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Maultaschen
The origins of Germany’s Maultaschen are deliciously devious. Legend has it that, in the late Middle Ages, a lay brother named Jakob invented the stuffed pasta dumplings at the Maulbronn Monastery, a...
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Tiquira
Indigenous Brazilians have fermented alcoholic beverages from the cassava root for thousands of years. These beer-like beverages go by names like cauim, caxiri, and tarubá. Fermentation is an...
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Nectar Soda
Though Cincinnati is best known for breweries, another effervescent beverage has a long history in the Queen City: the nectar soda. Home to the oldest pharmacy college in the U.S. west of the...
View ArticleDear Atlas: What’s the Best Way to Travel Solo at 60?
Dear Atlas is Atlas Obscura’s travel advice column, answering the questions you won’t find in traditional guidebooks. Have a question for our experts? Submit it here. * * * Dear Atlas, What advice do...
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Raising a Ghost Town From the Dead
Exploring the remnants of the former Brownsville General Hospital was a terrifying experience, even for me. It wasn't just that the building was creepy, although it certainly was: full of long rooms...
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This Italian Town Really, Really Likes Ocarinas
For thousands of years, humans across the world have played music using some version of the ocarina, a rounded wind instrument that produces a flute-like sound. In ancient China, ocarina-like...
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Jump Shots at 6,000 Feet: Inside Oaxaca's Love of Hoops
“A-TE-PEC! A-TE-PEC! A-TE-PEC!” It was loud enough in the gymnasium to make one’s eardrums hurt. Fans screamed from the rafters, many decked out in the red and white colors representing the town of San...
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A Surprising New Tail From Jurassic China
One hundred and fifty million years ago, the swamps of Fujian province in southeastern China teemed with life. Fossils reveal a rich Jurassic ecosystem dubbed the Zhenghe Fauna, where turtles, frogs,...
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Titanic's Legacy: Our Favorite Reads
Just before midnight on April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg. What happened next should be a familiar story by now: The iceberg ripped open the hull of the ship’s starboard side, flooding...
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Cracking Open Evolution’s Black Box on 'Lizard Island'
This story was originally published on The Conversation. It appears here under a Creative Commons license. Every morning in Miami, our fieldwork begins the same way. Fresh Cuban coffee and...
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A Guide to the Gingers of the World
This article is adapted from the April 16, 2025, edition of Gastro Obscura’s Favorite Things newsletter. You can sign up here. You might be surprised to learn that the edible portion of ginger is not...
View ArticleDear Atlas: Can You Recommend Haunted Accommodations for Paranormal Enthusiasts?
Dear Atlas is Atlas Obscura’s travel advice column, answering the questions you won’t find in traditional guidebooks. Have a question for our experts? Submit it here. * * * Dear Atlas, My wife and I...
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In Norway, Easter Means Tucking Into Crime Stories
“Bergen train robbed in the night!” The newspaper headline was dramatic, and the story equally so: As travelers in jubilant vacation moods were enjoying their journey across the mountains, a group of...
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Are Some of Your Favorite Houseplants Poisonous? AO Wants to Know.
AO Wants to Know is an ongoing interview series where we ask experts in extraordinary subjects to share their knowledge with us. The inability to notice plants as living parts of the environment is an...
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Baltasar Bachero Tile Mosaic in Madrid, Spain
A modest tile mosaic on Calle del Salitre 34 in Madrid honors one of the Spanish city's unsung heroes. Baltasar Bachero was a Madrid coachman who worked at Atocha station and lived in Lavapiés. In...
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Chicago Bronze Cow in Chicago, Illinois
In 1998, a Chicago shoe retailer named Peter Hanig saw a public art display of cows while visiting Zurich, Switzerland. The fanciful exhibit inspired him to create a similarly whimsical display in his...
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Dalkey Island in Dublin, Ireland
Dalkey Island is an uninhabited island off the coast of Dalkey, not too far from Dublin. Once a Viking outpost and later a Christian holy site, Dalkey has a long history of use. A short walk from the...
View ArticleDear Atlas: What Are Some Non-Touristy Things to Do in Paris?
Dear Atlas is Atlas Obscura’s travel advice column, answering the questions you won’t find in traditional guidebooks. Have a question for our experts? Submit it here. * * * Dear Atlas, I’m traveling...
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Vaser Valley Forestry Railway in Vișeu de Sus, Romania
The Vaser Valley Forestry Railway in Romania feels like a journey back in time. Wood-burning steam locomotives operate alongside diesel trains and railcars on a network of around 60 kilometers of...
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Edward’s Elephant in Merseyside, England
Right in the center of Kirkby, in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, stands a 30-foot-tall gray elephant statue. The elephant is wearing earrings, brandishing a poker in its trunk, and...
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Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff, Alberta
The best way to travel through time in Banff is by visiting the heritage cabins from the late 1800s and early 1900s at the Whyte Museum. Of the six wooden homes on the property, a few were built and...
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Cairo Skywatch Tower in West Lafayette, Indiana
During the Korean War in the 1950s, a national radar system didn't exist. To watch for enemy planes, the U.S. Air Force expanded the Ground Observer Corps into Operation Skywatch and commissioned...
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Argentina's Miniature Statue of Liberty in Buenos Aires, Argentina
A miniature of an iconic landmark is hidden in a small walking peninsula amongst the vast green lawn and numerous fauna. This small Statue of Liberty discretely stands in a small corner of the...
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Carey's Castle in Hayfield, California
The abandoned shelter of a desert squatter deep lies within the Joshua Tree Wilderness. Also known as Cary's Castle after Arthur Lloyd Cary who had originally staked out the nearby "Welcome Stranger...
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The Red Flat in Sofia, Bulgaria
The Red Flat in Sofia, Bulgaria may be the closest you can get to time travel. Upon visit, a guide will encourage you to treat the flat as if it were your own. Put on the slippers, help yourself to...
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Elogio del Horizonte in Gijón, Spain
This controversial 10-foot-high abstract concrete sculpture, Praise of the Horizon, was originally a tribute to the skyline, which creator Eduardo Chillida described as “the homeland of every man.”...
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Emerald Lakes (Ngarotopounamu) in New Zealand
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing in New Zealand is a 19-kilometer hike that takes visitors between Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe. After reaching the summit of Red Crater, a volcanic cone sitting...
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