Places westcoastspirit Wants to Go

The highest monastery in the world operates a tiny guesthouse with doors open to all.

Last stop before the top of the highest peak in the world.

One of the most beautiful bookstores in the world hides a neo-Gothic interior behind an art nouveau facade.

The collection of ceremonial and cultural objects spans many countries and hundreds of years.

A supply store for traditional healers, this shop sells the hair of a dog--and its skin, skeleton, and reproductive organs, too.

These hellish-looking cliffs in the Canadian Arctic have been burning for centuries.

This crumbling Death Valley mining complex was known for its use of giant, 20-mule team wagons.

Ten 25-foot-tall, beehive-shaped kilns, abandoned in Death Valley.

The lowest point in North America is home to an undrinkable pool surrounded by fields of geometric salt flats.

"Only the devil could play golf here."

This quirky curiosity shop takes its cues from the world's bazaars.

One of America’s oldest and spookiest hotels, thanks to the residency of ghosts, dead presidents, and Alfred Hitchcock.

The largest retailer of seashells in the world.

The largest treasure hoard in Europe is contained in a castle that was bombed out during World War II.

In addition to fine dairy products, the world's most beautiful milk shop also offers a feast for the eyes.

Mary Kelly was last seen here before she was murdered by Jack the Ripper.

This candy shop has been serving up sweets to the Louisville area since the 1850s.

In La Paz's huge, city-sized cemetery, the deceased are stored in rows of apartment-like buildings.

Popular tourist destination where witches in dark hats sell dried llama fetuses for good luck.

A 300-year-old tea shop that brought tea to the English people, not to mention the Queen herself.

When you can't get to the Pacific, just go to Florida.

Touch an actual dinosaur bone at this eclectic trove of Rocky Mountain treasures.

"Polynesia on the Plains."

Mai Tais and Navy Grog served up in one of the original tiki bars.