10 Extraordinary Places That Celebrate 10 Years of Atlas Obscura

In 2019, we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of Atlas Obscura. What started out as a passion project conceived around a kitchen table has improbably grown into a huge community, a growing business, and a series of New York Timesbestselling books. We’re especially excited about our upcoming Second Edition of Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders, which includes over 100 new places and a fold-out map of an Atlas Obscura “dream trip.” It’s the best version of Atlas Obscura yet.

Since 2009, the Atlas Obscura website has added more than 18,000 hidden or unusual places. As we grew, we found we wanted to share these places not just digitally and in print, but in real life. Just a few years ago, we began offering Atlas Obscura Trips, inviting our readers to come along with us to places such as the Gates of Hell in Turkmenistan and the Buzludzha Monument in Bulgaria. In 2020, our guides will lead more than 150 incredible trips all over the world.

Over the years, certain Atlas Obscura Places have stood out to us—because they were incredible, but also because they marked a milestone for us along the way. Here are 10 special places that we’re holding particularly close to our hearts as we celebrate a decade of Atlas Obscura.