The Weirdest Places in the World to Visit
#20: The Pancake Rocks
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New Zealand We agree, pancakes do rock! But sadly, flapjacks aren’t on the menu at this unique sight in New Zealand. Instead, you’ll be treated to a testament to the power of erosion. Located south of Punakaiki village on the outskirts of Paparoa National Park, The Pancake Rocks are made of limestone and have been slowly carved by the ocean tides over the course of countless years. As water bursts up through natural blowholes, it slowly eats away the layers of sandstone. The end result is an area of shoreline populated by rock formations that don’t look unlike uneven stacks of pancakes. Thanks to a number of walkways in the area, you can really get a close look at the structures without risk of damaging them.
#19: Painted Hills
Oregon, USA This isn’t the only colorful geological sight of its kind, but compared to, say, the Vinicunca Rainbow Mountains in Peru, Oregon’s Painted Hills do bear the distinction of being substantially easier to visit. They are arguably the biggest highlight of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Wheeler County, and are so named because of their distinctive coloring. Each distinct layer is the result of a different geological era, dating back 35 million years to when the area was a floodplain. Just make sure to plan for the right weather. The intensity of the colors are affected by humidity and lighting conditions. If you decide to visit China after the coronavirus disaster passes,the Danxia Landform Geological Park is home to similarly colorful ridges that, like the Painted Hills, are relatively accessible.
#18: Lençóis Maranhenses National Park
Brazil We know what you’re thinking… that’s a pretty piece of abstract art! But allow your eyes to adjust a bit and you’ll see that what you’re actually looking at is a series of rolling sand dunes, with water pooling between them. Located in Maranhão state, Lençóis Maranhenses National Park extends from the coastline to cover a total of 380,000 acres of land. The inland part is made up of low lying sand dunes that, following rainstorms, become interspersed with freshwater lagoons. The end result is truly breathtaking and surreal to the point that, whether photographed from above or seen in person, the sight is hard to believe. Don’t let the photos fool you though, those lagoons are actually quite large. Visitors often identify swimming in the pools as one of the highlights of the trip.
#17: Chocolate Hills
Bohol Island, The Philippines We know, we know… first pancakes and now chocolate! If you’re watching on an empty stomach, this video is probably starting to feel rather cruel and unusual! The famous Chocolate Hills of Bohol Island are not made of solid chocolate, but they certainly are a treat for the eyes. A National Geological Monument and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the area gets its name from the chocolate brown coloring that the otherwise green grass takes on during the dry season. Strangely smooth and conical, their shape, coupled with the way they seem to break through the treetops has often led people to believe that they’re human-made. But scientists have done their homework, and can confirm that they result from erosion and are primarily made up of marine limestones, which are rich in coral.
#16: Cat Island & Bunny Island
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Japan Okay, as an apology for all the food-related teasing, this entry comes just as advertised. And to really make amends, we’re giving you not one but TWO adorably odd travel experiences for the price of one. Located off of Japan’s eastern coast, the island of Tashirojima is home to only about 100 people, but many times that number of cats. They previously worked to keep mice away from local silk-producing worms, but now they’re an attraction in their own right. As if that’s not enough cuteness, over on the island of Ōkunoshima, you can get another overdose of cute and cuddly. The place is totally overrun with feral but friendly rabbits! Adding to the weirdness factor, the island is also home to an abandoned poison gas factory - a relic from the island’s dark WWII history.
#15: Goblin Valley State Park
Utah, USA Not as cute, but nonetheless an interesting place to visit, Goblin Valley State Park is thankfully not named after dominant local species. Located in Utah a few hundred miles from Salt Lake City, it actually takes its name from the strange rock formations that populate this otherwise uninhabited valley. Slowly but surely, the powerful elements have chiseled away at the sandstone, resulting in mushroom-shaped pinnacles and hoodoos. These unique natural structures tend to be top heavy, with thinner lower sections, due to the upper layers of sandstone being more durable. Many of the pinnacles and hoodoos are millions of years old, and their odd shapes certainly feel prehistoric. Some suggest that they even look like monstrous creatures like those from fairytales - thus the name!
#14: The Catacombs
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Paris, France Most of the weird places on our list today are naturally-occuring, but not all of them! The world-famous Paris Catacombs might be a popular attraction, but there’s no denying that this underground shrine to death is just about one of the strangest things the city has to offer. Occupying a small section of the tunnels that runs underneath this city of love, the catacombs contain the bones of roughly 6 million Parisians. Once a simple dumping ground for human remains due to overloaded cemeteries, the ossuary was better organized in the early 19th century when the bones were set up in various patterns. You’re sure to enjoy the fine wine, world-class food and stunning architecture of Paris, but we can all but guarantee that the Catacombs are what will really stay with you.
#13: Thor’s Well
Oregon, United States Returning to Oregon, the home state of the Painted Hills, we leave the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument for the coast. Cape Perpetua is forested headland in Lincoln County managed by the United States Forest Service. Though the entire area is beautiful, the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area is, as the name suggests, a highlight. Here visitors can camp, hike and go whale watching, among other activities. But those seeking out natural oddities will want to make a beeline for Thor’s Well. A powerful saltwater fountain, the aptly named coastal feature is known for both its seemingly insatiable thirst and the watery explosions it emits at high tide. For more coastal oddities, check out neighboring sights in the scenic area, including the Devil’s Churn and the Spouting Horn.
#12: Moeraki Boulders
New Zealand Rocks. They’re not always the most exciting thing on the planet. But as soon as they take on a weird shape, texture, color or wind up in an odd location… We can't help but be fascinated by them. And the Moeraki Boulders check more than one box. Noteworthy for their size, location and strangely smooth shape, they almost look like the fossilized eggs of some colossal primordial beast - as if they were left to hatch by a sea turtle the size of a football stadium. Scattered across the beaches of New Zealand’s Otago Coast, they vary in size from 1.6 feet to a whopping 7.2 feet in diameter. Though they’ve inspired local myths and extraterrestrial conspiracy theories, scientists, for their part, deem them to be naturally occuring - albeit having taken shape under specific circumstances across millions of years.
#11: Fly Geyser
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Nevada, USA We need to warn you, as we approach the top 10 entries, things are going to get weird. Well, weirder than they already are. The Fly Geyser looks like something straight out of a science fiction movie or fantasy world. Located on private land, but open to visitors willing to pay the price of admission, it’s the result of drilling that occurred in 1964. When the company struck geothermal waters, the geyser was born, and it's been growing larger and stranger ever since. Extremely hot water perpetually erupting from the ground is weird enough as is, but the presence of thermophilic algae results in vivid red, yellow and green hues. Coupled with the weird curves and surface texture of the cone geyser’s cone, it all looks very alien.
#10: Mendenhall Ice Caves
Alaska, USA Can’t take the heat? Need to cool off? Then why not take a trip to Alaska, where you can surround yourself with ice? And we’re not just talking about a snowy landscape - we mean full immersion. The Mendenhall Glacier is named after the superintendent of a late 19th century U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. But it’s known by many names, including Sitaantaagu, Aak'wtaaksit and Auke. The Glacier is impressive from any angle, but venturing inside is to step into another world. The glacier is partially hollow in certain areas, meaning that you can venture into its underbelly. Once inside, apart from the rocky floor, you’re surrounded by brilliant blue walls and a ceiling of ice. The result of the glaciers melting, the Mendenhall ice caves are forever changing, but they sadly won’t be around forever.
#9: Jellyfish Lake
Palau Imagine yourself swimming in a lake completely surrounded by jellyfish. For some, this particular mental image might be the stuff of nightmares, but hey, “weird places” aren’t for everyone. And for travelers looking for a thoroughly unique experience, it doesn’t get much better or surreal than this. Located in Palau on the island of Eil Malk, this marine lake is packed to the gills with jellyfish. The lake is only about 1500 feet long and 520 feet deep at its widest point. But in this modest sized lake swim millions of jellyfish that, largely isolated from the ocean, have diverted from the evolutionary path of the rest of their various species. For the record, these jellyfish can sting, but they’re not considered powerful enough to harm humans. It’s worth noting however, that while snorkeling is allowed, scuba diving is not.
#8: The Racetrack Playa of Death Valley
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Death Valley, USA With its sun-bleached, cracked desert floor, Death Valley is a pretty surreal environment in its own right. But the reason that it ranks so high on our list are the mysterious “sailing stones”. As previously noted, rocks can be fascinating in a wide variety of ways. But rocks that appear to move of their own volition? That’s very strange. For decades, researchers were completely baffled as to how stones in California’s Racetrack Playa were moving across the desert floor, leaving clear tracks behind them and even changing directions! We now know that this is the result of high winds and thin layers of ice forming and melting when the temperature drops during winter. Though hard to imagine, in ideal conditions, the rocks have been known to move over 16 feet in a minute.
#7: Pamukkale
Turkey Natural springs can be found all across the globe, but rarely have they developed into such a breathtaking sight as they do in Denizli, Turkey. Pamukkale means “cotton castle” in Turkish, and upon this mineral bed, the ancient city of Hierapolis was built. The ruins can still be visited to this day, but they play second fiddle to the thermal springs and white limestone pools that have slowly formed over millennia of mineral deposits. The brilliant white terraces look like something out of a futuristic design magazine, but they’re completely naturally occurring. People are no longer allowed to bathe in the springs due to the damage caused by tourists, but their otherworldly beauty can still be appreciated from a respectful distance.
#6: Lake Hillier & Hutt Lagoon
Australia Lakes come in many shapes and sizes, but colors? That’s not usually a variable you expect. In Australia however, there are actually multiple lakes that defy convention with the bright pink color of their water. Lake Hillier, located on Middle Island, was first documented by European explorer Matthew Flinders in 1802. Today, we know that the unique, vibrant pink color is a result of two factors: the incredibly high concentration of salt in the lake, and the presence of Dunaliella salina. Despite the eye-catching pink hue, Lake Hillier is safe to swim in, though notably hard to reach. For a pink lake that’s more accessible, consider a trip to Hutt Lagoon on Australia’s west coast. Like Oregon’s Painted Hills, weather conditions and time of year can affect the intensity of the color.
#5: Deadvlei
Namibia If you’re looking for a desert oasis, you’re too late… by about 600 to 700 years. If, however, you’re in the market for a totally unique photo op, Deadvlei is just about as compelling of a place as you could ask for. This salt pan in Namibia is surrounded on all sides by some of the highest sand dunes on earth. At one point long ago this was a collection point for water after rainfall, giving rise to an oasis of camel thorn trees. It eventually dried up, however, and now only the skeletal remains are left as a reminder of what once was. The heat and lack of humidity is so intense that the trees, while not petrified, have become blackened as a result of the intense elements. It’s hauntingly beautiful.
#4: The Danakil Depression
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Ethiopia Looking at photographs or video footage of this utterly unique destination, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you’ve been transported to an alien planet - and an inhospitable one at that! A desolate landscape of rock, odd mineral build-up and toxic looking shallow green pools of liquid, the Danakil Depression is as fascinating as it is foreboding. As if those visuals aren’t enough, adding to the weirdness factor is the consideration that those pools are actually full of various concentrations of acid. As far as extreme environments go, this is pretty as extreme as it gets - at least on earth. It’s all sulfur, chlorine vapors, intense heat and iron-rich salt formations. The landscape and conditions are so alien, in fact, that the scientific community thinks that the Danakil Depression can help us theorize about life on other planets.
#3: The Giant’s Causeway
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Northern Ireland It doesn’t matter how compelling and ironclad of an argument you can present:; tell locals that these basalt giant causeway columns are naturally occurring, and they’ll struggle to believe you. So-named because local legend tells that it was all built by the mythical giant Finn MacCool, this natural formation is characterized by hexagonal columns, some of them rising to heights of about 120 feet. Given the sharpness of the angles and edges of these columns, coupled with the way they fit together and the varying heights, it’s understandably hard to see them as anything but human-made. They look like ruins of some grand ancient structure from a long lost civilization. In reality, however, the architect behind the Giant’s Causeway was intense volcanic activity some 50 to 60 million years ago.
#2: Salar de Uyuni
Bolivia Photographers and Instagram influencers, this one’s for you. That being said, Salar de Uyuni is so awe-inspiringly beautiful and unique that it’s nigh impossible to not appreciate it - regardless of your specific travel interests. The world’s largest salt pan, this 4,086 square mile stretch of land is covered in a salt crust and is one of the flattest expanses on earth. It makes for a remarkable sight on any given day, rain or shine. But when a thin layer of water collects on the surface, it becomes one giant mirror that reflects the sky. And when that happens, your brain will genuinely struggle to process the sight before your eyes. Sky and land merge into one as far as the eye can see. Add some grazing flamingos who use the salt flat as an annual breeding ground, and it’s like something out of a dream.
#1: Lake Natron
Tanzania This is like something out of ancient Greek mythology. While Lake Hillier and Hutt Lagoon are notably pink, Lake Natron often appears deep red, and fades to orange closer to the shores, giving the entire thing a rather hellish appearance. But it gets weirder. This unique Tanzanian lake, located in the Arusha Region, is fed by hot springs, which, coupled with its solidified lava bedrock, results in extremely high levels of sodium bicarbonate. Because of this, the water is better described as a “caustic alkaline brine”. And when animals make the mistake of entering it, most are killed and subsequently calcified, leaving mummified stone-like corpses along the shoreline. Most traditional cultures and religions have their own depictions of the underworld, but if you’re looking for a representation of hell on earth, Lake Natron certainly fits the — fossilized — bill.
