Paro Taktsang, Bhutan Around the world, sacred sites continue to be popular travel destinations for pilgrims and tourists alike. Not only do they offer a glimpse to a country's culture, these architectural wonders -- from monasteries built on mountain tops to temples carved into cliff faces -- stand in harmony with nature, bringing visitors to places of immense beauty and spiritual solitude. Also known as the "Tiger's Nest Temple," Paro Taktsang is a Himalayan Buddhist sacred site and temple complex,...

This picture taken on Aug. 7, 2013 shows a replica of the Eiffel Tower in Tianducheng, a luxury real estate development located in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province. (STR/AFP/Getty Images) The lush gardens, clear fountains, and slope-roofed apartment buildings are all reminiscent of a western European city. Add a central plaza called "Champs Elysees" and the towering spire of the Eiffel Tower, and you'll think you've found yourself in Paris. But this is Tianducheng, a Chinese city thousands of miles...

The Bent Pyramid in Dashur, Egypt. (Thinkstock) It might seem logical to bury the recently deceased with the dead from past generations, but a sudden boom in the construction of tombs in Egypt is causing a clash between modernity and antiquity. Since January 2013, around 1,000 tombs have been built across the protected land of the Necropolis of Dahshur, home to the world's oldest pyramids. The lack of space and full cemeteries forced local villagers to strike out into UNESCO...

A Norwegian town that has been living in the dark will receive its first ever rays of winter sunlight this year as locals complete a project to light up the main square with mirrors built in the mountains. Rjukan in southern Norway has rugged terrain and picturesque waterfalls that make it a popular destination for skiing and ice climbing, but nestled deep in a valley floor in the shadow of the majestic Gaustatoppen mountains, the industrial town is completely ,...

With its deep canyons, majestic waterfalls, and sandstone-quartz pillars towering over 650 feet high, in China's Hunan province looks straight out of a 3D science-fiction film. So it's no surprise that one of the park's rock formations -- the3,544-ft"Southern Sky Column" -- inspired the fictional world of "Pandora" in James Cameron's blockbuster film "Avatar." The park is , a UNESCO World Heritage site, according to National Geographic, and it's also one of Hunan's most popular tourist destinations. in 2012, Zhangjiajie...

British sculptor Anish Kapoor and japanese architect Arata Isozaki created the 'Ark Nova,' the world's first inflatable concert hall, which will tour Japan's tsunami-ravaged areas. (Lucerne Festival Ark Nova 2013) An abstract, balloon-like structure, created by British sculptor Anish Kapoor, Japanese architect Arata Isozaka, and , will bring music and arts to the Tohoku region of Japan, an area ravaged by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The mobile structure, called Ark Nova, is the andconsists of a single skin...

Charming Crossings (Mike Briner/Alamy) A covered bridge played a supporting role in one of Hollywood’s most intense and fleeting love stories: The Bridges of Madison County, which still inspires visitors to seek out Iowa’s Roseman Covered Bridge. (It ranks higher on TripAdvisor than John Wayne’s nearby birthplace.) Embodying a simpler time in American life, wooden covered bridges like Roseman began springing up across the country in the early 1800s. You’ll find them in state and national parks, amid the rolling...

Tourists climb up the steep staircase of the temple of Wat Arun on Sept. 25, 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand. Temple of Dawn stupa will be closed for three years to undergo repairs and renovation. This is slated to be the most extensive repair and renovation work on the stupa in the last 14 years. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images) For hundreds of years the Temple of Dawn stupa has been a glistening tower jutting into the skyline of Bangkok, Thailand, but a...

"Sea Change" Caption: Crosby, Liverpool on April 5 and 7, 2008. High water shot at 12:00 p.m. Low water shot at 9 a.m. (Michael Marten) Photographer Michael Marten traveled to various parts of the British coast and photographed identical views at high tide and low tide several hours apart to document the drastic changes in water levels. The photos are collected in his series, “Sea Change.” Since 2003 Marten visited several different spots on the English coast, beaches filled with...

The small town of Olympos in Turkey is known for its treehouse hotels, picturesque Mediterranean beaches andancient Lycian ruins. But another attraction is making this secluded area a tourist "hot spot" -- literally. In the heart of the OlymposNational Park, Mount Chimaera has literally burned for thousands of years. There, at the site called Yanartas (or "flaming rocks"), one can see dozens of small fires which through the vents in the rocks, according to BBC. Spread out over 1.2 acres,...

Tourists walk in the courtyard of the Louvre museum in Paris. France's culture minister announced that the museum, situated near the Seine river, would be transferring its reserve collection out of Paris to avoid the risk of flood damage. (LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images) The Louvre Museum in Paris, the world's most famous art museum, plans to move a collection of more than 400,000 hidden artworks to a location in northern France, amid fears that flooding from the nearby River Seine could...

A general view of the Colosseum covered by scaffolding awaiting the start of the restoration work on October 9, 2013 in Rome, Italy. (Giorgio Cosulich/Getty Images) The Colosseum has survived earthquakes, severe weather, countless wars, stone-robbers and almost two thousand years of neglect, but an ambitious restoration project is set to begin on December, with the goal of returning the crumbling monument to its former glory. In September, four floors of scaffolding went up on the Colosseum, the largest amphitheater...

Looking over the rugged mountain peaks, lush green countryside and windswept surf that laps the shores of remote South Atlantic isle Tristan da Cunha, it’s easy to see why sailors shipwrecked there in the 1800s never wanted to leave. But then, leaving is no easy feat: at a staggering 1,501 miles from its nearest neighbor, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha is the most remote permanent settlement on earth. And while its population has grown — today, nearly 300 souls...