Places Vortex Wants to Go

A century-old stone hermitage overlooks this remote pass in the Hoggar mountains, surrounded by a landscape of eroded volcanic cores.

The abstract sandstone rock formations at this Algerian national park are rich with prehistoric art.

One of the best-preserved impact craters on the planet is located in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

Dating back almost 400 years, the oldest public collection library in the United Kingdom was once the study hall of Karl Marx.

A Victorian Gothic masterpiece housing a world-class collection of rare books and manuscripts.

Over 70 independent businesses have set up shop in this former Victorian department store.

Looking strangely like Rome's Colosseum, this unfinished tower has dominated the skyline for over 100 years.

This mountain is one of the largest in Scotland but is better known for its hollow insides.

Despite what a Thai tourism board might want you to think, this white-sand beach is in fact located on a Scottish island.

A mysterious, weather-beaten bus lies on the coast of Harris, enticing the curious to investigate.

Cut into a sheer cliff face, these stairs are the only way to reach a secluded Scottish harbor.

One of a series of sculptures making a statement about sea-level rise in the United Kingdom.

This natural Icelandic fissure allows divers to swim right between two volatile tectonic plates.

The burning of this 12th-century church kicked off a campaign of Norwegian Black Metal terror.

The world's largest moose statue towers above the highway between Oslo and Trondheim.

Local legends say that a giant who tried to destroy a nearby church lived in this rock cave.

This strange pyramid is a unique feature of the Austrått Manor.

A thin pane of glass keeps visitors from sliding off this futuristic skywalk.

An intricately carved Viking church overlooks a glistening fjord.

This giant boulder is pinched over a 1000-meter abyss by two mountains.

This "preacher's pulpit" once used for pagan ritual, is home to a new, and dangerous ritual.

A curious cave church carved into the face of a cliff.

The largest salt lake in the Sahara is mysteriously alluring.

Some believe this abandoned Brutalist masterpiece inspired George Lucas's Sandcrawler.