From towns painted bright, vivid colors to rainbow-hued natural wonders, the world is full of incredible places that are so vibrant they look surreal. While some of these places might look as though they came straight out of a fairy tale, they are, in fact, very real.

Mother Nature needs no help at all to create breathtakingly colorful landscapes and jaw-dropping natural phenomena. In Colombia, every year between September and November because of an endemic aquatic plant called Macareniaclavigera, which turns from red to blue, yellow, orange or green when the water levels and temperature get to be just right. Meanwhile, the because they are part of a limestone formation called Yacoraite. And, of course, every year as the temperatures start to dip, nature treats us to one of the most beautiful and .

In Crimea, photographer Sergey Anashkevych, 36, discovered one of the most vibrantly colorful landscapes in the area almost by accident. Called "Rotten Sea" by locals, the abandoned Soviet-era salt field emits an unpleasant smell, but no one can deny its eerie beauty. The water in the marshy area takes on a blood-red hue as a result of halobacteria, single-celled microorganisms that are purple in color and found in highly salty environments. It contrasts spectacularly with the blue sky as seen in the first photo above.

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Perhaps inspired by the beautiful colors around us, mankind has been quick to follow nature’s lead and use color to make places stand out or simply to become beautiful. Across Japan, there are several vast parks covered in bright, blooming flowers throughout the year. In Italy, fishermen painted their village such lavish bright colors that they can always find home, even when the fog is thick. In Morocco, Jewish refugees chose to paint their town of Chefchaouen sky blue to symbolize heaven.

So, with such stunning examples such as the rainbow-colored Muslim quarter in Cape Town, the unforgettable Thai festival of lights and the , we have rounded up 107 incredibly colorful, eye-popping places to visit.

This article was originally published on October 13, 2014 and updated March 18, 2016.

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Dark Hedges, Northern Ireland

A man walks along the famous Dark Hedges avenue of trees in Antrim, Northern Ireland. This famous tunnel-liked avenue of intertwined beech trees was planted in the 18th-century. (Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)