Places SeeingCoolPlaces Wants to Go

It's estimated that half of the world's gold was mined from South Africa's "golden arc."

Mined to a depth of 240 meters with a perimeter of about 1.6 km, the largest hand-dug excavation in the world.

Fascinating collection of Khoisan rock engravings, still situated in their original setting.

The world's largest impact crater is mainly eroded but still remembers the planet's violent history.

The tallest residential building in Africa is an unsettling Brutalist monolith.

A growing popular hipster market with over 100 local specialties and live music.

The home of Mahatma Gandhi during part of the 21 years he spent living in South Africa is now a guest house.

Nelson Mandela lived here with his family from 1946 until his arrest in 1962.

A giant concrete Brutalist water tower in suburban Johannesburg.

An ancient impact crater on the outskirts of Pretoria.

Local legend has it that the first humans were created in the pools here, leaving their footprints behind in the rock.

An enchanting rocky island of scraggly baobabs surrounded by an ancient sea and sprawling salt pans.

Among the cornfields stands a giant spider crafted from an old Volkswagen.

Legendary DIY skatepark where Portland’s best skaters and curious onlookers gather daily.

The life’s work of a sculptor preserved in the Maine woods.

A 98-room castle in the middle of Toronto that bankrupted a 19th century electricity multimillionaire.

The final resting place of Christopher Columbus - or possibly someone else.

A 12th-century fortress containing some of Berlin's oldest buildings.

Terrifying derelict military hospital once housed a recuperating Hitler.

Before he was forced to flee the country under Nazi rule, Albert Einstein spent his summers in this custom-built lakeside house near Berlin.

A beloved street vendor is memorialized outside a German train station.

According to a satirical conspiracy theory that persists today, this German city of 300,000 is a hoax invented by the CIA.

This abandoned hospital has a long history, having housed both German and Soviet soldiers in the course of its life.

The 1936 Summer Olympics site is a crumbling remnant of sportsmanship and a history its host country would like to forget.