Places lepainperdu Wants to Go

This tiny hotel perched atop a 50-foot tower really puts things into perspective.

The Byzantine, pre-Columbian, and medieval art at this stately mansion are some of the most under-appreciated collections in D.C.

Go take a picture with the inventor of the daguerreotype photographic process.

A half-acre utopia in the New Mexico desert features a graveyard, a game of horseshoes, a library, and a mailbox.

Wee (and not so wee) footprints that insects and reptiles of the Paleozoic Era left behind.

Mountain known by the Tillamook Tribe as "the place of the supreme deity."

No one knows how this Pacific Northwest spruce tree came to have so many trunks.

This historic national park is covered in the stunning ruins of red rock pueblos.

The artist James Turrell is repurposing an extinct volcano crater as an observatory to experience the cosmos.

A view-altering observatory at the University of Texas.

Just like the real 36th president of the United States, animatronic LBJ amuses visitors with jokes and stories.

A Roman-style column in Oregon hides a spiral staircase inside.

Where Nor'easters go to die.

Contractors in this Oregon town have been stamping their names in sidewalks since 1908.

A local dialect born in the late 19th century is only spoken in this isolated California valley.

A working model of a pressure-driven, high-speed rail whizzes around a private vineyard.

The steepest classic funicular in the world glides along a dizzying incline.

A favorite with sightseers and locals alike, this Norwegian funicular provides easy access to a stunning view of Bergen and its environs.

Stay overnight in the world's most sleekly designed rabbit hole, free of charge.

The burning of this 12th-century church kicked off a campaign of Norwegian Black Metal terror.

A 200-year-old collection of medical paraphernalia in a historic house.

The world's oldest individual clonal tree looks like a wimp despite standing tall for 9,550 years.

From Coke II to Google Glass, this exhibit features some of the most spectacular commercial flops.

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