Explorer 1's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Leaderboard Highlights
Explorer 1's activity rankings
1st
Places visited in Athens, Greece
1st
Places visited in Wellington, New Zealand
1st
Places visited in Geneva, Switzerland
2nd
Places visited in County Durham, England
3rd
Places visited in Belfast, Northern Ireland
3rd
Places visited in Buckinghamshire, England
4th
Places visited in Essex, England
4th
Places visited in Ballygalley, Northern Ireland
4th
Places visited in Carnlough, Northern Ireland
Loading map...
Les Rousses, Switzerland

Hotel Arbez

Part of this hotel resides in Switzerland, the other in France, and the border splits the honeymoon suite.
Gland, Switzerland

Villa Rose

This secret Swiss fortress is disguised as a harmless pink house, complete with fake windows.
Gland, Switzerland

Toblerone Line

This long line of cement defensive wedges is named after the famous chocolate bar for obvious reasons.
Commugny, Switzerland

Site of "The Absinthe Murders"

A tiny rural community in Switzerland was home to one of history's most shocking murders, and led to the banning of Absinthe for nearly a century.
Geneva, Switzerland

Repère Pierre du Niton

This stone in Lake Geneva was once the reference point used to determine altitude in Switzerland.
Geneva, Switzerland

Brunswick Monument

An opulent monument built for a duke who donated his entire fortune to the city of Geneva.
Geneva, Switzerland

L’horloge Fleurie (The Flower Clock)

The world's largest second-hand graces a clock surrounded by constantly changing flower beds. 
Geneva, Switzerland

Mère Royaume

On the side of a building, a depiction of the woman who became a local legend by tossing soup out her window.
Geneva, Switzerland

Treille Promenade

One of the longest wooden benches in the world snakes around Geneva's Treille Promenade.
Geneva, Switzerland

John Calvin's Chair

A plain wooden seat that once belonged to one of the most prominent figures of the Protestant Reformation.
Geneva, Switzerland

Immeuble Clarté

An early masterpiece of Le Corbusier, a famed Modernist architect, hiding in plain sight.
Geneva, Switzerland

Liszt Memorial

A memorial to a 19th-century composer who was known for driving crowds wild.
Cologny, Switzerland

Villa Diodati

Where Mary Shelley’s 'Frankenstein' and John William Polidori's 'The Vampyre' were born.
Cologny, Switzerland

The Bodmer Library

A trove of ridiculously valuable prints and manuscripts under one roof.
Tanworth in Arden, England

Nick Drake's Grave

The gravestone of a delicate singer-songwriter bears a fittingly introspective epitaph.
Warwickshire, England

Lord Leycester Hospital

A retirement home for soldiers that can trace its history to the Elizabethan era and beyond.
Hatton, England

The Hatton Flight

Known as the "Stairway to Heaven," this historic canal dates back to the 1700s.
Warwickshire, England

Dick's Lane Bridge

A great example of the inventive canal bridges that were deliberately split down the middle.
Oxford, England

The Headington Shark

A 26-foot shark sculpture—a statement about bombs—set off a municipal battle royale.
Oxford, England

C.S. Lewis's Grave

The beloved fantasy novelist is buried near a church containing a whimsical etched glass window full of Narnia favorites.
Wheatley, England

Wheatley Lock-Up

Over 100 years ago this pyramidal holding cell was reserved for rowdy drunks but now only offers five minute sentences.
London, England

Site Where the First V2 Rocket Fell on London

A small stone monument marks the spot on Stavely Road where the first of hundreds of missiles touched down during World War II.
Barão de São João, Portugal

Passeio dos Poetas Stone Faces

On a trail in Portugal's Barão de São João National Forest, a pile of faces look up at hikers from the forest floor.
Lagoa, Portugal

Benagil Caves

Perhaps the most spectacular grotto along the Algarve coastline.