Part ski resort, part modern art space, this lodge brings giant metal spiders and bloody doors to the Austrian Alps.

Crumbling ruins of the thermal baths that once attracted royals and aristocrats from throughout Europe.

These delicate sand pyramids look like naturally occurring gothic spires.

This statue of the legendary Austrian composer is hidden in the center of an Italian town.

Check out engineering marvels of the past at this unintentionally retrofuturist museum.

Romania's triumphal arch looks out over Bucharest.

This communist behemoth is the heaviest building in the world and a legacy of a brutal regime.

A celebration of all things tacky, garish, and bizarrely creative in the Romanian capital.

The preserved arm of a third-century sorcerer is believed to have the power to lift curses and spells.

The bust of Romania’s most notorious ruler, Vlad Dracula aka "Vlad the Impaler," keeps watch over the ruins of his medieval court.

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

This solitary monastery may hold the remains of Vlad the Impaler (but probably not).

A lover's walk between hilltop towns, decorated with graffiti love notes.

Perched above a grotto, this tribute to Mother Nature looks out into the ocean.

Five candy-colored villages on the Italian Riviera.

This tiny chapel withstood a massive mudslide and flash flood.

This amazing medieval fortress stands atop a promontory along the famous Cinque Terre.

The bomb-ravaged remains of of a colossal Neptune.

This cluster of little wooden huts once ground local farmers’ wheat into flour during the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

There's a mini version of Iguazu Falls hidden in the Balkans, and it's got a rope swing.

Large, airy hallways hide within an impenetrable fortress that beckons urban explorers.

This stunning, out-of-the-way Croatian monument commemorates a community's uprising against occupying fascist forces.

A chain of 16 wondrous lakes formed as a result of the gradual dissolution of soluble layers of bedrock.

This spire on an Austrian mountain is wrapped around a long spiral slide and has the world's tallest wooden observation deck.