The world’s weirdest tourist attractions

Travel opens our minds to not only new cultural experiences, beautiful places and new faces, but some things that are just downright strange. From the underwhelming to the incomprehensible, here are seven of the weirdest tourist attractions from around the globe. 

1. Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, New Delhi

The toilet museum probably doesn’t rate on the list of top things to experience in India, but if you’ve got a keen interest in the history of sanitation and hygiene, you may enjoy this unusual exhibit. If not, you’ll probably find it a bit craptastic. From ancient squatting structures to modern porcelain thrones, the museum will open your eyes to the history of number ones and twos.

2. Island of the Dolls, Mexico 

Possibly more disturbing than weird, the island of the dolls just south of Mexico City is dedicated to the lost soul of a girl who was found drowned there under strange circumstances. It’s said the many dolls are possessed by her spirit, and people have even reported seeing their arms move and their eyes open. Whatever the case, it’s undoubtedly very creepy, with hundreds of menacing dolls sat in and hung in the island’s trees.  

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3. Soviet Bunker, Lithuania

If being interrogated by the KGB sounds like your kind of holiday then you may want to hop on a flight to Lithuania. You’ll be transported back to the USSR with the 1984 Survival Experience, where tourists can experience life as enemies of the Soviet Union. To enter, you have to sign a waiver featuring a clause that you may suffer from psychological and/or physical punishments if you are disobedient. The experience begins with being ambushed by the Red Army before being taken to the bunker run by former KGB officers who use dogs to help keep people in line. In the end, everyone is lined up against a wall and one person is picked out to be ‘shot’.

4. Avanos Hair Museum, Turkey

5. The world’s largest chest of drawers, North Carolina, USA

This is the kind of sight you may see while driving on the highway, where you turn your neck and say a surprised “would you look at that!” and then keep driving, with the memory being completely erased from your mind by the next day. To be fair, the giant woollen socks poking out of the drawers are a nice touch. The drawers represent the fact that High Point, North Carolina, is the home furnishing capital of the world. Go, High Point!

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6. Museum of Broken Relationships, Croatia

If Paris is the city of love then Zagreb in Croatia is the city of broken hearts. The Museum of Broken Relationships includes exhibits of personal objects left over from former lovers, accompanied by descriptions. The museum was started by two artists when their relationship ended and were looking for a place to put their shared belongings. They enlisted their friends to join and donate items left by former lovers and alas the project was born.

7. Gum wall, Seattle, USA

The gum wall needs little explanation – it’s a wall where people stick their used gum. Legends and fables have it that people were sticking their gum on the wall just for the sake of being litterbugs and every time it was cleaned off, more gum would appear. So essentially the city gave up and now it’s a big, sticky attraction. Yuck.