Ranked: The weirdest tourist attractions on Planet Earth

Strange but true

Forget Disneyland or the Seven Wonders, these 21 weird and wonderful locations are something very different. From a mermaid-friendly post office and bubblegum-pink lake to a Soviet town lost in time, Mickey's got nothing on these oddball attractions.

Scroll on through the gallery to see how we've ranked the world's most bizarre tourist attractions... 

21. Unclaimed Baggage Center, Alabama, USA

If you’ve ever lost your luggage at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, it might well have ended up here. After three months of items being unclaimed, the store, which calls itself ‘the nation’s only retailer of lost luggage,' flogs everything from iPhones to golf clubs.

Over the years, Unclaimed Baggage has come across a Renaissance lute, a camera from NASA’s Space Shuttle program and a Hoggle puppet from the film Labyrinth.

20. Dobby's grave, Wales, UK

At Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire, you’ll find a rugged shoreline, wetsuited surfers and a shrine to a fictional elf. Following Dobby's death in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 in 2010, a gravesite was built by fans to remember his sacrifice.

On top of the beach’s tall sand dunes, you’ll find a mountain of painted pebbles dedicated to Dobby, a wooden cross with his name on and a smattering of socks (if you don’t get the reference, don’t bother visiting).

19. Original Beer Spa, Prague, Czechia

Join in a 2,000-year-old tradition by bathing in barrels-full of beer in Czechia’s capital city. Original Beer Spa is exactly what it sounds like, a spa focused on beer. Punters dunk themselves in oak tubs filled with the good stuff, which is said to have antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. The beer’s unlimited during your visit so it’s 50/50 on whether you'll be leaving feeling refreshed or trolleyed.

18. Thames Town, Shanghai, China

Named after the River Thames, Thames Town is a small community around 19 miles from central Shanghai. It was modelled on a quintessential English town, meaning you’ll find Victorian terraced houses, cobbled streets, corner shops and, most importantly, a chippy.

Originally expected to house 10,000 people, the sky-high prices have made it a virtual ghost town. A bit like London's Canary Wharf on a weekend, really.

17. Crab Museum, Margate, England

Europe’s first and only museum dedicated to crabs can be found on the Kent coastline. Founded by siblings in 2021, it has amassed a loyal social media following thanks to its witty and slightly unhinged Instagram posts.

At the bricks and mortar site, you’ll learn fun crab facts. Did you know they poo from their chests? Or that horseshoe crabs are milked for their bright blue blood so that it can be used to test human vaccines? Thought not.

16. Bubblegum Alley, California, USA

Germaphobes, look away now. Tucked between San Luis Obispo’s farmers' markets and vineyards, you’ll find Bubblegum Alley, a 15-foot high, 70-foot long wall covered in chewed gum. Believed to have been started in the 1950s by local high schoolers, the wall is now covered in gum of different flavors, colors and artistic creations. You too can add your spit to the wall, if you so wish.

15. Crossness Pumping Station, London, England

Known as the ‘Cathedral of Sewage', Crossness Pumping Station, located in Abbey Wood, first opened after The Great Stink of 1858. To keep raw sewage as far away from the city center as possible, engineer Joseph Bazalgette got to work designing this Neo-Gothic poop plant.

You can still see witty decorative touches in the ironwork, shaped like figs and senna pod seeds – both natural laxatives.

14. St George’s Church, Luková, Czechia

A 14th-century church in Luková, a small Czech village in West Bohemia is believed to be one of the most haunted in Europe. It gained an eerie reputation in 1968 when its roof collapsed during a funeral service, leaving parishioners venturing elsewhere to hear the Lord’s gospel. In 2012, local artist Jakub Hadrava leant into local folklore by creating 32 life-sized plaster-cast ghosts who sit heads bowed in the pews.

13. Land of Oz, North Carolina, USA

A thriving theme park in the 1970s and 1980s visited by the likes of Carrie Fisher, Muhammad Ali and Ray Bolger, who played the Scarecrow in the original film, Land of Oz now hosts pop-up Wizard of Oz themed events. On-site, you’ll find Gale Farm, Munchkinland and the Yellow Brick Road.

Ironically, a real-life tornado damaged the park in September 2024, putting its operation on hold. It hopes to reopen in the autumn of 2026.

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12. Lake Hillier, Western Australia, Australia

On Middle Island, off the coast of Western Australia, you’ll find a lake pinker than Margot Robbie’s Barbie press tour wardrobe. Lake Hillier is only 1,969-feet long but has become an Instagram hit thanks to its unique coloring.

It’s only viewable from the sky by helicopter or plane. But if you were to take the plunge, you’d float like an ice cream. The water is as salty as the Dead Sea.

11. Jeju Loveland, Jeju-do, South Korea

Half educational, half tongue-in-cheek, this sex-themed sculpture park on Jeju Island has been drawing in tourists since 2004. Art-school graduates from Hongik University in Seoul have created 140 sculptures to ogle at of people in a variety of eyebrow-raising positions. There are also educational films and a hands-on exhibit that might just leave the more prudish members of your party a little red-faced.

10. Hoia-Baciu Forest, Cluj Napoca, Romania

In the depths of Transylvania lies Hoia-Baciu Forest. Named after a shepherd who went missing in the woodland along with his flock of 200 sheep, it’s become synonymous with paranormal activity: from a missing five-year-old girl who (allegedly) reappeared years later unchanged, to UFO sightings, technology malfunctions and total memory loss.

No trees grow in its center either, something which remains unexplained by scientists.

9. Village of the Dolls, Tokushima, Japan

Nagoro, or Village of the Dolls, found in the valleys of Tokushima Prefecture, has gained popularity since local resident Tsukimi Ayano began creating kakashi (scarecrows) in 2002 to symbolize the people who had left the village or passed away. Today, the dolls outnumber people and can be found riding bikes and learning their ABCs in abandoned schools.

8. Chez Galip Hair Museum, Avanos, Türkiye

Potter Galip Körükçü started the museum by accident. Back in 1979, when his friend left town, she snipped a lock of hair for him to remember her by. News traveled and more women began gifting him their curls and locks. He now has more than 16,000 samples of hair, displayed in the basement of his ceramic shop. Scissors are provided if you’re inclined to make a personal donation.

7. Pyramiden, Norway

On an Arctic glacier, only accessible by boat or snowmobile, lies a neglected outpost of the Soviet empire. Once home to 1,000 people, Pyramiden is now an abandoned mining town mostly visited by seabirds, Arctic foxes and the occasional polar bear. The annual Arctic Film Festival takes place inside a Stalinist movie theater, where posters still praise the motherland.

6. Lake Natron, Tanzania

Tanzania’s Lake Natron has gained notoriety for ‘turning animals to stone.' The infamous lake which is sometimes called the 'Deadly Red Lake' is mineral-rich with a pH level often exceeding 10. This means when animals die in its waters, they’re often mummified. This place caught the attention of wildlife photographer Nick Brandt in 2013, which led to the wide circulation of haunting pictures of petrified fish and birds.

5. Underwater Post Office, Vanuatu

Roughly 1,000 miles east of Australia, you’ll find the small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, home to the world’s only underwater post office. Opened 10 feet below sea level in 2003 within the Hideaway Island marine sanctuary, snorkellers, divers and those who can hold their breath long enough use it to post waterproof postcards worldwide.

4. Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Hanoi, Vietnam

One of the most sci-fi coded tourist attractions on the list, Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum in Hanoi houses the body of the former Communist leader. The revolutionary died in 1969 and was embalmed with the help of the USSR’s 'Lenin Lab.' More than 60 years later, his body remains unaltered and on public view through a glass case. Thousands of comrades – and the curious – visit the mausoleum every day.

3. The Witches’ Market, La Paz, Bolivia

At La Paz’s Mercado de las Brujas, or the Witches’ Market, you’ll find witch doctors selling the usual market loot from lotions and potions to amulets and textiles. There are also more local offerings including dried frogs, owl feathers and mummified llama fetuses. The latter are believed to bring good luck if buried in the foundation of a newly built house.

2. Parque EcoAlberto, El Alberto, Mexico

At first glance, Parque EcoAlberto is the archetypal theme park. Kayaking: tick. Zipline: tick. Abseiling: tick. But at night, things get a little rogue. The local Native American community runs an 'illegal border crossing' simulation. Participants embark on a four-hour hike through rugged countryside, all the while evading fake border patrol agents and cartel members.

1. Sea cucumber farm, Rason, North Korea

After five years of closed borders, Kim Jong Un has reopened North Korea to international tourists. As part of group tours arranged through Government-approved agencies, travelers are now able to visit the port city of Rason, in the country’s Special Economic Zone.

There, they’re able to step foot inside a 'combined foodstuff processing factory producing various snacks and drinks' and a 'sea cucumber breeding farm.' Thrilling stuff, and a difficult one to look beyond when it comes to the world's weirdest tourist attractions.

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