The ruins of a 13th-century monastery that long served as a place of refuge from wars and raids.

This Slovak bridge is known both for its connection to a national uprising and its UFO-shaped eatery.

This spaceship sculpture in the middle of the Slovakian capital looks like it just crash-landed.

The world's newest astronomical clock is also its most accurate.

A perfectly preserved hill village where the buildings are painted like white lace.

This off-beat, quirky communism-themed bar isn't afraid to poke fun at its history.

One of Hungary's most influential places of learning is also home to one of the world's most beautiful libraries.

The abandoned military base looks like a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Hundreds of boat-shaped headstones fill this graveyard as part of a centuries-old custom with mysterious origins.

An industrial site turned into Hungary's most cherished natural wonder.

The romantic garden was the epicenter of the Hungarian art scene in the 1880s.

Sitting beneath an unremarkable residential building is a museum devoted to classic Pinball.

Budapest's Communist-era statues, banished to the suburbs.

From Austrians to Nazis to Soviets, this historic Budapest fortress has a history as complex as the city itself.

Built in 1870 at the bridge that connected Buda and Pest, this spectacular incline railway was almost lost forever during World War II.

Museum dedicated to the terror regimes of Hungary.

A trail of iron footwear stands as a monument to the thousands executed along this riverbank during WWII.

A relic from the Industrial Revolution got a second life as a contemporary performing arts space.

The world's oldest grape-producing vine has survived four centuries of turmoil and even has its own anthem.

Castle and secret tunnel withstood a siege until its owner was killed by the Holy Roman Empire, while sitting on the toilet.

A whimsical bridge adorned with decorative dragons.

This abandoned Slovenian military barracks has become a punky-political art squat.

This one-time health resort was used by aristocrats around the world.

A miniature train-ride through Slovenia's largest cave system.