This observatory within Europe's first dark sky park offers stunning views of the night sky.

This imposing 20th-century castle was abandoned before it was ever completed.

Volcanic rocks ground down into sand make this Spanish beach as black as night.

In paradise, feral pigs have claimed an island all to themselves.

Coast along one of Japan’s mountain railways for coveted views of magnificent hydrangeas.

This San Diego museum, housed in a former Navy training facility, is dedicated to preserving women’s historic achievements.

An extraordinarily ornate museum in San Diego holds wondrous anthropological treasures.

These bronze sculptures sow whimsy by hamming it up on a pedestrian mall.

There's a crumbling old mansion inside the Smithsonian National Zoo.

This remote stretch of sand is a penguin lover's paradise.

One of the largest cat sanctuaries in North America is considered a "Club Med" for felines.

A curious little museum dedicated to the furry feline in the cat haven that is Old Town Kotor.

For nearly 2,000 years this church has been waging war on local snakes by importing cats.

By day this New Orleans square is for pedestrians, but by night it is a kingdom of kittens.

Once a prosperous mining village, this tiny Taiwanese town is now overrun with cute cats.

The beloved home to all publications indie, erotic, and punky.

This once-derelict building is now one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world.

Lines from a walking song are etched into a rock in Natural Bridge State Park.

Ancient barriers wrap around what was once an important stop along the Silk Road.

At night, bats patrol this magnificent 18th-century space in search of book-eating pests.

Driftwood dinosaurs lurk within trees covered in a rainbow array of avian abodes.

A monument to the Mohawk people stands along an old Native American trade route.

Behind medieval walls in a corner of bustling Palermo is a breathtaking former mosque once inhabited by a wolf-taming hermit.

A striking 500-year-old mansion provides an unexpectedly sublime home for live deer and a menagerie of exotic stuffed animals.