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I know there are hotels built in buildings that used to be a prison. Is it possible to do some jail time as a tourist, somewhere? That is without doing the crime and only for a short period, just for the experience?

ADDED:

I am not looking for converted prisons. I have "spent" quite some time in those kinds, of which Langholmen was my favorite. I was really interested in experiencing the real thing. You often hear people say it is like a hotel these days. Would be nice to see if that is factual.

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    I added the "accommodation" tag thinking that by "spend time" you wanted to stay in the prison rather than just visit for a few hours. Please remove the tag and clarify the question if this is not what you meant.
    – hippietrail
    Dec 19, 2013 at 13:53
  • @andra: I see you removed the accommodation tag but you still didn't clarfiy whether you want to stay overnight versus just having some kind of guided tour. I'd be pretty sure you could stay overnight in some of the (in)famous prisons in Colombia and Bolivia where the inmates run businesses and live with their families in the prisons. You can definitely go on tours in some of them and interact with some of the prisoners. So what do you mean by "spend time"?
    – hippietrail
    Dec 20, 2013 at 3:30
  • @hippietrail if you put it that way, yes it is accomodation, I don't want to stay in a coverted prison into a hotel though
    – user141
    Dec 20, 2013 at 6:42
  • @andra: Yes you did make that part very clear. (-: To me if you're staying there overnight you're looking for a working prison that you can use for accommodation. That definitely warrants the extreme tourism tag! (-:
    – hippietrail
    Dec 20, 2013 at 6:45
  • Now you want to spend time as a tourist attraction? (-:
    – hippietrail
    Dec 20, 2013 at 9:22

5 Answers 5

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One of the most infamous ones is the prison in La Paz, Bolivia - the San Pedro prison. This prison was made famous in the book "Marching Powder".

enter image description here

(source: Wikipedia)

This prison is basically run by the prisoners, and even the guards don't enter the prison. Tourists aren't "meant" to go in, but there's a way, for sure. Obviously, you do this at your own risk.

My friends at Flightfox wrote a great piece on how they got into the prison, so for a writeup on how to achieve this feat, I provide their article on the subject - "Breaking into a Bolivian Prison".

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    This is exactly what I was lokking for!
    – user141
    Dec 19, 2013 at 5:45
  • @andra glad I could help. When I was there I met one or two people who were trying but didn't really realise the gravity of it all. If I went back, I'd totally attempt again.
    – Mark Mayo
    Dec 19, 2013 at 6:09
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The answer is "sure", though it may be somewhat far from civilization.

There is an NBC News Report allowing you stay in Jail for the night and there is a similar one listed in Missouri. If you choose to book it you can go to Jail Tours

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  • Those are dry runs, that would be similar to the Stockholm experience. Langholmen also was a "real prison" only the inmates were lacking since it now was a hostel and a prison museum
    – user141
    Dec 18, 2013 at 19:28
  • @andra What do you mean dry runs? You prefer something like: aetv.com/beyond-scared-straight
    – Karlson
    Dec 18, 2013 at 19:30
  • Dry run is a test before they open. No real inmates
    – user141
    Dec 18, 2013 at 19:44
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    @andra Well technically you didn't ask for other inmates. :)
    – Karlson
    Dec 18, 2013 at 19:51
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    @hippietrail There seem to have been lots of typos. :)
    – Karlson
    Dec 19, 2013 at 20:23
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The Malmaison Hotel in Oxford is converted from the old prison, and still retains much of the prison features. The wings look as they did, you still enter many of the rooms through cell doors, the main difference is that the rooms now take up multiple cells! (They're very very nice rooms...) If you're a fan of the TV show Lewis, there was an episode set there, so you may've seen it in that. As you walk around, it feels like a prison, but then you enter a nice room or the bar and the effect goes away. Douglas Neiner from www.flickr.com/photos/dougneiner/6871490847/ David Stifry from www.flickr.com/photos/dsifry/3930753078/ Douglas Neiner from www.flickr.com/photos/dougneiner/6871481693/

Otherwise, I think your best bet might be to visit a former prison that's now a museum. Alcatraz is the obvious one that springs to mind, but that is very popular and hence very busy.

Probably the best one I've visited is Maitland Gaol in Maitland, NSW, Australia. It was a jail for 150 years, before recently closing and becoming a museum. I found the audio tour to be better than the Alcatraz one, and it was much much quieter. If you wanted to stay in the prison, then they sometimes offer Fright Nights where you sleep in the cells. I doubt they're up to the luxury of a room in the Oxford Malmaison though!

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I used to go to the jail here in Tarija Bolivia.

To get inside you need an ID (residential visa ID) and you need a reason to enter. You can't just enter just to look around as a tourist. You also need to remember that as Bolivia is a 3rd world country, the local prisons are worse. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.

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Sometimes before opening for business a prison will do this, but usually it's invitation only for local judges, lawyers, and other dignitaries. Maybe if you know a prison under construction and know some of those living nearby you can arrange to be included in the party.

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