Places summermaddux Wants to Go

This park is home to California's first oil boomtown, with structures that have stood for more than a century.

A flight of this "ghost staircase" has 40 steps on the way up, but only 39 steps on the way down.

Only open for two days a year, this church links ancient Greek and modern Christian celebrations.

A disconnected rotary phone for "calling" lost loved ones offered a unique way of dealing with grief in disaster-stricken Japan.

An eerie, derelict amusement park in Berlin.

This mysterious medieval grotto holds a grid of sacred wells of unknown purpose.

The remains of a magnificent medieval fortress that was the capital of a vast empire.

This astronomical clock is the second oldest in England.

This eye-popping Icelandic crater lake is surrounded by red volcanic rock.

The Roman city was the birthplace of various emperors and is home to one of the empire's most impressive architectural feats.

The ancient settlement attracts tourists from all over looking to learn about the Chinese vision of the afterlife.

The skull of the patron saint of lovers lies in the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin—maybe.

In a 345-million-year-old cave that's 200 feet underground, dinner awaits.

This centuries-old tree tells an unusual tale of vegetation and fertility in the desert.

This ancient fort overlooks the site of a disastrous retreat from the English Civil War.

Centuries later, the victims of Great Britain's greatest hysteria are finally being remembered.

This stop on the Camino de Santiago stands high above the underwater ruins of a medieval town.

Named for the biblical warrior, the largest castle in Israel actually dates to the Middle Ages.

This ancient Bedfordshire church was abandoned when the village's population slowly began migrating to new towns.

The ruins of a medieval castle that once belonged to one of the most powerful families in the Netherlands.

An abandoned underground bathroom is now a space for public art.

Just your average Marie Antoinette–themed speakeasy in an abandoned 19th-century subway tunnel.

It was an experiment to prove that glacial boulders and rocks can be used in constructions and dwelling.

More than 250 sakes are available in an izakaya hidden in the basement of a Midtown office building.