Places zichk Wants to Go

This off-limits room in the National Library of France is home to a system of pneumatic tubes, once used to bring books to readers.

This fairy-tale, neo-Gothic church in the Azores is a world of magical realism.

Rock-cut caves and 7,000 Buddhist sculptures carved into the nearly sheer face of a sandstone mountain.

The ruins of this medieval castle on a foggy hill tell the story of a once-mighty empire.

The remains of a magnificent medieval fortress that was the capital of a vast empire.

A mosaic-tiled house built by graveyard sweeper Raymond Isidore.

This quaint Hungarian railway system is operated exclusively by children between the ages of 10 and 14.

Walking by this fence is like strolling along a portal to various fictional worlds.

Only 68 people per day are allowed to visit this New Zealand bird-watcher’s paradise.

This quirky little private museum is home to more than a thousand stones, carved by nature, that resemble human faces.

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

This snug medieval lane is one of the narrowest streets in the world.

A disconnected rotary phone for "calling" lost loved ones offered a unique way of dealing with grief in disaster-stricken Japan.

A remote and slightly overgrown park filled with replicas of world landmarks.

This volcanic cave lake is essentially hard proof that Iceland is the most magical place on Earth.

The most iconic structure in Scotland has been home to bishops, colonels, and Sean Connery characters.

An abandoned saucer-shaped monument in the Bulgarian mountains.

The oldest church in Serbia was also the ecclesiastical seat of the region during the Middle Ages.

An isolated dive site teeming with cnidarians.

The most alien-looking place on Earth.

A 19th-century subterranean reservoir repurposed as a contemporary art cave.

Intensely colorful calcite pools in Southern China.

The oldest church in Iceland is one of the few to feature ornate decoration.

A hermit's tiny cell built into the cliffside that saved him in South Pembrokeshire.