Atlas Obscura - Curious and Wondrous Travel Destinations
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The definitive guide to the world’s hidden wonders.

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Happening This Week
Join these experiences from your computer or phone.
Online
Online Course

Sparrows & Raptors: Winter Birding With Jason Ward

Starts Mon, Jan 25
$250 per person
+ 2 more dates
Online
Experience

Weird Homes Tour: Ghosts in the Machines

Mon, Jan 25
$12 per device
Step inside Brandon Hodge's home and Mysterious Planchette archive.
Online
Experience

Radical Spirits: How the Occult Shaped Progressive Politics

Tue, Jan 26
$12 per device
Join PEN Award-winning historian and occult scholar Mitch Horowitz as he explores the spiritual roots of radical politics.
Online
Experience

Nina Nightingale's Charm School: Victorian Hair Arts

Tue, Jan 26
$15 per device
Join curiosity artist Nina Nightingale for an evening of crafting, history, and impolite discourse.
Online
Experience

Foraging in a Winter Wonderland of Lichen

Wed, Jan 27
$25 per device
Online
Experience

Underwater Happy Hour w/ The New York Aquarium: SHARKS!

Thu, Jan 28
$15 per device
Join Atlas Obscura and the New York Aquarium as we dive into some of the underwater world's most fascinating creatures, live!
Online
Online Course

Environmental Embroidery: Stitching Your World With Aaron Sanders Head

Starts Thu, Jan 28
$215 per person
+ 1 more date
Online
Experience

Accidental Discoveries

Fri, Jan 29
$10 per device
Join Dr. Kelly Reidy as she digs into history's most surprising (and oddly productive) mishaps, accidents, and blunders.
+ 12 more dates
Online
Experience

Atlas Obscura Trivia Night

Fri, Jan 29
$7 per person
Gather your team and compete in a weekly contest of wits and educated-guessing.
+ 13 more dates
Online
Experience

Dino 101

Fri, Jan 29
$10 per device
Who says dinosaurs are just for kids?
+ 13 more dates
Online
Online Course

Living Between Cultures: Storytelling With Justine Abigail Yu

Starts Sun, Jan 31
$105 per person
In this four-part workshop with Justine Abigail Yu, students will explore their diasporic identities through writing in the genre of their choice.
+ 1 more date
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Featured Trips
Our newest and most incredible trips.
hidden cities

City of Blooms: Floriculture in Paris

Paris
Jun 18–20, 2021
From $1,230 USD
Join Atlas Obscura and Tastemade for a journey through the botanical side of Paris, from hidden flower farms to one of France's oldest fragrance houses.
+ 1 more date
wildlife & nature

Rewilding: Tracking Wolves in the Forests of Sweden

Sweden
Jul 5–11, 2021
From $3,100 USD
Explore Sweden’s boreal forests by day and hear the howling of wild wolves by night.
+ 2 more dates
wildlife & nature

Swim with the Singing Whales of Tonga

Tonga
Sep 2–9, 2021
From $6,330 USD
Accompanied by conservation experts, you’ll spend five full days swimming alongside humpback whales as their song fills the ocean.
hidden cities

City of Secrets: Underground in Los Angeles

Los Angeles
Sep 10–12, 2021
From $830 USD
On this an insider’s journey into the City of Angeles, we'll discover the murals and art of the famous Arts district with a resident artist, clink glasses at an underground speakeasy, and hike through hidden ruins with a suspicious past, all in pursuit of the less angelic side of the City of Angels.
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More Stories
sewers

Brooklyn's Putrid, Beloved Gowanus Canal Has Been a Horror for Centuries

A new $1.5 billion cleanup effort is underway, targeting its "black mayonnaise" of pollutants.
Jessica Leigh Hester January 14, 2021
music

Saving the Songs of South Korea's Female Divers

Three elderly women are teaching the music of these famed fisherwomen.
Hahna Yoon January 14, 2021
museums

Trapped in Museums for Centuries, Maori Ancestors Are Coming Home

New Zealand’s repatriation program brings human remains back and lays them to rest.
Ye Charlotte Ming January 14, 2021
civil rights

For Sale: Papers From the Planning of the 1963 March on Washington

They tell a ground-level story of how peaceful movements lead to social change, and how much remains to be done.
Matthew Taub January 13, 2021
photography

The Microphotographic Wonders of Vermont’s 'Snowflake Man'

Wilson Bentley was the first to claim that each snowflake is unique—and provided evidence.
Winnie Lee January 13, 2021
temples

The Messy Business of Scrubbing 2,000 Years of Bird Poop From an Egyptian Temple

The crap covered up cartouches and constellations.
Isaac Schultz January 13, 2021
magic

Witch Kitsch and Dark History in Germany's Harz Mountains

From fairy tale towns to torture devices to absurd attractions.
Kristen J. Sollée January 12, 2021
sounds

The Archaeologists Recreating the Sounds of the Stone Age

Researchers are working to uncover whether ancient objects in South Africa were once used to make noise or music.
Sarah Wild January 12, 2021
farms

At This Banana Farm, the Bunches Grow in 430 Shapes and Sizes

India's "plantain man" has traveled widely to build a collection of unusual varieties.
MEENAKSHI J January 12, 2021
food

The Singaporean Baker Inventing a Pie for Every American State

Her creations go way beyond apple pie.
Samantha Chong January 11, 2021
dogs

The Milwaukee Dogs That Learned to Sniff Out New Zealand Mud Snails

In a Wisconsin basement, two Labradors learned to detect tiny aquatic hitchhikers.
Ashley Stimpson January 11, 2021
List

11 Heavenly Restaurants Hidden Inside Houses of Worship

Temple-made vegetarian delights, church-canteen pierogi, and more.
Sam O'Brien January 8, 2021
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