At this museum in Iceland, visitors can sample fermented Greenland shark.

Surrounded by ash fields in Iceland, an impossibly verdant valley looks like something out of a fairytale.

This plaque tells the story of an event that took place in an imagined parallel universe.

The oldest hall in Iceland was written of in the Sagas and features a centuries-old escape tunnel.

If a glacial river suddenly diving into a sheer chasm via a dramatic, multi-stage waterfall isn't peak Iceland, it's certainly close.

A restaurant devoted to "trouser grip" wrestling, an ancient form of Viking wrestling that is Iceland's national sport.

This valley of hot springs and boiling mud pots is home to the record-holding "Geysir," which originated the English word.

This hobbit-y little hot spring may be the oldest spring used by humans in all of Iceland.

Inside this museum, visitors venture through ghost stories entrenched in Icelandic folklore.

This eye-popping Icelandic crater lake is surrounded by red volcanic rock.

Iceland's largest geothermal mud pool is a little bit haunted and a little bit dangerous.

Iceland's "Smoky Valley" is a beautiful river that is shrouded in a constant cover of steam clouds.

Eerie ruins of an abandoned medieval fishing village crumble atop an unforgiving stretch of earth.

Learn about Iceland's hidden folk at this school dedicated to the study of elves.

An encyclopedic collection of mammal penises.

This aromatherapy shop and mini-museum cofounded by the Sigur Rós frontman documents Icelandic history through scents.

Couple's personal collection of pinball machines turned public pinball museum.

These old stone ruins in the Oregon wilderness were once bathrooms and are steeped in legends of murder.

This abandoned fishing settlement may well be the greenest village in the world.

Rustic natural hot springs in the deciduous rain forest.

A tiny red pebble marks what may be the quietest outdoor spot in the United States.

The entire length of the border is marked by a 20-foot-wide slash through the trees.

"Bug Bug" Land, a natural park for beetle watching, still hasn't fully recovered from Fukushima's nuclear disaster.

The bartenders at this crime-fighting theme cafe are actual private detectives by day.