The World's Top 100 Wonders in 2018

The strange and unusual places Atlas Obscura readers wanted to visit most in 2018.

by Atlas Obscura

100 Places

In 2018, Atlas Obscura’s community marked “Want to Visit” more than one million times across our worldwide database of approximately 15,000 strange and unusual places. The Top 100 hidden wonders span three continents and nine countries.

Leading the pack is the Sloth Center in Rainier, Oregon—home to the largest captive population of adult sloths in the world. In second, the Atlas Obscura community selected Horseshoe Bend, a dramatic archaeological wonder in Page, Arizona. And in third? The ever-creepy Alcatraz Island in San Francisco.

The top five cities represented in 2018’s Top 100 were New York, Berlin, London, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

The Sloth Center

Home to the largest captive population of adult sloths in the world.

Added by petillante

Horseshoe Bend

Dramatic river bend surrounds a natural red-rocked pedestal.

Added by Facebook590576781

San Francisco, California

Alcatraz Island

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.

AllisonEng

Added by AllisonEng

Portland, Oregon

The Grotto

A beautiful 62-acre Catholic shrine and botanical garden.

Added by spitfire178

Grindavík, Iceland

Blue Lagoon

Medicinal spa created from the mineral-rich runoff of a geothermal power plant

Allison

Added by Allison

Mont Saint-Michel, France

Mont Saint-Michel

This 1,300 year old monastery built atop a single rock was once only accessible depending on the whims of the tide.

Added by IanWhalen

London, England

Platform 9 3/4

Kings Cross Station pays tribute to its role in Britain's best-selling book series.

Leslie McIntyre

Added by Leslie McIntyre

Los Angeles, California

Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Resting place of Hollywood's immortals is also site of summer film screenings.

anhie

Los Angeles, California

Griffith Observatory's Tesla Coil

High on a hill overlooking Los Angeles lives a world famous, high power conical Tesla Coil.

Rachel

Added by Rachel

Antelope Canyon

Most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest.

leiris

Added by leiris

Svartifoss

The unique waterfall in Iceland's south features a backdrop of geometric black lava columns.

Dampo

Coleford, England

Puzzlewood

The mysterious, fantastical woodland inspiration for "The Lord of the Rings."

Salem, Massachusetts

The Witch House of Salem

The only structure left with direct ties to the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692.

Dylan

New York, New York

The High Line

Elevated freight railway turned wildly successful urban park.

San Francisco, California

Peephole Cinema

A tiny theater hidden in an alley plays a constant stream of short silent films for anyone willing to peer through the peephole.

Holly Prz

Added by Holly Prz

Havasupai Falls

This secluded aqua waterfall in the Grand Canyon is the perfect swimming hole, and the Havasupai tribe's fiercely protected natural wonder.

lewblank

Added by lewblank

London, England

The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History

This shop and gallery is a modern-day cabinet of curiosities, unassumingly positioned along an urban thoroughfare.

Dylan

Père Lachaise Cemetery

France's most famous cemetery, with some of its most curious tombs.

Added by meelar

London, England

God's Own Junkyard

A kaleidoscopic warehouse-maze of handmade neon signs.

FrustratedFormerContributor

Added by FrustratedFormerContributor

Las Vegas, Nevada

The Neon Museum

The neon signs from Las Vegas' past find their final resting place at this unusual graveyard.

stanestane

Added by stanestane

Bibliothèque nationale de France (National Library of France)

This massive library holds what was once the largest book collection in the world.

Added by cinapelayo

Isle of Skye, Scotland

Fairy Pools

These fantastically named natural pools look like something out of a Scottish myth.

Added by HoldensHuntingHat

New York, New York

Mysterious Bookshop

The world’s oldest and biggest bookstore stocking only mystery, crime fiction, espionage, and thrillers.

Added by dannosowitz

Marble Canyon, Arizona

The Wave

Rippling sand dunes frozen in the Arizona rock.

Added by renakaba

Los Angeles, California

The Last Bookstore

This iconic L.A. bookshop is housed in an abandoned bank—both symbolic and chic.

kcmick

Added by kcmick

London, England

Leadenhall Market

This ornate Victorian marketplace was the setting for Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron in the first ‘Harry Potter’ film.

Meg

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum

A snapshot of the city's fascinating voodoo culture.

Added by NathanRisinger

New York, New York

Obscura Antiques and Oddities

Tucked in the back of this amazing antique store is an important piece of medical history.

Dylan

Yamanouchi, Japan

Jigokudani Monkey Park

Hot springs monkey spa in the middle of Hell's Valley.

atimian

Added by atimian

London, England

The Ruins of St. Dunstan-in-the-East

One of the few remaining casualties of the London Blitz, this destroyed church has become an enchanting public garden.

Luke J Spencer

Added by Luke J Spencer

Carbon County, Utah

Nine Mile Canyon

Here, at the "world's longest art gallery," you'll find forty miles of ancient petroglyphs and pictographs.

Ryan Lamb

Added by Ryan Lamb

London, England

Highgate Cemetery

London's creepiest cemetery was once the site of dueling magicians and mobs of stake-carrying vampire hunters.

New York, New York

Tannen's Magic Shop

New York's oldest magic store.

Oliver Hong

Added by Oliver Hong

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mütter Museum

America's most famous museum of medical oddities is home to the remains of Albert Einstein's brain.

Added by mbison

Dripping Springs, Texas

Hamilton Pool

An emerald-green grotto just a short trip from Austin.

Mark Casey

Added by Mark Casey

Los Angeles, California

Bradbury Building

The legendary building that needed ghostly approval before being built.

Rachel

Added by Rachel

London, England

The Hardy Tree

This churchyard arbor is surrounded by hundreds of gravestones placed there by author Thomas Hardy.

sarahvjanet

Added by sarahvjanet

San Francisco, California

Seward Street Slides

Bring your own cardboard to the slippery slopes of concrete hidden in a neighborhood park.

Annetta Black

Added by Annetta Black

Rue Crémieux

This charming cobbled backstreet is the most Instagramable street in Paris, much to the residents' annoyance.

Simon Jones

Added by Simon Jones

Catacombes de Paris

The vast, legendary catacombs hold secrets much stranger than stacked bones.

Key West, Florida

Dry Tortugas

These remote Florida islands have a history of sea turtles and sunken treasures, and one of the world's largest coastal brick fortresses.

anhie

Los Angeles, California

Bronson Cave

It should come as no surprise that the best view of the Hollywood sign is from Batman's lair.

Rachel

Added by Rachel

New York, New York

The SeaGlass Carousel

Manhattan’s Battery Park has a whimsical carousel full of spinning, glowing fish.

iyumnewyork

Added by iyumnewyork

New York, New York

Please Don't Tell

Dodge prohibitionists and slide through the telephone booth in Crif Dogs.

Oliver Hong

Added by Oliver Hong

New York, New York

Explorers Club Headquarters

A treasure trove of artifacts, books, and artwork from the "golden age" of exploration.

Annetta Black

Added by Annetta Black

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Eastern State Penitentiary

World's first "penitentiary," meant to be humane, drove men insane.

Dylan

Los Angeles, California

Old Zoo Picnic Area

The abandoned zoo enclosures offer a perfect place to experience the other side of the bars.

Added by Lisa E

San Francisco, California

Labyrinth at Land’s End

A winding path built in secret on the edge of the continent.

Annetta Black

Added by Annetta Black

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