Places Guthbrand Wants to Go

Middle-earth in the middle of Switzerland.

This massive tea kettle was once a promotional stunt for the Oriental Teashop.

This unassuming bookstore in the heart of Madrid is one of the oldest in Spain.

Peek into a cave of giant, glimmering crystals.

A rainbow of kulfi and falooda flows from this Indian-style ice cream parlor.

Hungarian Jews were ghettoized during the Second World War, but little remains of the original wall that closed the Jewish people off from the rest of the city.

Local folklore claims that this wall was not built for defense, but to provide labor during a time of famine.

Traditional Danish spot where the schnapps are flowing and the smørrebrød is loaded.

Each spring, residents of this Czech town hoist a 'slain' metal dragon onto the city hall to commemorate a local medieval legend

This 19th-century shopping arcade has charming, unusual stores like a luthier workshop and even the local Esperanto Association.

A pair of giant stone heads represent the ancient Roman saints beheaded here.

A wonderland of caves in eastern Iowa.

A cenote filled with Colonial era artifacts whose waters cannot be accessed.

A statue of a Scottish cultural icon in central Sydney.

An award-winning children’s garden enchants visitors at the intersection of natural beauty and fairy tales.

Epicurean and holy traditions converge in what may be the oldest restaurant in Europe.

A performance hall at the American Jewish University moonlights as a sci-fi film location set.

A 15th-century park that recreates a bit of the Holy Land in Italy.

For more than 170 years, this family-run bakery has been serving Berlin’s best Baumkuchen, or “tree cake.”

A uniquely preserved neo-Gothic church that is now home to a collection of art and woodcarvings.

This cozy café is housed in a repurposed pharmacy originally built in 1927.

These ruins saw a second life as a cemetery.

Designed to allow funerals to proceed over the River Dulnain.

This 11th-century Greek monastery has renowned mosaics and relics of a brutal past.