Each year these high desert hills are absolutely covered with poppy flowers in a surreal show of nature.

Quite simply the largest tree in the world (by volume).

Under the right circumstances, this waterfall in Yosemite briefly turns a luminescent fiery orange.

This massive redwood tree has a hole in the base big enough to drive through.

One of the most scenic stretches of road in America winds between some of the country's oldest trees.

Sitting in the basement of a castle, the largest wine barrel in the world is bigger than most apartments.

Originally envisioned by King Ludwig II to rival Versailles, Herrenchiemsee's "New Palace" remains half-gilded for lack of funds.

The last bastion of Roman presence north of the Alps looms over a German town.

A Black Forest cuckoo clock theme park features one timepiece big enough to walk inside.

A striking 12th-century-style castle built on the edge of a cliff.

Soaring over 6,000 feet in the Bavarian Alps, this beer garden was once Hitler's 50th birthday present.

The prototype for all Nazi concentration camps.

Started as a kitchen garden, now the second largest botanical garden in the world.

The birthplace of an eccentric alchemist and possible inspiration for the fictional reanimator of monsters.

The fairy tale castle of the "fairy-tale king."

One of Catholicism's four major basilicas has a series of papal portraits that are said to predict the end of the world.

Ancient snack bar of the Roman Empire re-opened.

Erotic art covers the walls of the largest ancient pleasure palace.

Pilgrimage site for star-crossed lovers.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.