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Travel

Fiskars, Finland

How This Tiny Town Drew World-Class Artists Into the Forests of Finland

Fiskars, Finland — an hour west of Helsinki — was a knife-making village on the decline. Now it’s one of the world’s most successful artist havens.

You have to swim to reach the world's first underwater post office in Vanuatu.

Whale Mail Is the New Snail Mail at the World’s First Underwater Post Office

All you need to reach the Vanuatu Post is a deep breath and a waterproof postcard

Armenia

Each Summer, These Armenian Villages Are Taken Over by Hundreds of White Storks

Villagers participate in a “Nest Neighbors” program to monitor the health of their new house guests

How Baltimore Quietly Became the East Coast’s Next Cool City

One native Marylander travels to the city he first knew as a kid to meet the doers and dreamers driving Baltimore’s next act

Aurora Australis seen over Lake Dunstan, New Zealand.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

The Best Places to See the Southern Lights

The aurora australis is the southern cousin to the northern lights

This Breathtaking Landscape Is Canada’s Newest Protected Area

The park includes a spectacular beach described in sagas that chronicle Viking explorations of the Canadian coast

Armenia

Unraveling the Mystery of the “Armenian Stonehenge”

Cenote Ik-Kil, Tinúm Municipality, Yucatán, Mexico

Dive Into Five of the World’s Deepest Freshwater Swimming Holes

Take the plunge into some interesting geology

NamibRand Nature Reserve in Namibia.

Eight of the World’s Best Destinations for Stargazing

Where to find the clearest, darkest skies – from Pennsylvania to the Canary Islands

Webster's Waterfall is just one of more than 150 waterfalls located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Just 50 Miles From Niagara Falls Lies the True Waterfall Capital of the World

Niagara Falls has nothing on Hamilton, a Canadian city with more than 150 waterfalls

The preserved whale heart weighs approximately 400 pounds.

Canada

The Painstaking Process of Preserving a 400-Pound Blue Whale Heart

This massive specimen is now on display in Canada’s Royal Ontario Museum

Over 60,000 Plants Bloom Inside the World’s Largest Orchid Garden

Step inside Singapore’s National Orchid Garden, a collection that includes 600 newly created hybrid species

The Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal.

Canada

This Bridge Transforms Data on Weather, Traffic and Twitter Rants into a Beautiful Light Display

The Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal lights up the skyline with the mood of the city

Tabula Peutingeriana.

Where to See Some of the World’s Oldest and Most Interesting Maps

Chart humanity’s course through history with these antique navigational tools

Completed in 1939, the Fiat Tagliero service station is one of the city's many Art Deco structures.

Asmara, the Capital of Eritrea, Named World Heritage Site

Eritrean officials lobbied for the designation in a bid to reform their country’s isolationist image

This island has been a boy's club for hundreds of years.

Trending Today

This Island Can Only Be Visited by Men

Okinoshima is officially an Unesco world heritage site—but tradition bans women from its shores

No Wonder Lord of the Rings’ Middle-Earth Was Filmed Here

For 18 months, the cast and crew of the Lord of the Rings trilogy filmed their scenes across the tiny island of New Zealand

Despite Road-Closing Landslides, You Can Still Take a Big Sur Road Trip This Year — Here’s How

This gorgeous stretch of coastline is harder to get to these days, but it’s not impossible

Armenia

12 Unique Ways to Experience Armenia Off the Beaten Path

Mount Aragats in Aragatsotn, Armenia.

Armenia

Why This Composer Made Melodies Out of Mountainsides

This forgotten Armenian musicologist literally drew the landscapes into his folksong scores

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