Places contender Wants to Go

The oldest steel ship in Iceland has been beached for years and is now a rusting ruin.

This black church sits alone among a field of lava rock.

These concrete domes were installed on an Icelandic bluff to honor a very specific musical tradion.

Two volcanic lakes in an enormous crater formed in a prehistoric eruption.

The summer tourists on these cliffs are thousands of seabirds.

Every summer local children form "pysja patrols" to save young birds that have wandered from their nests.

In this historic region, homes and churches are carved into ancient volcanic rock formations.

Thousands of exquisitely carved stone water storage wells, hundreds of stone steps fill this exquisite medieval stepwell.

This family tattoo parlor has been inking religious pilgrims in the Middle East for 700 years.

The birthplace of an eccentric alchemist and possible inspiration for the fictional reanimator of monsters.

A gorgeous medieval library where the books are kept in chains.

There are plenty of wonderful panoramic vistas in Edinburgh, but not many are hidden smack in the middle of the Old Town.

The forbidden island of the Tuscan Archipelago may still contain buried treasure.

"Stairs of the Turks", a chalky white cliff eroded conveniently into stairs, allowing for easy pillaging.

Virgil's many-mouthed gateway to the underworld.

This off-limits room in the National Library of France is home to a system of pneumatic tubes, once used to bring books to readers.

An Italian ghost town that fought obscurity, until a mysterious illness brought it to its knees.