The legendary luxury train passage is commemorated with a charming museum inside its former eastern terminus.

Ancient serpentine sacrifice holder that has stood the test of time.

Climb a steep hill in 90 seconds on the second-oldest urban subway in the world.

A fountain standing as a testament to a doomed alliance.

Legend says if you stick your thumb in the hole and it gets wet, your wish will be granted.

An Art Nouveau gem hides beneath the layers of city grime obscuring this once-magnificent building.

Large miniature theme park with 100-plus models.

The most metal church of all time was built in record time because of an international, pious pissing contest.

This museum was invented in a novel before being made real by the author.

1513 Turkish world map, full of European state secrets and snarky commentary.

Turkish adventurer antiques in the heart of the Grand Bazaar.

This remarkably well-preserved Egyptian plinth is pretty well traveled for a giant piece of stone.

Five sultans and their families rest in eternal splendor, teeming with overlooked beauty and drama.

The ornate miniature mansions were built for Istanbul's feathered residents.

A marvel of Byzantine engineering under the streets of Istanbul.

This beautifully historic Bahrain fortress might not be the most popular attraction around, but that might make it all the better.

This giant volcanic crater holds its very own field of salt.

A 19th-century fortress and collection of artifacts offer a tour of Saudi history.

An archaeological site believed to be the burial place of the "mother of us all."

An unfinished tomb carved into a giant boulder in the Arabian Desert.

These towering cliffs jut dramatically from the middle of a barren desert.

One of the oldest restaurants in the Seychelles.

This vestige of Seychelles’s colonial past now resides in a busy intersection and didn’t chime for its first 96 years.

The remains of a 19th-century school and living quarters are perched atop a mountain surrounded by a thick tropical forest.