Places grantavery Wants to Go

To enter this cluttered-yet-cozy sanctum of Belgian brews, ring the bell and tell the gatekeepers you've come “to taste beer.”

A giant bug impaled on a 75-foot-tall needle.

This bike path traverses the treetops.

Housing the groundbreaking maps and globes of Gerard Mercator.

A wonderfully kitsch bookstore the size of a supermarket.

This bike path was sunk below water level for maximum wonder.

This giant urban staircase was built to keep the city's brave fighting men from getting waylaid in the red light district.

This sprawling Belgian fort was once thought of as impenetrable but now it is simply an abandoned relic.

The highest point in Belgium is a staircase to nowhere.

Rare wooden escalators lead deep down into an otherwise staggeringly monotonous tiled tunnel.

The "stairway to heaven" lookout tower was built to resist weather, arson, and the laws of physics.

A roadside attraction fit for a giant.

Two graffiti towers stand like ghosts of Vancouver's World War II-era defensive outpost.

This towering totem holds the title for the tallest in the world but only according to some.

A unique spiral staircase that doesn't quite make it up to the top floor.

Cascading outward, this waterfall creates the appearance of a flowing veil.

Saved by a logger, this Douglas fir is one of the last great old-growth trees in Canada.

The colorful, smiling concrete silos of Vancouver.

Thousand-year-old trees tower within one of the world's only inland temperate rainforests.

This quirky piece of naval artillery has been deafening Canadians for over a century.

The water swaps direction twice a day, whipping into a frenzy of whirlpools and rapids.

A pixel art killer whale is frozen mid-leap in this Vancouver square.

This conservatory allows a little bit of the tropics to thrive in the middle of a major Canadian city.

Greenery cloaks this serene sculpture inspired by the famous Lost Gardens of Heligan.