Sometimes, the best destinations to place on your adventure bucket list aren’t the ones that you see most commonly touted in travel magazines and blogs. If you’re the kind of person who prefers to explore the road less traveled and experience things that the average tourist may never get the chance to see, then you’re probably going to be more drawn to some of the beautiful, and strange tourist destinations that we cover below.
Stock up on travel accessories, and tuck your windproof umbrella into your backpack – we bet that the following suggestions give you the inspiration you need to book your next once-in-a-lifetime adventure.
1. The Spotted Lake, Canada
When it comes to strange tourist destinations, this is one of the tamer options – but that doesn’t make it any less impressive. The spotted lake has been revered by the “Okanagan” natives as a sacred location. In the summer, the main body of the water evaporates away, leaving behind a collection of tiny mineral pools that glimmer and shine in a range of different colors. Although you can visit the lake, it’s important to remember that you will be asked not to enter thetribal land.
2. The Giant’s Causeway, Ireland
About sixtymillion years ago, a gigantic volcanic eruption created a cloud of molten basalt, which quickly solidified and contracted as it cooled, leading to the pillars and huge cracks that make up the Giant’s Causeway, in Northern Ireland. Regarded as a World Heritage Site, there are around 37,000 columns to explore, and each is so perfectly sculpted that local legend suggests they were created by giants.
3. Thor’s Well, Oregon
Known by some as the “spouting horn”, people who have visited Thor’s Well will know that it’s one of the best strange tourist attractions around. In rougher conditions, water rushes into the huge sinkhole, before shooting outwards and upwards with phenomenal force. You can take the Captain Cook trail from the Cape Perpetua area to view this phenomenon for yourself, but it’s worth noting that you should stay well back – for your own safety.
4. The Tianzi Mountains, China
Located within the northwest area of the Hunan province of China, these amazing limestone pinnacles are coated in beautiful lush greenery and shrouded by a mystical cloud of mist. You can grab a cable car as far as Huangshi village to explore the mountains for yourself, then take on one of the many trails for a more intimate experience of Tianzi – a name that translates to “son of heaven”. Fun fact, these incredible floating creations were the inspiration for the mountains in the world-famous movie, Avatar.
5. The Nazca Lines, Peru
Finally, the geometric shapes, lines, and bizarre animal figures etched into Peru’s Pampa de San Jose represent one of the best strange tourist destinations in the world. Created by the ancient Nazca people, these pictures can be viewed best either from a giant metal viewing tower close to the highway or via helicopter ride. Some of the mysterious shapes reach up to 200m in length.
