Places nickfranssen Wants to Go

This domed temple was built in a hidden cave mouth as a refuge for sinners seeking absolution.

This ancient ruined monastery has been destroyed by fire so many times that it seems like God hates it.

"Portugal's Stonehenge" is made up of nut-like stones aligned with the heavens.

Dead weights honor the dead of Portugal's fishing industry.

On a trail in Portugal's Barão de São João National Forest, a pile of faces look up at hikers from the forest floor.

Get in line for Lisbon’s most famous sandwich.

This Industrial Age architectural and engineering gem helps visitors and residents alike traverse Lisbon, “The City of Seven Hills.”

For more than 70 years, this small shop has been a go-to for Kolkata's fountain pen connoisseurs and collectors.

A single tree's 2,800 aerial roots give the appearance of a complete forest.

The alpine falls where Sherlock Holmes apparently met his demise can actually be visited.

Caves famous for the dragon-slaying saint who lived there.

The remains of this castle, known as the Witch’s Eye, watch over the Thur Valley.

Built to transport German U-boats through the never-completed Masurian Canal, the locks near this Polish village are now home to a rope course.

This railroad track was so secretive that it was omitted from all maps.

A massive work of modern art that appears to be a crop circle in the middle of the desert.

An alien landscape of chalk-rock in the Egyptian desert.

The struggle of a small Dutch island against the sea.

Slum Settlement Filled With Mountains of Garbage.

A hyper-remote desert cave dramatized in "The English Patient."

This remote, abandoned Soviet observatory promises spectacular views for those who can reach it.

Edoras, capital city of Rohan in Lord of the Rings, once sat atop this isolated New Zealand mountain.

This overlooked street light once served as a KGB dead letter box.

You may recognize this beautiful grove within Kaitoke Regional Park as location of the house of Elrond.

This single-track road rewards brave drivers with stunning Scottish scenery.