In Portugal, a secluded stretch of untouched natural beauty hides at the bottom of a steep hill.

An early work of the architect Álvaro Siza Vieira, these swimming pools blend into the beach.

A garden in Lisbon filled with giant porcelain creatures.

This Industrial Age architectural and engineering gem helps visitors and residents alike traverse Lisbon, “The City of Seven Hills.”

This charming candle shop has been in business since 1789.

This gaping hole in the middle of a remote mountain lake looks like a portal to another dimension.

Ring the bell to enter a bar that looks equal parts museum and old curiosity shop.

Houses are tucked between, on, and underneath giant boulders.

Little-known artist couple chose a former silk factory as the location for a museum dedicated to their work and other avant-garde art.

Perhaps the most spectacular grotto along the Algarve coastline.

An exquisite tunnel of cascading flowers.

Enjoy fresh-baked bread and fish from a repurposed Portuguese fortress.

Along the most northwestern point in Africa is an ancient cave surrounded by legends.

It took 40 years to build this Eden-like garden in Marrakech, later restored by Yves Saint-Laurent.

Founded as a refugee camp, now a popular tourist spot.

Morocco's Argania trees are infested with nut-hungry goats.

Spain's stunning solar energy plant.

Hidden behind a wall, Spanish nuns distribute their signature sweets on a revolving tray.

A 16th-century Andalusian palace.

An eerie collection of the surviving structures from a past celebration of the future.

A Spanish artist builds his own castle.

A small town celebrates its cash crop with a giant highway sculpture.

A glacial valley filled with silver beech trees in the mountains of Portugal.

The walls of this small village have been turned into a living street art gallery.