Take a tour of the world's WEIRDEST towns and villages

Curious dwellings around the world

The world is full of fascinating and beautiful places, but for every picture-perfect location, there’s a more unusual one just down the road. We did some research and selected our top ten 'stranger than fiction' communities, where things aren't always as they seem.

From Norway's northernmost town where you aren’t allowed to die, to a creepy village in Japan where the inhabitants are life-sized dolls, click or scroll to tour some of the strangest towns and villages in the world....

Hallstatt, Guangdong Province, China

The picturesque town of Hallstatt in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong may look like an authentic alpine village, with its colourful houses and dramatic church spires, but all is not what it seems. It's actually an exact copy of its centuries-old namesake in Austria, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

It was built by a metals and mineral trading company called Minmetals Ltd in almost complete secrecy until a stray blueprint was reportedly discovered in an Austrian hotel leftover from a research trip by the Chinese architects. Playing on a fascination with historic Western places, the town was constructed on the outskirts of a major industrial city attracting buyers willing to pay more for one of the quirky houses. 

Hallstatt, Guangdong Province, China

It’s unclear how China's fascination with Hallstatt originated, but a report by BBC Travel suggests it may be due to the popular South Korean soap opera Spring Waltz, which shot some episodes in and around Hallstatt, introducing the area to millions of viewers in Asia.

The copycat town is reported to have cost an estimated $940 million (£769m) to build but has become a major tourist attraction and real estate hot spot in the Pearl River Delta region. While it might seem strange, it's part of a broader trend in replicated town layouts; China features many such places, including a version of Venice complete with canals in Dalian, Liaoning province, a faux Eiffel Tower in Tianducheng and a version of the American skiing destination Jackson Hole in Hebei.

Hallstatt, Guangdong Province, China

This is the first time an entire town has been cloned in this way, where streets, buildings and civic details like fountains have been reconstructed. The attention to detail exhibited in imitating the original Hallstatt has been impressive, but many of the buildings in its Chinese counterpart have been repurposed. The grand hall of this church, for instance, is used for functions and banquets rather than being a place of worship.

Hallstatt, Guangdong Province, China

Meanwhile, the Austrian Hallstatt (pictured here) has since experienced a boom in tourism too, thanks to its Chinese twin. The tiny Austrian town, which has around 700 inhabitants, has been called 'the most Instagrammable town in the world' and before Covid-19 hit, there were records of more than 1 million overnight stays per year. While the Austrian reaction was initially hostile, according to a report for the New York Times, the two towns have built up an unlikely friendship over the years.

Coober Pedy, South Australia

While at first, it seems like an ordinary town, there is more to Coober Pedy in the Australian outback than meets the eye. Not only is it recognised as the opal mining capital of the world (after a teenager discovered a piece of opal in the area 100 years ago), but more than half of its 2,500 inhabitants live underground to escape the brutal outdoor temperature, which can rise to 53˚ Celsius in the summer months. 

Coober Pedy, South Australia

There are over a hundred subterranean homes dug into the sandstone bedrock. While around 70 opal fields operate in the area, many of the old tunnels have been converted into living quarters. Ventilation shafts allow air to breeze through the dugouts so they don’t get too stuffy, while most of the energy needed to run the town comes from solar panels and wind farms on its outskirts.

You don’t have to worry too much about planning permission in Coober Pedy, there are few rules so you can build pretty much anything you want, according to the Channel 4 documentary series World’s Most Extreme.

Coober Pedy, South Australia

Churches, a hair salon, a bookshop and even a pool room have been built to accommodate the increasing number of subterranean dwellers. Digging your new extension can bring unexpected benefits; when one hotel in town decided to burrow down to create a few more rooms, they hit the jackpot, discovering some valuable opals and earning themselves around $1.5 million (£1.2m) in assets.

Coober Pedy, South Australia

The idea of living underground came when the original opal miners began sleeping in their mine shafts while they searched for their fortunes. Today, some inhabitants have since turned their cave dwellings into artworks.

Check the home of Crocodile Harry, a one-time Latvian baron who has become something of a local institution and charges a two-dollar fee to visit his extraordinary abode. Fun fact: the town also served as a backdrop in the film Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway

Don’t be fooled by the white crosses in Norwegian town Longyearbyen’s old cemetery, nobody has been buried in the graveyard here since 1950, when dying was made illegal. That may sound drastic, but being forbidden to die in this remote location actually makes sense. It's on the archipelago of Svalbard, about halfway between Norway and the North Pole, making it so cold that bodies don’t decompose.

In fact, when corpses of those who died in the 1918 flu pandemic were exhumed at Longyearbyen, scientists could still retrieve live samples of the virus. Residents are required by law to fly to the mainland for their final days if they are terminally ill, and if an unexpected death does occur in the town, the body must be transported off the island. The system is so well organised that the government offers support to families to make the process easier, according to reports.

Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway

But it’s not all doom and gloom, to judge by these joyful painted wooden houses which fill the town. Longyearbyen is a former mining town, so the majority of accommodation was built for mine workers and people providing services to them. Today, many are still either owned by the mining company, the local government (for their employees) or by the island's university.

What little private accommodation exists gets rented very quickly and often at very high rates. The upside is you get to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, surrounded by the Arctic wilderness, with spectacular views of the Northern Lights in winter.

Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway

The town is so far north that it stays dark for four months of the year and, when the sun officially reappears in March, citizens gather to welcome its return and kick off a week-long celebration called Solfestuka. But entertainment is available year-round as the Community Council funds many buildings including the modern 'kulturhus' (Culture House), pictured, which opened in 2010 and hosts concerns and even a cinema that shows over 100 movies a year.

Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway

In fact, Longyearbyen is a cosmopolitan city with modern hotels, a brewery and more than 15 different restaurants, including the world’s most northernly haute cuisine eatery, Huset, which boasts one of Scandinavia’s largest wine cellars, seen here. The Scandi architecture and decor is as beautiful as the snow-covered streets. And, of course, there’s the town’s four-legged residents which means your neighbours include over 1,000 polar bears and countless reindeer. 

Nagoro village, Shikoku, Japan

Located on Shikoku, Japan’s smallest island, Nagoro might be one of the creepiest villages in the world. At first glance, you might be tempted to say hello to one of these friendly elderly residents apparently waiting patiently for a bus. But don’t expect a response as they are, in fact, life-sized scarecrows, and outnumber the village’s human inhabitants ten-to-one...

Nagoro village, Shikoku, Japan

The cotton-stuffed effigies were the brainchild of Tsukimi Ayano, a crafts hobbyist who moved back to her hometown in 2002 to look after her ailing father and created her first functional scarecrow in her father’s image to deter birds from eating seeds in the garden. Her hobby has since morphed into an eerie 200-strong invasion of the village by the life-sized dolls, which now populate every corner of the once-lively community.

Nagoro village, Shikoku, Japan

Even the village school, which closed several years ago, has been taken over by a class of attentive but mute 'children', listening to the pearls of wisdom of their motionless 'teacher'. Elsewhere, the village dolls go about their daily business, whether it’s a team of construction workers 'installing' a road sign, a fisherman waiting for a bite, or an affectionate old couple on tree stumps watching the river go by.

Nagoro village, Shikoku, Japan

Tired of seeing the village population dwindling as its inhabitants either died or moved to cities in search of work, Tsukimi decided to repopulate the village by creating the dolls, often in the likeness of former villagers so she could 'speak' to them like old times.

Nagoro’s growing community went unnoticed for many years until 2014, when a visiting German filmmaker, Fritz Schumann, made a short documentary on Tsukimi’s work, entitled Valley of the Dolls, which has since put the quiet village on the map. 

Matmata, Southern Tunisia, Tunisia

One of the few remaining Berber villages in Tunisia, Matmata is famous for its unusual underground housing structures carved into the stone and known as troglodyte dwellings. The entire area lies in the parched valleys of Tunisia’s Djebel Dahar region and was largely unknown to the outside world until the 1960s when severe flooding brought it to the attention of the Tunisian government.

Matmata, Southern Tunisia, Tunisia

Highly unusual even in Tunisia, the houses were built first by digging a large circular pit into the sandstone, which was soft enough to work with simple tools. Caves were then dug out around the edges of the pit, forming underground rooms and connecting passageways which provide protection against searing summer heat and winter winds. 

Matmata, Southern Tunisia, Tunisia

Although many of its original inhabitants have moved out to seek work, there are still 1,200 troglodyte dwellings in Matmata. Life in the community is tough, however. “We have to fetch wood and water, we have no electricity and can’t even install a solar panel”, Matmata resident Mounjia told Al Jazeera. 

Matmata, Southern Tunisia, Tunisia

In the years before the 2015 terrorist attacks on Sousse Beach muted Tunisia’s tourism boom, the area was a popular place to visit, largely due to its links with the Star Wars franchise. The Hotel Sidi Driss featured as the home of Luke Skywalker on the planet Tatooine in the 1977 film Star Wars Episode lV: A New Hope, and again in the 2002 prequel film Star Wars: Episode ll: Attack of the Clones.

The village and surrounding area have also been used as a setting in the Call of Duty video games, but it's the everyday living that gives the place its charm. Berber traditions such as couscous-making and rug-weaving are kept alive in the cave-like homes and families display tools that are used exclusively in Berber society.

East Grinstead, Sussex, England

With its elegant Tudor-style buildings, bookshops and pavement cafés, East Grinstead might seem like a normal Sussex market town. Yet its long history of housing religious sects makes it one of Britain's strangest. The home of Scientology in the UK, the small suburban town has also been connected with Catholic sect Opus Dei, the mysterious Rosicrucians, the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christian Scientists, as well as druids and pagans.

East Grinstead, Sussex, England

It is most famous as the hub of Scientology in Britain and the church’s headquarters are based at Saint Hill Manor, a secluded country house on the southwestern edge of the town. The was the former home of the Maharaja of Jaipur before being acquired by the church's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, in the 50s. Tom Cruise, the sect’s most famous disciple, has visited the mansion many times and is said to have spent lockdown during Covid-19 here.

East Grinstead, Sussex, England

The Mission Impossible actor is believed to have shelled out £3 million ($3.7m) for this spectacular country estate in Dormans Park in 2006, which is just down the road from Saint Hill Manor. Known as Rede Place, the four-storey home remained home to the actor and wife Katie Holmes until 2016 when it was snapped up for around £5 million ($6m) by reality star Peter Andre. With its spacious rooms and architectural features, the modern mega-mansion would have served as a splendid meeting place for the star’s like-minded friends

East Grinstead, Sussex, England

Seen here on the steps of his grand home, L. Ron Hubbard acquired Saint Hill Manor and some 60 surrounding acres in March 1959. The Manor served as both his home and as the worldwide headquarters for the Scientology religion until 1967. The house is among the most historically significant estates in Sussex, first appearing in records from 1567. 

Yet the Church of Scientology isn’t the only religion to have taken up residence in East Grinstead. Opus Dei hosts self-improvement retreats at Wickenden Manor, while the home of British Mormonism lies a few miles north at the impressive London England Temple. Meanwhile, Druids and other pagans are known to have held gatherings in the woods in Ashdown Forest.

Wycliffe Well, Northern Territory, Australia

Long hailed as Australia’s UFO capital and on the way if you’re driving from Darwin to Adelaide, this eerie Australian town is filled with green alien statues, wacky street art and an iconic 'Welcome to Wycliffe Well' highway sign that provides the ideal spot to strike a pose with. 

Whether you’ll spot any UFOs during your stay, however, is another matter, although there is a wide-open sky which is perfect for sightings if you're brave enough to stay out after dark...

Wycliffe Well, Northern Territory, Australia

With its bright green alien-shaped mannequins and UFO sculptures, Wycliffe Well feels like an abandoned theme park. According to the guidebooks, it was once considered one of the top five places in the world to spot UFOs.

Founded more than 160 years ago, it began as a watering point and was one of four government wells established along the Overland Telegraph Line between Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. 

Wycliffe Well, Northern Territory, Australia

The well served as an army farm in the 1940s. A roadhouse was later erected on one of the existing concrete slabs built for the army, and when a fuel pump was installed, visitors started stopping off for the night. That’s when the stories of mysterious lights and other unidentified objects in the sky began.

The walls of the original roadhouse are covered with hundreds of laminated newspaper cuttings confirming the many alleged UFO sightings. A sign above reads: "Welcome to Wycliffe Well: UFO Centre of Australia".

Wycliffe Well, Northern Territory, Australia

It became a UFO-themed tourist attraction in 1985 after a man named Lew Farkus took over the roadhouse and caravan park and set about capitalising on its UFO connection. He built the Galaxy Auditorium, a 300-seat restaurant and a lake and invested around $4 million (£3.3m) in the property, before selling it in 2009.

There are many theories as to why it’s a UFO hot spot; some suggest that the aliens are attracted to the town’s cosmic alignment of landforms, tectonic plates and manmade structures, which emit a type of UFO-friendly energy.

Damanhur, Piedmont, Italy

The Damanhur Federation is an ecovillage based in Piedmont in northern Italy. Founded by the late Oberto Airaudi in 1975 as a form of commune for the philosopher and his friends, it combines neo-pagan beliefs with a passion for nature.

Members assume animal and plant names and live in community houses of 10-30 people. According to its website, Damanhurians have created many businesses in the field of arts and crafts and beyond. The community even has its own currency, called the Credito. 

Damanhur, Piedmont, Italy

Beneath the community’s countryside complex is a network of stunning temples, built by hand in the 70s at depths reaching up to 100 feet beneath ground level, and completely unknown to the Italian authorities until 1992.

Known as the 'Temples of Humankind', they have been called the eighth wonder of the world and are dedicated to the planet and its biodiversity. Covered in murals and sculptures, they have a new-age feel about them and are said to correspond "to a profound journey inside oneself."

Damanhur, Piedmont, Italy

The most famous is the blue temple, which features a mystical blue sphere and a mosaic in the centre of the floor that represents the star of the tarot. There are seven rooms in total, each one dedicated to an element.

The 'Hall of Spheres' is entirely covered in gold leaf, while the 'Hall of Mirrors', a four-sided pyramid topped with a stained-glass dome, is a space for meditation surrounded on all sides by mirrors.

Damanhur, Piedmont, Italy

Today, the community of Damanhur numbers around 750 people. Some live permanently on-site, while others contribute to its upkeep and live here at least three days a week. They have their own schools, rules and regulations, even on marriage, according to Gaia, whereby you agree to be married for a specific number of years, after which you renew (or not!). 

Although there have been numerous reports of singing plants and unlocking the secret of time travel, members insist they are not a cult and regularly welcome visitors and temporary residents.

Kihnu Island, Estonia

Often hailed as Europe’s last surviving matriarchy, there’s little that women don’t do on the tiny island of Kihnu, off the western coast of Estonia in the Baltic Sea. The island's male population are mainly fishermen and spend months at a time out at sea leaving the women in charge of this community of some 700 people. They have been running the show for centuries – even the keeper of Kihnu’s 19th-century lighthouse, seen here, is a woman. 

Kihnu Island, Estonia

Women govern the island in their men’s absence, acting as guardians of its traditions and culture. Singing and dancing are integral parts of life for the local inhabitants and children are taught traditional musical instruments at school as well as Kihnu’s local dialect. Kihnu culture was recognised as a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003, according to Al Jazeera. 

Kihnu Island, Estonia

As well as the traditional female tasks of weaving and making clothes, women run the farms, raise the animals, fix the tractors and have been known to perform church services when the Russian Orthodox priest is not available, reports The Independent.

A woman’s work is never done, it would seem. No wonder they choose to zoom around on motorbikes whatever their age, usually clad in a Kihnu homespun striped skirt (called a kört in Estonian).

Kihnu Island, Estonia

One of the highlights of the year is the summer solstice, when the midsummer celebrations culminate with the burning of a fishing boat upon a bonfire, accompanied by singing and dancing. At nearly seven square miles, Kihnu is the seventh largest of Estonia’s more than 2,000 islands and has a year-round population of just 300.

About five are men. "People think we are making some statement with women being in charge, but that’s our culture", says Mare Matas, president of the Kihnu Cultural Space Foundation.

Port Hope, Ontario, Canada

Located just 100 kilometres east of Toronto, Port Hope is one of the most picturesque small towns in Canada, with its perfectly preserved 19th-century downtown quarter, which has a river running through it.

A designated Heritage District, with stunning examples of Victorian and Edwardian architecture around every corner, a stroll down its main street, said to be the best-preserved in Ontario, is like taking a step back in time. 

Port Hope, Ontario, Canada

Its many charms have not been overlooked by the many movie production companies who have filmed here, either. It has featured as the backdrop to countless films and TV shows, including Schitt’s Creek and the big-screen adaptations of Stephen King’s horror novel It, which feature various downtown locations. When Halloween rolls around, there’s even a film walking tour complete with Pennywise the Clown!

Port Hope, Ontario, Canada

Nicknamed the antique capital of Ontario, its picturesque downtown quarter is the perfect place to while away an afternoon browsing through its quaint shops and boutiques.

And, if you fancy a peek behind-the-scenes of some of the vintage architecture that Port Hope is famous for, there’s the annual Port Hope House Tour every September.

Port Hope, Ontario, Canada

Port Hope has its quirky traditions too. The town hosts the annual Float Your Fanny Down the Ganny event, a local tradition which sees hundreds of participants launching their homemade craft into the Ganaraska River to commemorate the great flood of 1980 that devastated Port Hope’s downtown area. The river is also a popular fishing destination and people come just to watch the trout and salmon swimming upstream to spawn. 

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