The world is filled with dreamy landscapes, awe-inspiring architecture and brilliantly bizarre places. And often it’s the bizarre that most captures the imagination. There are the natural wonders so perfectly formed that magic or devilment is suspected, and man-made structures that defy gravity, manpower or the limits of the human imagination.
Click through the gallery to discover the world's strangest places, from destinations favoured by extra-terrestrials to famous landscapes supposedly created by trolls...
North of Reno and on the edge of the Black Rock Desert, Fly Geyser is a man-made wonder created entirely by accident. It’s been on this land, now owned by the Burning Man Project, since 1964 when an energy company drilled into geothermal waters and unleashed a boiling fountain that’s surrounded by mounds of carbonate deposits in hues of red, green and yellow.
The Petrifying Well isn’t quite as scary as the name suggests – unless, of course, you’re threatened with being turned to stone by the mineral-rich waters. People have visited the fascinating site since the 16th century and the main draw is seeing objects – including teddy bears – 'petrified' by the water. It apparently takes a few months for one of the cuddly toys to become stone and visitors can buy them in the gift shop. The cave is in the same woodland park as Mother Shipton’s Cave, said to be the birthplace of legendary witch Ursula Southhell.
Just as nature throws up many strange surprises, so do the endeavours of humans. The charmingly ramshackle Mystery Castle was constructed, stone by stone, by Boyce Luther Gulley, who had just been given a terminal tuberculosis diagnosis and wanted to build a dream castle for his daughter, Mary Lou. Gulley died in 1945, before he could send for his family from Seattle, Washington, though Mary Lou lived here until her death in 2010.
Anyone doubting the wonders of nature should take a look at this milky pink lake. That's right – a pink lake. On Middle Island, part of Western Australia’s Recherche Archipelago, Lake Hillier was discovered in 1802 and it’s believed the strawberry-milkshake colour is due to a combination of high salinity and the presence of a salt-loving algae species known as Dunaliella salina. There’s still no definitive answer though, so the remarkable hue remains a bit of a mystery.
This still-operational Air Force facility, known as Area 51, drew attention during its Cold War-era aircraft testing, spawning rumours of sinister experiments, a staged moon landing and a lab run by aliens. It remains strictly off limits but the nearby Alien Research Center – housed in a metal hangar with a 35-foot (11m) tall alien standing guard – has plenty of curios and gifts to satisfy the ongoing fascination with the area.
There are some incredible man-made pools around the world, but surely even the most imaginative and talented architect couldn’t match beauty like this. This geological masterpiece has been thousands of years in the making and is still evolving, slowly, as calcium deposits in the thermal water form travertine (a type of limestone) terraces. The rusty colour, due to the high iron-oxide content in the hot springs, adds to the unusual beauty.
Houska Castle’s Gothic architecture and remote location make it spooky enough. But the 13th-century castle also has another scary claim to fame: according to folklore, it was deliberately placed above a portal to hell in order to trap the demons below. Let’s hope it has some pretty strong foundations, or that it was actually built (as some suggest) as an administrative centre to serve the royal estates.
Dogs beware: you are not welcome on Aoshima or ‘Cat Island’, one of several places in Japan where felines far outnumber human residents. Reached via ferry from the east coast, it’s home to around 100 people and many, many more cats. Their presence here is due to the island’s silk production industry, with cats brought here to catch mice because the latter are a natural predator of silkworms. The furry descendants are now so loved they’re allowed to roam free, there’s a shrine to them, and people can stay in cat-shaped cabins.
Also known as the Black Fortress, this area of lava fields near Lake Myvatn might just hold a portal to the underworld. It might also be home to the Yule Lads, 13 sons of the troll Gryla who come out and generally wreak havoc around the festive season. Whatever you believe, the starkly beautiful landscape of lava-formed hills, caves and rock formations – used as a location in hit HBO series Game of Thrones – is undeniably enchanting.
Lakeside town, fishing hub, land of the sorcerers... Catemaco, wrapped around a lagoon in Mexico’s Veracruz province and surrounded by verdant mountains, certainly has a lot going on. It’s bewitching on many levels, with people travelling here to meet brujos (sorcerers), undergo spiritual cleansing or witness ancient rituals. It’s believed the mysticism results from Afro-Cubans and Afro-Haitians arriving here during the Spanish conquest, creating a blend of Catholicism, voodoo, Santeria (‘Way of the Saints’) and indigenous beliefs.
Visitors to Bonneville Salt Flats are advised to wear sunglasses – partly because this lunar-like landscape is so dazzlingly white and bright, but also, maybe, because it’s almost too weird for the eyes to absorb without some kind of filter. The salt pans sprawl out for 30,000 acres between Utah’s Salt Lake City and Wendover, Nevada. Several viewpoints along the I-80 allow people to stop and stare at the cracked surface, which curls and fractures in the heat.
At the grand age of around 400, the Old Enchanted Balete Tree in the Philippines’ Siquijor province is believed to be the oldest and biggest around. So it stands to reason there are magical stories surrounding it, with tales of mythical creatures residing in its branches. If hanging out by an ancient tree isn’t enough, a spring flows from the base into a man-made pool where visitors can dip their toes in and have them nibbled by fish.
Ever dreamed of peeking through a giant arrow hole created by a jealous troll? Well, visitors to the majestic mountain of Torghatten can do just that. If you believe the folklore, that is. The troll in question, Hestmannen, shot an arrow at the beautiful Lekamoya when she rejected his advances. She was saved by the troll king, who blocked the arrow’s path with a hat. That pierced hat apparently turned into the mountain.
Travelling through the Australian Outback, you might expect to see a hazy mirage or perhaps a lofty emu kicking up the dust. You perhaps wouldn’t expect to spot a UFO. But the Nullarbor Plain, a relentlessly flat stretch across South and Western Australia, has been considered a hotbed of alien activity since British atomic testing was carried out here in the 1950s. In 1988, a family claimed a UFO plucked their car from the road. Such stories are so common that there’s now a ‘Beware of UFOs’ sign on the highway.
The Cave of Zugarramurdi is shrouded in mystery and steeped in fascinating and complex history. Nearby Zugarramurdi is known as the village of witches, believed to be the site for the largest ever witch trail with thousands of people accused. The cave, with its karst tunnels, was associated with akelarres or ritual festivals, viewed as akin to devil worship during the Inquisition. Now there’s a museum dedicated to the period, and a trail leading up to the cave.
The thermal pools of Pamukkale, a town in western Turkey whose name means ‘Cotton Castle’, are strange in their beauty: a striking combination of bright white limestone and turquoise water. The travertine terraces, whose staggered steps tumble down the mountainside, are the result of minerals deposited over millennia from the natural hot springs, which overflow to form milky-blue pools.
Rumours of a beast lurking in its depths haven’t dented the popularity of Loch Ness, the biggest lake in the UK by volume. In fact, they’ve significantly boosted it. The freshwater loch, stretching southwest of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, is home (or not, depending on what you believe) to the Loch Ness Monster or Nessie, first sighted in 1933. A 1934 photo showing a long-necked creature turned out to be a hoax, though the legend of the beast persists. Urquhart Castle (pictured) keeps a watchful eye on the mysterious loch.
Joshua Tree has boulders straight from The Flintstones cartoons; spindly, spiky-looking trees that could appear in a children’s storybook; and some of the USA’s darkest skies. So of course aliens would be attracted to the place. They probably think it’s another planet altogether. Aside from the strange beauty of the landscape, the park attracts UFO hunters seeking an alien base rumoured to be hidden beneath the ground. Huge freestanding boulder Giant Rock has been a popular location for spacecraft-spotting since the 1950s.
The ever-enigmatic Bermuda Triangle covers 500,000 square miles (1,290,000sq km) between Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda, and more than 20 planes and 50 ships have crashed mysteriously or even ‘vanished’. Theories as to why range from magnetic compass variation to rogue waves. A growing number of people dismiss those and believe aliens are responsible. There’s even a theory that the area is home to an underwater alien base, and that reports of ‘small lights’ logged by Christopher Columbus in the 16th century were caused by alien activity.
Some of the world’s strangest phenomena can be explained by science, though that doesn’t make them any less fascinating. Take Racetrack Playa, a dry lakebed in California’s Death Valley across whose cracked surface rocks glide or ‘sail’. For years people puzzled over how the rocks were seemingly coming to life, with theories ranging from an undiscovered magnetic force to a higher power. Scientists have now discovered a more prosaic reason: the boulders are moved by wind when the ground is icy.
Transylvania's Bran Castle looks like something from a fairy tale but is more closely associated with one of the world’s most famous Gothic novels. Legend has it that bloodthirsty 15th-century ruler Vlad the Impaler – believed to have inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula – was imprisoned within its medieval walls. There’s no evidence that he even visited the place but the castle remains a creepy attraction, despite the museum focusing on Queen Marie of Romania, who was gifted the castle in 1920, rather than its darker associations.
This archaeological site was discovered at Brickell Point in downtown Miami in the late 1990s and declared a National Historic Landmark in 2009. Dubbed ‘America’s Stonehenge’, it consists of hundreds of holes in a layer of Oolitic limestone bedrock, with two dozen of them forming a perfect circle. The exact origin is still unknown, though experts believe it was carved by the Tequesta tribe around 2,000 years ago.
More of the world's mysterious stone circles that are still baffling experts
Pendle Hill is a beautiful spot with a grim past. The UK equivalent of Salem, Massachusetts, this rolling green landscape was where the infamous witch trials of 1612 were held, with 10 people found guilty of witchcraft and hanged. Today people can learn about the history by following the Walking with Witches Trail, join the annual Halloween hilltop gathering and spot sculptures among the trees. There’s also a campaign to officially pardon those who lost their lives.
Rakotzbrucke is also known as ‘Devil’s Bridge’, which seems an unfair moniker for such a stunning sight. The intriguing semi-circular landmark in Kromlau Park, Saxony, is considered so perfect that legend says it could only have been built by Satan himself. The tale continues that, upon its completion, the devil claimed the soul of the first mortal that crossed the bridge as a reward for his hard work. Visitors can’t walk on the bridge (perhaps that's just as well) but they can admire it from afar.
Winchester Mystery House is the wonderfully weird result of one woman’s commitment, vision and obsession. Widowed Sarah Winchester, whose late husband had invented the Winchester rifle, purchased the property in 1886. She then proceeded to spend the next three decades creating a labyrinth of more than 160 rooms, two basements, 10,000 windows and 2,000 doors, some of which lead to nowhere but feature sudden drops. A popular theory is that she was haunted by those killed by her late husband’s invention and created a maze to keep vengeful spirits at bay.
One of the world’s most famously strange places, Stonehenge has baffled scientists, historians and everyone else for centuries. The Neolithic site was created more than 5,000 years ago, with one of the wilder theories being that aliens must have arranged the rocks into the circle. Archaeologists at Newcastle University thought they may have cracked it in 2019, suggesting humans dragged the rocks into place using sledges lubricated by pig fat.
There’s a tangible air of mystery around Teotihuacan, a pyramid complex north of Mexico City. No one knows for certain who built and lived in the pre-Columbian city, or why they abandoned it around 1,400 years ago. The city, sliced through by the Avenue of the Dead and with temples and apartment-like structures, later became a pilgrimage site for the Aztecs, who named it Teotihuacan.
Few places are so closely associated with aliens as Roswell. Once you arrive, clues about the extra-terrestrial connections are everywhere, from gift shops and museums to themed road signs and even an annual UFO Festival. The relatively small and previously inconspicuous New Mexico city hit headlines in 1947 when a ranch worker claimed to have discovered the debris of a flying-saucer crash. The mystery was explained away as a weather balloon crash, though many didn’t – and still don’t – believe the story.
Canada has many beautiful lakes but few are as fascinating as Kliluk in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. Spotted Lake, as it’s often dubbed, has long been revered by Okanagan people and considered a place of healing, with each of its different circles believed to have different properties. It’s at its most magical in summer, when the water evaporates to reveal small mineral pools in different colours. The lake can be viewed from Highway 3, northwest of small town Osoyoos.
Imagine walking through a series of creepy, dimly lit tunnels and suddenly realising that the walls are made with human bones and skulls? You’ll probably know about the bones in advance if you visit Paris’ Catacombs, a labyrinthine underground ossuary (resting place) that holds the remains of several million Parisians. Many of their identities are unknown, with skeletons relocated here from overcrowded graveyards in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The ‘Drainpipe of the Pacific’ doesn’t sound like a sight worth travelling for, but Thor’s Well is far more compelling than its nickname suggests. This wonderfully weird attraction sucks in water, swirls it around and spurts it back out with a dramatic flourish. It lies just off the Oregon coast at Cook’s Chasm, with a parking area right off the 101 giving clear views of the action.
Welcome to the Australian equivalent of America’s Area 51. Actually, scrap that – you’re not really welcome here at all, because this satellite surveillance base is strictly off-limits. Pine Gap, in the Outback near Alice Springs, opened in the 1970s as a joint operation between the US and Australian governments. The Cold War spy facility was initially disguised as a space research centre, a misinformation that only fuelled ongoing conspiracy theories about alien sights and chilling experiments.
There are a few oddities about Marfa. There’s Prada Marfa (pictured), a shop that isn’t really a shop (it’s an art installation on an otherwise empty road, with a display of left-footed shoes and handbags). Then there’s the mystery of the Marfa lights: bright, throbbing orbs that have baffled onlookers for around 150 years. The colourful lights, which appear in the night sky, are even celebrated with an annual festival. Theories on what they are include the ghosts of Spanish conquistadors and the reflections of headlights.
The 17th-century Bhangarh Fort is considered to be the most haunted place in India. It certainly has a haunting beauty, which is only enhanced by the stories surrounding it. The most famous is that of a wizard rejected by a princess who saw through his plan to trick her with a love potion. She threw the brew at a boulder, which then crushed the unlucky wizard. With his last breath, he cursed the fort – now so feared that entry is prohibited after sunset.
Fancy spending the night in this forest? How about if we told you it’s one of the world’s most haunted? Hoia-Baciu Forest is about as eerie as they come, with crooked trees, a mist that carpets the floor, and legends of alien encounters and unexplained vanishings. It’s been dubbed ‘the Bermuda Triangle of Romania’, with the biggest mystery focused on The Clearing, a central area where nothing grows – and no one, yet, knows why.
The architectural style of Eastern State Penitentiary is Gothic and so is the atmosphere, because this 1829-opened prison was designed with inmates’ discomfort in mind. This was the first US prison to implement solitary confinement, with inmates kept in windowless cells like the one pictured. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, those inmates were pretty unhappy about the treatment and have apparently been haunting the facility since it closed in 1971. Those joining tours have described apparitions floating down the corridors and hearing loud whispers echoing around cell blocks.
This tiny settlement in Australia’s Northern Territory has a huge reputation for alien activity. It’s known as 'the UFO Capital of Australia' because sightings are so frequent here. Frankly, you’d have to be pretty unlucky not to notice at least an orb or two. Flying saucers have reportedly congregated in its air space since the 1950s, apparently attracted to nearby top-secret surveillance base Pine Gap. The town is dotted with statues of spindly green men, signs marking UFO landing sites and paraphernalia galore.
You might have heard of pink beaches, whose sandy hue is caused by a mix of crushed coral, calcium carbonate and tiny organisms. But red beaches? This example in China is particularly unusual, owing its vibrant colour to a carpet of Sueda seaweed, which turns scarlet in autumn. A boardwalk weaves above the beach and wetlands, which are also home to migrating birds.
The Southern states have some of the world’s most eerily beautiful cemeteries. Colonial Park Cemetery is often described as one of the most haunted places in Savannah, with paranormal experts reporting terrifyingly high levels of activity. The city’s oldest burial ground opened in 1750 and is a regular stop on ghost tours. It’s believed that more than 10,000 people are buried there, though there are fewer than 1,000 grave markers on the site (some of which aren’t attached to graves, as pictured). Visitors report seeing shadowy figures including that of a woman hanging from a tree.
The spectacular Chateau De Brissac is nestled in the Loire Valley and sits in stark and spooky contrast to the idyllic vineyards that stripe the area. The Renaissance castle was built in the 15th century and is believed to be the tallest and most mysterious in all of France. According to legend, the Green Lady or 'La Dame Verte’ was murdered in the castle centuries ago and now roams the grounds and towers.
New Orleans oozes spookiness and spirituality from every cobblestone, corner and cemetery, though this lavish Creole mansion – in the heart of the city’s French Quarter – is among its most spooky places. LaLaurie Mansion was owned by socialite Madame Marie Delphine LaLaurie, infamous for hedonistic soirees and, following a kitchen fire in 1834, murder. Local police responding to the blaze discovered the bodies of mutilated enslaved people in the attic. LaLaurie fled to France, though it's said that her victims can still be heard screaming into the night.
The Stanley Hotel occupies a spectacular position just outside Rocky Mountains National Park. But it’s the spooky goings-on inside that are truly breathtaking. One overnight stay inspired Stephen King to write his bestselling novel The Shining, adapted into the chilling 1980 film. Guests have reported hearing piano music in their rooms, with original owner Mrs Stanley apparently tinkling the ivories, while others have heard children’s laughter echoing in the hallways.
Perhaps the strangest thing about Fairy Glen is that the myths and legends surrounding it have been largely invented by visitors. It’s been linked to magical creatures for centuries, and was the filming location for the fantasy adventure movie Stardust. But really the unusual rock spires were formed by an ancient landslide rather than otherworldly forces. That doesn’t stop visitors’ claims of being watched by unseen creatures, though.
It was the Rapa Nui people who crafted and erected the 1,000-odd stone giants, known as moai, around 900 years ago. But no one really knows exactly how they managed to move the colossal statues, which weigh around 14 tonnes each, into place. Or, for that matter, why they exist at all. One theory is that the ancient Polynesians walked them from quarries using stone platforms, placing them to mark freshwater sources. Most of the bodies are buried, leaving only the heads peeping above ground.
Giant’s Causeway is one of the strangest places in the world, simply because it’s just so perfect. The World Heritage Site has more than 37,000 basalt columns that look like they must have been carved by many careful human hands, but were actually formed by a volcanic eruption around 60 million years ago. Unsurprisingly, legends abound, most famously that of Irish giant Finn McCool, who built a pathway with chunks of the coastline so that he could reach his enemy.
A canyon of rocky skyscrapers, these limestone pinnacles in China’s Tianzi mountains radiate an otherworldly mystique. Covered in lush greenery and often shrouded in mist, they were the inspiration behind the floating mountains in James Cameron’s blockbuster, Avatar. Head to the northwest corner of Hunan Province in China, where a cable car will whisk you from the village of Huangshi into the heart of the mountains and along a network of breathtaking trails, where you can quite literally walk among the clouds.
With its red sandstone formations and vast dry plains, this sandstone valley five hours south of Salt Lake City in Utah is often compared to Mars. But rather than Martians, the valley is populated by ‘goblins’, the name locals give to the surreal hoodoos (rock formations) shaped by the wind to look like gnarled mythical creatures. The most famous goblins include the Three Sisters (pictured), which sit within a three-square-mile (7.8sq km) area. You can camp in the state park, but watch out for goblins dancing in the moonlight.
High on a plateau in Xieng Khouang Province in central Laos, you’ll find one of the most extraordinary sights on the planet – over 2,100 tubular-shaped megalithic stone jars, scattered across the landscape. Local legend has it that the jars were used by giants to brew rice wine. Researchers believe they were used for funerary practices as far back as the Iron Age. Lost to time around AD 500, the jars were isolated even further by unexploded ordnance dropped on the area by the US during the Vietnam War. Visitors are still warned to stay on clearly marked paths.
Japan is famous around the world for its cherry blossoms. But there is another plant that turns a particular part of the country pink each year too. It’s shibazakura, a type of flowering moss that blooms just after the cherry blossom season ends, covering hillsides in a carpet of pink, violet and white. The best place to see it is in Hitsujiyama Park in Chichibu, just northwest of Tokyo. Here more than 400,000 shibazakura plants have been strategically planted to create playful colourful patterns, with Mount Buko towering in the background.
Looking like an alien spaceship docked on a remote Bulgarian mountainside, the Buzludzha Monument was built in the 1970s and served as the seat of the Bulgarian Socialist Party until Communism fell in 1990. It sits near the Shipka Pass, on the spot where Bulgarian revolutionaries bravely attempted to hold off Ottoman forces in 1868. With its brutalist form, Marxist mosaics and red-star ceiling, it is the epitome of Soviet-era architecture and a popular destination for urban explorers – if they can get in. A guard is on duty 24/7.