dars's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Barcelona, Spain

Casa Amatller

This home designed for chocolate magnate Antoni Amatller is an exquisite treasure-box of Catalan Modernism.
Barcelona, Spain

Sagrada Família

Construction of Barcelona's iconic (but controversial) church is expected to be completed in 2026—a century after the death of its architect.
Barcelona, Spain

Casa Batlló

One of Antoni Gaudí's most classic buildings is well-known for its "dragon-back" design.
Paris, France

Shakespeare and Company

This iconic Parisian bookstore doubles as the "Tumbleweed Hotel" for traveling writers.
Paris, France

Père Lachaise Cemetery

France's most famous cemetery, with some of its most curious tombs.
Prague, Czechia

'Il Commendatore' ('Cloak of Conscience')

This spooky statue sits outside a famous Prague theater.
Prague, Czechia

Man Hanging Out

What looks like a suicide in progress is actually a statue of Sigmund Freud.
Kutna Hora, Czechia

Sedlec Ossuary "Bone Church"

A church of bones, decorated with 40,000 human skeletons.
Prague, Czechia

Speculum Alchemiae

The hidden lair of an alchemist rediscovered in a 2002 flood.
Prague, Czechia

Prague Astronomical Clock

Macabre astrological automaton clock dating to the late 1400s.
Prague, Czechia

Tančící dům - Dancing House of Prague

This tipsy office building in downtown Prague was originally called “Fred and Ginger.”
Prague, Czechia

Statue of King Wenceslas Riding an Upside-Down Dead Horse

A mocking tribute to the past and modern leadership of Prague.
San Simeon, California

Hearst Castle

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.
Inyo County, California

Badwater Basin

The lowest point in North America is home to an undrinkable pool surrounded by fields of geometric salt flats.
Humboldt County, California

Avenue of the Giants

One of the most scenic stretches of road in America winds between some of the country's oldest trees.
Sequoia National Park, California

General Sherman

Quite simply the largest tree in the world (by volume).
San Luis Obispo, California

Madonna Inn

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.
Sponsored by Visit California
San Francisco, California

Exploratorium

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.
Los Angeles, California

La Brea Tar Pits Dragonfly Fossils

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.
San Francisco, California

Japanese Tea Garden

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.
Los Angeles, California

Hollywood Sign

Hollywood's most famous landmark, the "temporary" sign that has stood for decades longer than intended.
Los Angeles, California

Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Resting place of Hollywood's immortals is also site of summer film screenings.
San Francisco, California

Alcatraz Island

In all of the 29 years it was in operation, no prisoners ever escaped successfully... or so they claim.
Los Angeles, California

The Last Bookstore

This iconic L.A. bookshop is housed in an abandoned bank—both symbolic and chic.