Dozens of large-scale, creative, evocative curios from prominent artists dot the calm outdoor space around this major museum.

An impressive ensemble of sculptures that survived the Soviet regime.

An Aztec snake god has taken the material form of an apartment complex.

This ornate Victorian marketplace was the setting for Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron in the Harry Potter films.

This pebble beach is so beautiful that taking its rocks is against the law.

This black shoreline is made up of exploded lava particles.

This Australian beach is composed of tiny shells.

According to the locals, the sands of this secluded Norway beach are infused with gemstone particles.

Rusting, graffiti-covered tanks litter the beach of this island, once used by the U.S. military for target practice.

This industrial area was the dumping ground for massive amounts of trash, some of which washes up as tiny bits of sea glass.

Crushed coral and crystals give the sand its signature coloration.

Living fossils in this remote Australian bay provide a glimpse of what Earth may have looked like 3.5 billion years ago.

Constant erosion has created a surreal landscape of bleached and preserved fallen trees.

Centuries-old hoofprints and wagon tracks reveal themselves after a good winter storm.

Iron Age runes and ruins hide in plain sight along this Portuguese beach.

A nesting ground for four of the world’s seven marine turtle species, most of which are endangered.

The eerie remnants of an ancient forest were hidden under the sand for centuries.

An otherworldly, fossil-rich cobble beach holds Viking graves, cairns, and other remains.

Much of what constituted mid-century Liverpool now litters a beach outside of town.

When waves crash onto this section of beach, the rocks sing a song.

A mining town, now abandoned, was built in a canyon so narrow that the railroad ran right through the hotel lobby.

An abandoned town is hidden in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This bridge is so steep it looks like a rollercoaster.

The disdain for this dysfunctional dam is reflected in a giant pair of scissors painted on the concrete face.