Travellers reveal the most surreal places they’ve visited – from glowing islands to rainbow mountains
Holidaymakers have shared their favourite weird destinations from around the world - everywhere from Turkey and Portugal to the Maldives
THE more you travel, the harder it is to be wowed by somewhere new.
But even the most seasoned globe-trotters would be taken aback by these mind-boggling locations.
Travellers on the website have been answering the question, “What are the most surreal places to visit?” and the answers have produced a gold mine of dreamlike destinations.
Holidays are a great chance to explore the extraordinary or experience something odd - and these recommendations definitely tick both those boxes.
Suggestions have varied from the creepy to the sublime and from man-made structures to natural wonders.
One user recommended a secret masonic well used for initiation rites, while another suggested the Great Blue Hole, one of the world’s best diving sites.
A tour of the Rainbow Mountains in China was also put forward as well as a trip to Vaadhoo beach in the Maldives, where the water glows blue with luminous plankton.
More accessible for British tourists though were the “fairy chimney” rock formations of Cappadocia in Turkey, which also came highly recommended for their alien-like shapes.
The full question on Quora.com asked for submissions of “places whose aesthetic goes beyond human knowledge, where colours are not what they should be or the rock formations form shapes that you can see nowhere else.”
We’re not sure if any of these places go “beyond human knowledge”, but they're definitely seriously surreal.
We’ve picked our favourite destinations from the mind-bending list..
The Initiation Wells - Portugal
At Quinta da Regaleira estate in Portugal there are a pair of wells that have never been used as water sources.
Instead, the underground towers lined with stairs were built by a millionaire for mysterious ceremonies including Masonic initiation rites.
The larger well contains a 27-metre spiral staircase with several small landings, which correspond to Tarot mysticism.
Built by Carvalho “Monteiro the Millionaire” Montiero, at the turn of the 20th century, tunnels connect the wells to one another and to various other caves and monuments located around the estate.