Places tstriegel Wants to Go

A galaxy of glowworms—larvae of a gnat—hides deep in the belly of these caves.

Discover the taste of mold.

The impeccably spiced roast pork buns at this bakery are worth the wait.

Dine on dumplings at the oldest dim sum restaurant in New York.

Temple complex that once housed the famous statue of Nike.

The ruins of this monumental city founded by the first Roman Emperor are strangely overlooked by most travelers.

Giant marble phalluses on the sacred island of antiquity.

The ruins of an abandoned medieval city where the last Byzantine emperor was crowned.

A quirky bookstore hidden beneath a sea of whitewashed Greek villas.

A Bronze age settlement on the Greek island of Santorini might have been the inspiration for Plato's Atlantis.

A minotaur, a labyrinth, and a dubious restoration pull in visitors from around the world.

This ancient Greek place of assembly and marketplace is being revealed layer by layer below the modern Athens cityscape.

Monasteries on rock pillars, once accessible only by frayed ropes.

The hallucinogenic center of the ancient world.

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

Some call this eerie forest of crooked trees the "Bermuda Triangle of Romania."

This solitary monastery may hold the remains of Vlad the Impaler (but probably not).

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."

These waste baskets play a few risque messages to discourage littering.

A centuries-old iron mine is now a paradise for explorers, divers, and spelunkers.

The official meeting point for the oddly named governing assembly of ancient Sweden.

Gravity seems to fail at this intriguing Swedish attraction.

Ancient stone graves shaped like ships provided a Viking-like burial to carry the dead to the afterlife.