Places Extreme Road Trip Wants to Go

A preposterously luxurious hotel with gold-plated iPads, Rolls Royce chauffeurs, and a staff that trains by watching "Downton Abbey."

Planned as the world’s first zero-carbon city, it had lofty ideals—but is only 5 percent completed and aiming for 50 percent carbon-neutral.

These tombs were built into the side of a mountain so that ancient angels could reach the dead.

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

Ruins of the Crusaders' headquarters.

A collaboration of art and ornithology mourns the calls of Sydney's lost birds.

A grand imperial capital left to fall into magnificent ruin.

Gigantic unfinished stupa and the world's 2nd largest bell.

What was once supposed to be the symbol of a shining Afghan future is now a bombed-out ruin.

This upscale streetwear store is hidden behind a fake Snapple machine in the back of a deli.

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

A very classy 1920s-era bar right in Grand Central Station.

This historic address is home to the beloved ball and is an almost totally empty building among the most expensive real estate in the world.

Wine bottle sculpture with a ship's stateroom inside.

This Wall Street bar was once a hub of revolutionary activity where Washington famously bid farewell to his troops.

This semi-hidden Manhattan restaurant is based out of a loading dock.

Prove you deserve to be fed by Kenny Shopsin.

Slyly buy a shake in the Parker Meridien lobby.

This sculpture by artist Fritz Keonig survived the 9/11 attacks and now stands as a monument to the victims.

A three-story copper skybridge connects two Manhattan buildings with Art Deco luxury.

This little museum is built on a theater that was once a wildly elaborate speakeasy.

A pedestrian island in the middle of world-famous Times Square emits a strange (and purposeful) humming noise.

More gold than anywhere else, ever.

A dilapidated dock tells the story of Titanic’s missed arrival.