This elaborately decorated, fairytale-like Romanian royal palace is one of the most striking castles in Europe.

The possible imprisonment of Vlad the Impaler here earned the medieval castle its nickname, "Dracula's Castle."

This massive underground salt mine now holds a sci-fi theme park in its depths.

Moss and stone turn this waterfall into an otherworldly liquid veil.

This fairy-tale castle would make Dracula (who is said to have been imprisoned there) jealous.

One of the most controversial statues in Romania is an emperor with no clothes.

After sitting unused for decades, this abandoned communist infrastructure became a wildlife utopia.

This memorial to the victims of the Romanian Revolution of 1989 is often compared to a potato on a skewer.

17th century palace once a meeting place for politicians.

Check out engineering marvels of the past at this unintentionally retrofuturist museum.

Romania's triumphal arch looks out over Bucharest.

This communist behemoth is the heaviest building in the world and a legacy of a brutal regime.

A celebration of all things tacky, garish, and bizarrely creative in the Romanian capital.

The bust of Romania’s most notorious ruler, Vlad Dracula aka "Vlad the Impaler," keeps watch over the ruins of his medieval court.

This once-derelict building is now one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world.

A plaque claims this artwork outside a children's hospital was used in the 1998 Quidditch World Cup.

It houses a menagerie of wondrous taxidermy specimens from around the world, including the remains of a famous gorilla.

Banksy's image of a naked man dangling from the window of a sex health clinic.

The shop where the girl who inspired the beloved character once bought sweets is now a book-themed commercial curiosity.

The fantastic charm of England's oldest botanical garden has made it a place of writerly inspiration for centuries.

Hidden in plain sight, this creepy sculpture watches from above.

Used as an example in one of the first dictionary entries for "museum" in 1706.

The names Lúthien and Beren can be found inscribed on the shared grave of the famous writer and his beloved wife and muse.

The yawning maw of this pagan visage is said to bite off the hands of liars.