10 Unreal Places You Thought Only Existed In Your Imagination

Browsing the internet, you see epic images that look like they’re out of the movies, story books or have been photoshopped but wait, these places are actually real! We’re not taking the micky here – these travel destinations truly exist and are not a figment of your mind. Be prepared to have your mind blown, and to be so intrigued by these places that you’ll add them to your travel bucket list. These destinations are proper #travelgoals.

Here are 10 unreal places you thought only existed in your imagination.

1. Petra – Established perhaps as early as 312 BC as the capital city of the Arab Nabataeans, Petra is an ancient and archaeological city famed for its rock-cut architecture and water channel system. This is a prime symbol of Jordan and remained unknown to the western world until 1812.

2. Angkor Wat is a temple complex located in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world. The initial design and construction of the temple occurred in the first half of the 12^th century. Originally the temple was constructed as a Hindu temple of god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire and then gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple at the end of the 12^th century.

3. Chefchaouen was founded in 1471, as a small fortress which still exists today, to battle the Portuguese attacks of northern Morocco. Chefchaouen is distinct due to its blue washed buildings of its old town. The blue walls are said to have been introduced to the town by Jewish refugees in 1930, who considered blue to symbolise sky and heaven. Others believe that the blue walls serve as a repellent to mosquitoes.

4. Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon is located next to Vatnajökull glacier, Europe’s largest glacier. Here you’ll find a lake filled with icebergs and is known as one of Iceland’s most impressive natural wonders. The lagoon has been featured in two James Bond movies, Tomb Raider and Batman Begins.

5. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the most ancient and biggest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and is the only pyramid to remain mainly intact. It’s thought that the pyramid was built as a tomb over a 10 – 20-year period finishing around 2560 BC.

6. The Sahara is the biggest hot desert and the third largest desert in the world after Antarctica and the Arctic. Its size is comparable to the area of America and includes most of North Africa.

7. Saint Basil’s Cathedral is in the Red Square in Moscow. With a fairy-tale like exterior, the church was built from 1555 – 1561 with the building shaped as a flame of a bonfire rising into the sky. There is no other Russian building like this and is therefore one of a kind.

8. Dubrovnik, known as the “Pearl of the Adriatic” is an amazing city with a stunning old town. It offers beautiful Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque churches, monasteries, palaces and fountains. Its old town became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

9. Cappadocia is Turkey’s land of fairy chimneys and was created around 3 or 4 million years ago, due to a series of volcanic eruptions. The early people had homes above ground however each house was connected to the underground city via a tunnel. If attackers came, the locals would go through the tunnels to hide in the underground city.

10. The Taj Mahal is an ivory marble tomb located in the Indian city of Agra. It is believed that it was completed entirely in 1653 at a cost of US $827 million. The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being “the jewel of Muslim art in India”.