Places TravellingBookish Wants to Go

The ruins of an ancient island city built atop a coral reef in the South Pacific are spectacular and strange enough to have inspired H.P. Lovecraft.

Five ancient libraries, little changed for centuries, preserve a medieval archive of Quranic lore and civic documents

Ancient Manuscripts showcase the civilization of West Africans during the Middle Ages.

This magenta statue commemorates the legendary marriage between a mermaid and the city's founder.

In the heart of Luxembourg's "little Switzerland" weaves a breathtaking natural sandstone canyon with a mythological past.

This tri-part waterfall is a little bit of fairytale beauty in the heart of Luxembourg's Little Switzerland.

Once the local rulers had gone these enchanting ruins housed common folk in an almost real life fairy tale.

This charming Latvian lane doubled as Baker Street on the Soviet Union’s version of Sherlock Holmes.

Mysterious heaps of stones dot these otherworldly woods.

Latvia's symbolic mountain-shaped national library is home to millions of cultural tomes.

A private collection of over 30,000 ancient and modern items showcasing the beauty of Islamic calligraphy.

The farmhouse owned by the Danish author who wrote "Out of Africa" is now a museum honoring her legacy.

This exceptionally well-preserved ancient marvel also houses a small museum dedicated to Jordanian folk tradition.

The most gigantic, swoony, intimidating trio of fingers in all of antiquity.

The home of the Dead Sea Scrolls is an abstract modernist dream.

You can row a boat through this ancient underground reservoir.

The beautifully designed resting place of Iran's national poet is a masterpiece of modern Persian architecture.

Colorful mineral deposits turn these mountains into an Impressionist fantasy.

Two Chinese dragons guard the caves of this medieval temple in Iran.

A palace-fortress ruin in Indonesia complete with legends of two magical tigers, eight bathing angels, and a wish-granting cannon.

A crazy maze of a hostel, where every trap door and secret entrance brings you to a new wacky, wonderful room.

These broken shards of ancient ruin may hide an ancient pyramid.

A real-life "hobbit" cave in Flores, Indonesia.

This tiny lake temple dedicated to a water goddess seems to float on the surface.