This museum is dedicated solely to this millennia-old handheld cooling device.

The Great Fire of London and the regulation of one-way streets both started in this alley.

The bones of two medieval royal lions were discovered at the historic fortress.

These wire animal sculptures commemorate the exotic inhabitants that once called the Tower of London home.

This ancient oak plays host to carvings of magical elves, gnomes, witches, and other creatures prominent in local folklore.

This ancient Egyptian obelisk still bears the wounds of World War I.

An unusual ode to the late Irish playwright, complete with a squiggly bust and coffin-shaped bench.

The commemorative stone column conceals a secret laboratory.

This pub was 238 years old when it decided to revamp its image: It started serving Thai food.

Originally built for London’s cab drivers, this bright green hut now serves anyone a hot drink or meal.

Never actually a tree at all, this spot was the site of London's public hangings for nearly 600 years.

Ship-sized kinetic sculptural fantasy.

The first tunnel to be dug beneath a river, repurposed as an art and museum space.

Remnants of cells from the most notorious London prison may lie in the basement of a rare Victorian Gin Palace.

A cluttered and astounding collection of antiquities and curiosities.

This 1920s Dutch barge is now a floating bookstore.

The video game-themed street art first popped up in the French city.

This 18th-century sundial was designed to calculate the date of Easter each year.

The tradition of open-air secondhand and antiquarian bookselling in Paris dates back to the Renaissance.

The water-powered carriages are long gone, but for over a century this funicular railway has been the fastest route to the highest point in Paris.

A museum on the history of Paris, including a set of Napoleon's toiletries, Proust's room, and relics of the Revolution.

A Parisian cemetery where the elite and artistic are interred beneath an eccentric collection of tombs.

Indents in the pavement are all that remain from a grisly death machine in Paris.

A horde of stray cats rule in this secluded Parisian cemetery under a bridge.