Charleroi: the vibe
Videos from people who went, played right here, with what viewers said underneath. Not part of the score.
The verdict
Mixed · 48Mixed verdict: commenters admire Charleroi's industrial heritage and gritty character and see real improvement, but many describe it as bleak, depressing, and poor.
- industrial heritage
- urbex appeal
- character and charm
- gritty authenticity
- city improvement efforts
- friendly people
- food
- bleak appearance
- deindustrialization decline
- poverty and unemployment
- filth and worn buildings
- construction and disrepair
- unemployment
- eerie atmosphere
- Looks grim, but the decay is more poverty than ugliness
- Locals say the city is underrated and improving
- Industrial ruins are fascinating to explore but depressing to live among
- A Belgian commenter would not want to live there
- Visitors find it worth a short trip, not a long stay
Read from 8 videos, 32 comments and 0 posts on 2026-11-08; the summary is written by a language model and can misread sarcasm.
Abandoned Places of Charleroi: Inside the Ugliest City in the World
Tomothy · 212K views · 2025
What viewers said
“The city may be ugly, but this video surely is not. I'm blown away by the quality of the cinematography. Great job!”
♥ 625 likes
“You might also call it the worlds biggest Urbex paradise. Concidered ubly but also haunting beautifull in an unconventional way.”
♥ 431 likes
“old industrial buildings are so cool and beautiful, so sad many are just abandoned”
♥ 194 likes
“I would not have expect a vlaams to make the best video about my city, good job”
♥ 440 likes
“I'm from the Ruhr area in Germany, which similarly has a lot of abandoned industry after the decline in coal mining activities. A lot of money went into repurposing these places, many of which are now used e.g., for exhibitions of different”
♥ 66 likes
“As any urbex fan would say, none of these are truly ugly. The problem lies more in with the relative general poverty/decline of the region.”
♥ 24 likes
“just looks like england”
♥ 105 likes
“The outcomes of de-indistrialisation is always depressing to look at. But also strangely alluring.”
♥ 6 likes
“As a Belgian I really can agree with this, Charleroi and surrounding villages are eerie depressing. I wouldn't wanne live there. A few years ago I was there regularly for work, beside the look, filth and worn out buildings there is also a l”
♥ 90 likes
“I'm from Belgium myself, and i can tell you there are uglier cities than Charleroi. It's a very underestimated city which has done an enormous tour de force to make it a descent city. Even the ugly parts have their charm. They still try to ”
♥ 34 likes
Found with a YouTube search for the city and “digital nomad”, fetched 2026-11-08; titles, descriptions and comments belong to their authors and link to the originals.