The world's largest "Christmas tree" is illuminated by hundreds of lights stretching 2,000 feet up the slope of Mount Ingino.

The Sighignola summit on the Swiss border offers views so breathtaking it's been named one of the most beautiful places in Italy.

This winding road through an Italian canyon may be the most scenic drive in the world.

Dramatic sea stacks adorn the coast of this small village on the Adriatic coast.

This picturesque Umbrian city has a subterranean side that has long remained hidden.

This medieval Italian town is a sheer (and beautiful) cliffside defense.

This Italian foot path winds through the mountains via 52 individual tunnels.

An Italian hillside ghost town.

This 16th-century monastery has been turned into a surrealist architecture compound.

2300-year-old Roman road connecting the empire.

The ruins of an abbey believed to have been founded by Charlemagne in the 9th century.

A magnificent, long-abandoned castle built in the wake of the reconquest of Spain.

A huge enchanting public park just outside the ancient walls of Rome.

The land is full of geologic eye candy, such as otherworldly spires, mushroom-shaped hoodoos, and prehistoric fossils.

This stunning mountain lake was named for a pair of tragic lovers whose statues stand at the center.

A fairytale island floats in the middle of Italy's little-known Lake Orta.

Islanders once used this dramatic, otherworldly landscape to hide their cattle from Viking raiders.

The city of Palestrina was built around this magnificent terraced sanctuary dedicated to the pagan goddess Fortuna.

Conspiracy theories and occult legends surround this mysterious natural rock formation.

The possible imprisonment of Vlad the Impaler here earned the medieval castle its nickname, "Dracula's Castle."

The legendary cliffside castle of three-time Voivode of Wallachia, Vlad the Impaler.

This fairy-tale castle would make Dracula (who is said to have been imprisoned there) jealous.

From Austrians to Nazis to Soviets, this historic Budapest fortress has a history as complex as the city itself.

Built in 1870 at the bridge that connected Buda and Pest, this spectacular incline railway was almost lost forever during World War II.