Blue Lagoon, Iceland
The Blue Lagoon is otherworldly in appearance—black lava rock punctuated with milky blue waters, and steam billowing like clouds. The visual appeal is only part of the experience, however. A soak in the 100-degree water (which comes from the output of a nearby geothermal plant) is like a spa experience, with silica mud masks and mineral salts ensuring your skin will look—and feel—better than it did when you got there.
Great Blue Hole, Belize
Located about 60 miles off the coast of Belize, the Lighthouse Reef has beautiful coral and shallow turquoise waters—and a vertical drop that’s more than 400 feet deep. Meet the Great Blue Hole, a 1,000-foot-wide, perfectly circular sinkhole in the middle of the atoll. Ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau helped make the spot famous in 1971 when he declared it one of the best diving sites on the planet.
Júzcar, Spain
This tiny Andalusian town, about two hours south of Seville, hasn’t always been blue. In fact, the entirety of Júzcar was painted blue as part of a publicity stunt for The Smurfs movie in 2011, creating a real-life Smurf village in the Ronda mountains. Originally, the movie’s production studio said they would return the town to its original white, but the town voted to keep the blue. But as of 2017, after tens of thousands of tourists visited to see the blue town, it is no longer allowed to call itself home of the Smurfs, after a dispute with the tiny cartoon characters’ creator, The Telegraph reports.
Pamukkale, Turkey
Humans have been soaking in the naturally formed travertine limestone pools since Roman times, and it’s now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The warm water trickles down the terraced stone pools, which draw their blue color from the sky’s reflection. While not part of the salt pools, the Antique Pool in town is a must-see, filled with crystal clear water and downed Roman columns from centuries ago.
Grape Hyacinths, the Netherlands
When you think of the Netherlands, you tend to think of tulips—vast fields filled with neat rows of the bulbs, in shades of blush, magenta, coral, and more. But if you want to take a different tack, look out for the grape hyacinths, instead. These bulbous, densely packed blooms resemble bunches of grapes, and they’re a fun, unexpected reprieve from the standard Holland to-do list.
Shah Mosque, Isfahan, Iran
Structures like the Azadi Tower and Tabiat Pedestrian Bridge in Tehran have put Iran on every design lover’s radar. But it’s the ancient mosques of Isfahan that keep us coming back, with elaborate mosaics and hidden Persian gardens.
Provence, France
The seemingly endless stretches of lavender make Provence one of the prettiest (and best-smelling) places in France. Distilleries—where the essential oil from the flowers is bottled or used to make soaps, lotions, and creams—dot the area, but the multitude of fields featuring unreal violet views are the real pride of Provence.
Kawachi Fuji Gardens, Kitakyushu, Japan
Japan might be known for its pink cherry blossoms, but its purple wisteria trees bloom just as brilliantly for a few weeks every spring, turning parks and gardens around the country into a vision of pastel hues.
Northern Lights, Manitoba
When charged particles from the sun collide with atoms in the earth’s atmosphere, countless bursts of light occur, creating the aurora borealis. In layman’s terms? Colorful lights dance across the sky, creating nature’s best show. This phenomenon can be seen in high-latitude regions nearest the Arctic and Antarctica, in an array of colors from soft yellow to vibrant green to deep purple. Alaska, Greenland, Finland, Norway, and Canada are some of the best places to catch the aurora.
Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, Japan
This lush bamboo grove on the outskirts of Kyoto is not only a dizzying, peaceful respite from Japan’s often busy energy: In 1996, the Ministry of the Environment included the audio from here—wood creaking, leaves rustling—as one of the top 100 Soundscapes of Japan.
The Dead Sea
There’s a reason it’s called the Dead Sea; until at least 2010, scientists weren’t even sure whether the most miserly forms of life could exist in this body of water straddling Israel and Jordan. But it’s worth checking out anyway: its salinity is ten times that of most seawater—note the hunks of bright white salt clinging to its banks that you’d figure for ice if it weren’t 90 degrees outside—meaning you can bounce above the electric blue waters.
Dallol, Ethiopia
One of the hottest places on earth thanks to volcanoes and geysers, Dallol, which sits on Ethiopia’s northern border with Eritrea, is best viewed from afar. The average annual temperature is 94 degrees Fahrenheit, and it routinely hits highs of 116 in the summer. The brilliant yellow, pictured here, is the result of sulphur and salt reacting.
Valley of the Moon, Chile
Named for its lunar landscape, the otherworldly Valle de la Luna in Chile’s Atacama Desert is known for a jagged range of wind-carved rocks. As the sun sets each evening, the change in light makes the rocks appear to change from pink to a deep red, just before the sky fills with some of the world’s best stargazing.
Laguna Colorada, Bolivia
About a three-hour drive north from Chile’s San Pedro de Atacama, this salt lake in the shadow of the Andes has a similar story to Tanzania’s Lake Natron. Spanning 14,000 acres and just three feet deep, its waters are blood red due to its extreme alkalinity and the algae that thrive in its otherworldly heat. Like Lake Natron, too, Laguna Colorada is a hotbed for flamingos—specifically the rare, light pink James’s flamingos.
Lofoten Islands, Norway
It’s not exactly easy to reach the Lofoten Islands, just off Norway’s northwestern coast. But once you’re there, you’ll find the beauty that is truly unparalleled: think colorful fishing villages, majestic fjords, and frozen beaches dotted with surfers.
