Places Kris Best Wants to Go

Thanks to its heroic service during WWII this Soviet castle has been turned into a monument towered over by a brutalist titan.

A symbolic graveyard for the villages that perished during the Nazi invasion of Belarus.

Open-air museum with a large collection of Soviet-era statues.

This rare collection of human deformities displays fetuses with two faces, one eye, and "mermaid" legs.

The widest waterfall in Europe is a natural wonder and one of the only places where fish are caught in the air.

This abandoned secret city is a crumbling wonderland of Soviet ruins.

The mile-long pier stretches from a ruined fortress out into the Baltic.

These crumbling Latvian forts make for some haunting seaside ruins.

Guests become prisoners on a visit to Latvian prison.

An old hill fort covered in over 100,000 crosses is a symbol of Lithuanian nationalism and beliefs.

A memorial to the murdered Jews of Kaunas.

A haunting deserted hotel is a favorite with artists and photographers.

A museum of alchemy and a basement laboratory all housed in an ancient building in a Gothic tower.

One of the oldest, well-preserved water treatment facilities in all of Europe.

Two stunning 17th-century libraries and a cabinet of curiosities.

A sculpture of the iconic East German car on four legs is a tribute to those who traveled to Prague seeking asylum.

The history of occult science is turned into a creepshow at this lurid Prague tourist attraction.

A Jenga-style cylindrical tower of books that appears to go on forever.

The last municipal pneumatic post system in the world was in operation for over 100 years, and may run again.

The hidden lair of an alchemist rediscovered in a 2002 flood.

A steampunk-styled three-floor factory churning out art, activism, and electronic beats.

This Prague museum collects brutalist relics and memories from the country's former Soviet rule.

Polish luminaries and masterful folk art find sanctuary in this unique cemetery.

Poland's oldest surviving university building holds a wealth of historic science instruments including some used by Copernicus.