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Are you one of those people who are always curious about the world? Do you love to travel and experience new cultures, food, music? Well, then this article is for you. I am here to tell you about 19 places in the world that will make your jaw drop and leave you thinking, “How can this place even exist?” You’re going to be amazed at all of these places! Here are 19 hidden wonders that you must one day experience.
1. Lake Retba, Senegal
Lake Retbka is located in Senegal, Africa. This lake is unique because it’s not salty like most lakes. The salt in the water comes from all of the pink algae that live there (the locals harvest this for their own shops).
Lake Retbka has also been used as a tourist attraction by many companies such as Air France and National Geographic, which promote Senegal visits, which is home to Lake Retba. If you come during certain times of the year, or if you lucky enough at any time really, you can see flamingos fly up out of the water!
The average temperature on this lake is about 91 degrees Fahrenheit but dips down below 60 degrees in winter months, bringing appropriate clothing when visiting.
2. Meteora, Greece
Meteora Greece was originally settled by monks in the Middle Ages and is now known for its monasteries on top of huge boulders. The scenery at Meteora will feel like you’re walking through a dream!
The beautiful rocks surrounding this town make it hard to believe there’s even a modern world outside these towns, but I think we can all agree they’ve created an amazing place for people with any faith to find peace.
Meteora means “hovering in the air and of course sounds like a meteor, the shooting star.
Meteora’s town is located in Greece, which has a population of 12 million people but still managed to preserve this gorgeous natural wonder!
3. Apostle Islands Sea Caves, Wisconsin
Another hidden wonder of the world lies in a place that may not be very expecting… Wisconsin.
The Apostle Islands Sea Caves are located in Lake Superior, and they’re a part of the Apostle Island National Lakeshore.
The caves were created by glaciers grinding over the rock on their way to becoming sandstone many years ago, and the sea caves have been carved out since then!
Some people say that you can find fossilized corals in these caves as well.
The area is beautiful, but because it’s such an easy place for ships to get stuck, it has become one of America’s most popular shipwrecks destinations.
As if this wonderland wasn’t enough already… there are also lighthouses- two named after Native American chiefs: Madeline Island Light House and La Pointe lighthouse.
4. South China Karst, China
One of the world’s most spectacular landscapes: South China Karst
The area is home to over 600 caves. Some are just a few meters deep, and others go down as far as 45m below ground level.
Visitors can explore the local karst landscape on foot or by bike, with many opportunities for swimming in natural pools along the way!
There’s also plenty of wildlife, including monkeys, elephants, and boars you might spot while exploring the region.
It’s not hard to see why this is such an amazing hidden wonderland: it has something for everyone.
The scenery attracts nature lovers worldwide who come to experience its unique blend of waterfalls, thundering rivers, limestone cliffs soaring up into peaks high overhead, and countless green-clad hillsides.
5. Trøllanes cliffs, Faroe Islands
Trøllanes is the northernmost village on the island of Kalsoy. It is also where you will hike to Kallurin. One of the reasons that Trollanes has remained fairly undocumented is that it is difficult to travel. The cliffs are high, and the terrain is tricky.
There have been plenty of shipwrecks off these shores, which has given Trollanes its name (the Danish word “troll,” meaning a sea monster or demon). Before Christianization in the 1200s, people believed that Trøllanes was haunted by demons who lured passing ships with their singing to sink them on sight.
In this sense, it can be said that calling themselves trolls was actually quite clever as they were playing tricks on those who came close enough for an ambush.
Trollane’s beautifully rugged coastline offers some amazing opportunities for hiking if you’re up for discovering hidden wonders! If not, there are also picturesque beaches where you’ll be able to relax and take in some amazing sunsets.
Trollane is a small island dotted with skerries in the middle of Norway’s dramatically beautiful Skagerak.
This archipelago consists of some 200 islands, and it was once, centuries ago, inhabited by fishermen who would use the calm waters for mooring their boats.
These days though, Trollanes are best known as Scandinavia’s most famous nature reserve due to its rich birdlife and varied coastline – not least due to its unusual name!
6. Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, China
China’s Cultural Landscape of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces covers over 16,500 hectares in Southern Yunnan. If you have never seen the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, then you are not alone: it’s hard even to find these rice terraces on a map.
But this is one of the most fascinating UNESCO World Heritage Sites in China.
This site was added because it is so beautiful and rare, with its intricate designs created by flowing water through numerous fields that were carved into steep slopes. It can’t be replicated anywhere else!
The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces represent an exceptionally creative adaptation to mixed precipitation and soil fertility levels at different altitudes.
They offer important lessons for sustainable development throughout Asia and other parts of the world where similar conditions exist-lessons that should not be lost or forgotten as we work towards achieving global food security for future generations.
The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces represent an exceptionally creative adaptation to mixed levels of precipitation and soil fertility.
7. Antelope Canyon, Arizona
Antelope Canyon is one of the most beautiful and breathtaking geological formations in Antelope Pasture, a picturesque slot canyon east of Page, Arizona. Antelope Canyon is a photographer’s dream as its unique shape and colors are constantly changing.
In the past, most of Antelope Canyon’s structures were created by water erosion, but these days they’re mostly human-made due to increased tourism.
Human interference has been a blessing as it helped save this natural wonder from being flooded thanks to Navajo Dam.
With an average width of just six feet at its widest point, visitors enter Antelope Canyon for short periods through guided tours only and must hike back out on their own accord after about 45 minutes or so.
As such, you’ll need plenty of energy and stamina if you really want to experience nature’s beauty first hand!
8. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China
Avatar, heard of it?
These mountains are so spectacular that they are literally in a movie that is based on another planet. The Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is a land of canyons, pillars, peaks, and forests. It is located in the Hunan Province in Southwest China.
The Zhangjiajie National Forest Park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 due to its rare limestone karst landscapes found nowhere else on earth.
The park also has many well-preserved ancient forests filled with wildlife so diverse it looks like you’re walking through scenes from Avatar! This wild wonderland spans across an area larger than Yellowstone or Yosemite national parks stateside at over 100 square miles!
Do not visit during the rainy season as landslides may occur, and tourists have been known to get lost when visibility drops below 50 feet for days on end.
To learn more about this hidden wonder click here!
9. Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta
Located in the Canadian Badlands, Dinosaur Provincial Park has a landscape that would be perfectly at home in a cowboy flick. This is the spot where dinosaur fossils have been found, and this national park showcases them in a museum.
It’s estimated that about 200 species of plants still grow here, including many rare ones like the Chinese Plantain Lily! This area also has one of the highest densities of grizzlies anywhere in North America, so if you would rather see live bears than fossilized bones, then this may be your place.
To this day, they are still uncovering new fossils, so there is a lot to see both in the museum and outside.
10. Icebar, Sweden
There’s a really cool bar with ice where you can take pictures on the Stockholm waterfront called The Ice Bar at Hotel C. The Ice Bar in Sweden is built entirely of ice and snow and will keep you warm with their ice bar cocktail.
The Ice Bar is located on the Stockholm waterfront in Sweden
You can get there by taking a boat from Slussen or Nybroplan dock, which takes about 15 minutes. It’s open all day until midnight.
It was opened in 2010, so it’s pretty new, and most of the building is still made out of wood. There are many different tables to sit at and an upstairs lounge area that overlooks the water and has heat lamps when guests need them during colder months.
This place does not have any windows because they would be too expensive, but it’s nice inside!
To learn more about this hidden wonder, click here!
11. Morning Glory Pool, Wyoming
Morning Glory Pool is a hot spring in the Yellowstone Upper Geyser Basin of the United States. It is a popular tourist destination and easily accessible to all. The pool consists of an upper shallow area, with temperatures ranging from 98-112 degrees Fahrenheit and sulfuric acid smells mixed with heavy borax concentrations.
The Morning Glory Pool itself is located in the back of the Upper Geyser Basin.
Getting there requires walking for about 15 minutes past several other hot springs that are more active than this one.
This can be done by following paths or finding your way through the woods without them, but it’s not recommended because you could end up lost very quickly if you’re not careful.
The pools themselves are made up of bacteria that emit light that looks like little fireflies.
Each pool has a different hue, and the glow depends on what minerals are in the water. The Morning Glory Pool is not as bright, but it does have bioluminescent bacteria, which means you can see them at night!
To learn more about booking a trip to this hidden wonder, click here!
12. Bioluminescent Dinos, The Maldives
Like those surrounding the islands of the Maldives, travelers to exotic waters may be treated to a natural phenomenon that turns the nighttime ocean into a field of glowing stars.
The Maldives are a collection of more than 1000 islands that stretch across the equator. These tropical paradises, which sit in one of the world’s most important sea trade routes, have drawn visitors for centuries, and there is no shortage of things to do once you arrive.
If guests want something new and daring, they can try diving with bioluminescent creatures- fish species like anglerfish who use their own light source to lure prey into their grasp!
The water sparkles as if alive with fireflies on these dives, so it makes sense that some people call them “dino dives.”
13. An Airplane Hotel, Costa Rica
The Hotel Costa Verde is a luxury hotel located in the Manuel Antonio National Park, surrounded by water on three sides.
This boutique eco-hotel is the perfect place for those looking to vacation in Costa Rica’s central Pacific zone.
The hotel offers various options from one-bedroom villas with a private infinity pool and Jacuzzi overlooking the rainforest canopy to luxury suites that offer stunning views of both forested mountain ranges well as the ocean.
The hotel also features two restaurants that serve international cuisine made with fresh ingredients such as organic vegetables grown on-site!
Guests can enjoy their meal by taking a stroll along the beach or being pampered at the spa.
It doesn’t matter if you’re planning your honeymoon or just escaping for some R&R; this resort will make sure your stay is unforgettable.
And yes, it is an actual plane!
For other incredible places to stay while in Costa Rica, click this link!
14. Fingal’s Cave, Scotland
Fingal’s Cave bears history and geology unlike any other cave in the world.
Fingal’s Cave is one of the few places in Europe where you can see an underground river. The underground river was actually discovered in 1772, but legend says the ancient Scots knew about it centuries before.
Legend has it that months and years of flooding had eroded a part of the island’s coastline to reveal the cave entrance below. The waves rushed into the fissure carrying with them debris from an ice age that lay buried on nearby islands: reindeer antlers, bones of sea lions, and other creatures leftover from some long-ago era when Scotland was frozen.
The discovery at Fingal’s Cave is one reason why this site became popular for tourists since then – those interested in geology or history have come to see how water formed these unusual rock formations. In contrast, others simply want to experience what it feels like inside a sea cave.
The cave also contains a lava tube, which means that it has been melting through solid rock for many years.
This place was named after the legendary hero Fingal from Celtic mythology and claimed to have been visited by Vikings during their raids on Ireland hundreds of years ago.
The mouth of Fingal’s Cave is only about 500 feet long, and at its widest point, it spans 50 feet across. The tunnel inside is approximately 120-140 yards in length before reaching an underground river that flows through for half a mile before ending abruptly in what appears to be an old lava flow from many years ago.
This place was named after the legendary hero Fingal from Celtic mythology and claimed to have been visited by Vikings during their raids on Ireland hundreds of years ago.
To visit this massive marvel of nature, tourists must first go through beautiful Iona, which has ties with a history dating back thousands of years.
15. Northern Lake Baikal, Russia
Lake Baikal, located in southern Siberia in Russia, is the world’s largest freshwater lake by volume and contains more than one-fifth of the world’s total unfrozen surface freshwater.
As the world’s largest freshwater lake, it has an area of about 40,000 square km (15,444 square miles). Baikal is unique because its bottom contains a thin layer of freshwater that no other large natural body of salt or brackish water on Earth possesses. The ice-free surface measures 16,800 sq km (6312 sq miles) and reaches depths of over 1700 m (5575 ft), making Baikal the seventh deepest lake in the world.
The shoreline stretches for 2550 kilometers (approximately 1520 miles); however, only half this distance can be reached by land due to dense taiga forest.
Lake Baikal was formed when a meteorite slammed into the earth more than 70 million years ago.
One of the fascinating parts of this lake is the plant and animals that have evolved here. One of the most famous is the Baikal seal, found nowhere else in the world and can grow up to a whopping six feet long (up to two meters).
Lake Baikal has some unique qualities that make it incredibly difficult to study this area because its depth makes studying marine life near impossible; however, we know for sure that over 1000 species are living within its depths:
– 250 types of fish
– 170 different plants, including 20% endemic plant species and 40% animal species not elsewhere found on Earth
– 50 freshwater seals live around Lake Baikal. They only exist at one other place in Russia – in Lake Ladoga, just northeast of St Petersburg.
To learn more about this hidden wonder, click here!
16. Huacachina, Peru
Huacachina is a small town located near an oasis in southwestern Peru surrounded by dunes. It is a popular destination for vacationers, largely because of its dunes and the nearby resort.
The village’s name translates as “plain surrounded by hills.”
It was originally settled by Incas who would visit the oasis to harvest fruit trees and collect water before returning to their homes in Cuzco. They called it Aspacancha or Oasis of Women, believing that only women could safely drink from the spring, which held enough freshwater year-round for all visitors.
Inca legend has it that Huacachina got its name after an Andean princess named Chinchaysuyu saw her reflection in the waters there; she became so enamored with herself that she refused to leave until her father sent his men to retrieve her.
You will understand the vast beauty and awe-inspiring location of this small village by looking at the photos. It is a must-see destination if adventure is what you are after.
17. The Door to Hell, Turkmenistan
Lord of the rings is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of the door to hell in Turkmenistan.
This is a natural gas field in Derweze, Turkmenistan.
The crater has been burning since it was lit on fire by Soviet scientists for unknown reasons in 1971.
It’s still burning to this day, and legend says that if it goes out, the world will end. It’s also considered one of the most dangerous places on Earth because the flames can reach up to 100 feet high, and temperatures are hot enough to melt shoe soles at 20 meters away from its edge.
Weirdly enough, there is a lake inside with huge flaming bubbles coming off of them as well as plenty of wildlife such as sheep’s camels, vultures, snakes, etc.
18. Marble Caves, Patagonia
One of the best-hidden spots in Chile’s Patagonia region is the Marble Caves–also known as the Capillas de Mármol.
The Marble Caves are located in Patagonia, Chile. They were discovered by a Swiss tourist named Heinrich Schwab, who explored the area and reached what is now known as The Great Hall of Columns – before this discovery, the caves had remained unknown for thousands of years.
Visitors can take a boat tour or rock climb to explore these cavernous underground wonders that have been carved out over 6000 years, with water from nearby glaciers filling up General Carrera Lake and washing against solid rocks, slowly carving out intricate caverns, columns, tunnels.
In 1965 two local explorers climbed down into one tunnel to find an ice-cold lake underneath them situated at around 3000 meters above sea level!
Filled with stalactites and stalagmites of all shapes and sizes, it is one of Patagonia’s most impressive natural wonders. It offers visitors a surreal experience as if they had fallen into space or stepped onto another planet when under the earth’s surface.
These caves definitely look like they were drawn in some children’s stories, making them an absolute must-visit location.
19. Danxia Landform, China
Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park is part of the Qilian Mountains and is one of many national parks in eastern China, including Jiuzhaigou.
The Danxia Landform is a series of red sandstone formations. There are many open-air museums and scenic spots in the park, like Xianren Cave that features “bizarre shapes which have been formed by millions of years of wind erosion.”
Zhangye’s Danxia landscape has lots of precipitous red cliffs, most of which are several hundred meters high, and multicolored ridges of weathered strata, sometimes stretching to the horizon.
In addition to its natural beauty, Zhangye offers some interesting cultural attractions such as Yangguan Pass and Jiaxiang Tower from ancient times when it was strategically important to protect China against invading Mongols.