The legendary cliffside castle of three-time Voivode of Wallachia, Vlad the Impaler.

Moss and stone turn this waterfall into an otherworldly liquid veil.

An old spa town in the mountains of Romania where, according to legend, the great hero Hercules once bathed.

These natural stone bridges are the largest on the European continent.

A giant portrait of an ancient king looms over the river.

The second-largest Jewish temple in Bulgaria was deserted after World War II, seized by the communist government and then abandoned again.

Romania's triumphal arch looks out over Bucharest.

This metro station doubles as an unintentional paleontology museum.

This memorial to the victims of the Romanian Revolution of 1989 is often compared to a potato on a skewer.

One of the most controversial statues in Romania is an emperor with no clothes.

The preserved arm of a third-century sorcerer is believed to have the power to lift curses and spells.

This communist behemoth is the heaviest building in the world and a legacy of a brutal regime.

The bust of Romania’s most notorious ruler, Vlad Dracula aka "Vlad the Impaler," keeps watch over the ruins of his medieval court.

This solitary monastery may hold the remains of Vlad the Impaler (but probably not).

There's a labyrinth of manmade tunnels stretching for over an acre beneath Bristol.

This astonishingly geometric cave has inspired everyone from Jules Verne to Pink Floyd.

A hidden gem in the middle of the city's infamous Jewelry Quarter.

A 550-square-meter micro-nation off the coast of Britain.

This stream-carved gorge has inspired poets, hidden smugglers, and trained soldiers, all without losing its beauty.

An abandoned tower once used to study the cosmos hides within a thicket of greenery.

The site of one of Japan's very few American occupations during World War II still holds the relics of a roundly disastrous campaign.

The most alien-looking place on Earth.

The most disputed archipelago in the world.

The Yonaguni Monument, a natural formation or the Japanese Atlantis?