Bored of visiting the usual tourist attractions every time you go on vacation? Seeking something a little bit different? If an abandoned Brazilian Santa-themed park or Japanese monkey spa is more your thing, then we've got the perfect travel website for you. Atlas Obscura highlights all destinations weird and wonderful around the globe and turns overlooked, forgotten curiosities into strangely compelling must-sees.
Featuring, among other travel spots, an amateur Dinosaur Land in Virginia and a Bra Fence in New Zealand, Atlas Obscura is not necessarily about escaping to a typical, exotic locale. Visitors to the site, founded by Joshua Foer and Dylan Thuras, can hit the “random place” button to discover a far-flung oddity or something closer to home. As Thuras explained to The Guardian, "It could be something six blocks from your house. It's more about an approach to the world and redefining what we think of as travel attractions."
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But, though the site serves to celebrate these unique locations, its founders were at first concerned it might actually have negative consequences. However, Thuras noted, quite the opposite has been the case. "Some of these places desperately need attention or acknowledgement to stop them being destroyed by development or lack of interest," he said. "It came from [a] local, who said they were being replaced with steel-and-cable bridges that could be set up instantly. We listed the bridges on our site and, before long, they ended up on the BBC...and people were travelling to see them."
So, with that said, who fancies a trip to the circus cemetery? (The Guardian)
Photo: Via Atlas Obscura.