Places Madeleine Wants to Go

Where the Great Wall of China meets the sea.

Not one, not two, but three natural bridges remain in this captivating spot post-sinkhole.

These layered sandstone mountains in China look like they are made of pressed crayons.

A total of 999 stairs lead visitors through a massive hole in a mountain known as the Gateway to Heaven.

The world's longest outdoor escalator takes visitors to the top of China's largest dam and is also shaped like a dragon.

The most famous location in China was home to whole dynasties worth of imperial rulers.

A part of the world's largest marsh seems to be growing bright red Martian grass.

A collaboration of art and ornithology mourns the calls of Sydney's lost birds.

This traditional garden in the San Fernando Valley doubled for Star Fleet Academy, and is irrigated entirely by wastewater.

A modern-day Lascaux cave underneath Paris.

A graveyard of bathyspheres and diving bells paints a weirdly accurate account of ocean exploration's rickety history.

The sunken structure looks like the victim of a catastrophic flood.

This knobby, drooping New Orleans oak is a favorite place both for climbing and for meeting giraffes.

A wunderkammer of mysterious objects and stories.

One of the last Jazz Age "Wonder Theaters" in New York City.

Underneath one of the region's most historic roads lies the home of Plato's successor.

An often overlooked ancient site in downtown Athens with substantial history (and nature).

The ruins of this ancient fortification wall sit in the middle of a quiet, residential intersection.

The ruins of an ancient fortification wall sit in front of and underneath this boutique hotel.

One of the greatest collections of coins in the world is housed in the former mansion of an archeological pioneer.

This historic structure has been used as a mosque, a barracks, a prison, a school, and a bakery.

The oldest standing Byzantine church in Athens is tucked within a monastery in the middle of an upscale shopping district.

The only surviving choragic monument is a trophy awarded in 334 BC for the winning dramatic chorus.

There are many Byzantine-era churches still standing in Athens, but this is the only one with a 2,500-year-old column rising through its roof.