woefully unspecific about how to get there. It turns out that Hell, like Carnegie Hall, is accessible to people willing to follow two very different sets of directions. The easiest way to get there is to lie, cheat, steal, fornicate, blaspheme and wait for the inevitable. The problem with this approach is that you might not get a round-trip ticket. The second way is a bit more complicated: Find the gates to Hell and walk right through.

Legend has long held that there are passageways that lead to the underworld. In the spirit of Halloween , we've found 10 possible entrances to the ultimate pit of despair ranging from the innocuous (a lovely town in Norway) to the decidedly warmer (a perpetual fire in Turkmenistan).

In case Virgil isn't available, we would also suggest a little preparatory reading. Hell, rather unsurprisingly, has an excellent website where you can make reservations for some excellent acts and there are also online and print guides to the only neighborhood that never gentrifies.

For maximum effect, play some Led Zeppelin while clicking through our guide to the ultimate bonfire.

Photo: Flickr: rapidtravelchai