Places ValarieD Wants to Go

This beautiful example of neoclassical architecture is one of Uruguay's most treasured cultural gems.

This small island off the coast of Uruguay hosts the largest colony of sea lions and fur seals in the southern hemisphere.

The headquarters of a secretive order is also a beautifully-designed park.

Happy harbor seals frolic and snooze on this warm, sandy stretch of coast.

A cozy bookstore is tucked within an old gold mine shaft beneath the cafe and ice cream shop.

San Diego's most historic and haunted home.

This abandoned Navy base was transformed into an off-grid alternative living community for thousands of people.

Church and home-museum of a 1920s female revivalist preacher with a very sordid past.

Resting place of Hollywood's immortals is also site of summer film screenings.

This art gallery and oddities boutique bewitches visitors with a trove of occult trinkets and eccentric antiques, work by an ever-changing roster of underground artists, and classes in tarot and other mystic arts.

This store decorated with Japanese and underground pop culture items has been the centre of Barcelona alternative fashion scenes for more than a decade.

A wunderkammer of exoticism immortalized by Tom Waits.

A whimsical and twisted animatronic monster tour beneath the streets of Berlin.

The walls of Germany's Parliament still show the scars of the Red Army takeover in World War II.

One of downtown Berlin's last reminders of its Communist past.

Someone loved this song enough to carve all of its lyrics onto a tree trunk in a Berlin park.

The Voodoo Superstore of the world.

The mortal remains of an estimated 70,000 people lie in the basement of a monastery in Lima, Peru.

A progressive LGBTQ hub offers dancing, HIV testing, art, and more.

Clap your hands at the base of the pyramid, and the song of a sacred Mayan bird will echo through the air.

A uniquely robust and historic look at Mexico's omnipresent dance with Death.

A jaw-dropping "megalibrary" that turns book-browsing into a geometric adventure.

An island filled with hundreds of hanging, decomposing, decapitated dolls.

If you forgot something to read during your trip to Tokyo, this hostel has you covered.