Once you take a slight detour from the beaten path, you can stumble across some truly unique attractions. Europe is full of odd sights and experiences that can make any holiday a little out of the ordinary.
Grutas Park
Where? Grutas, Lithuania
What? In the middle of a forest, next to a lake is a collection of Communist era statues that were pulled down across Lithuania when it got independence from the Soviet Union. There are hundreds of them – including many of Lenin and Stalin – and they were all bought up by a former wrestler who became a billionaire by selling mushrooms.
Sewer Tour
Where? Paris, France
What? Once you’re bored of the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, head underground into the Parisian sewer system. Inside, you can learn how the sewers work, how the city’s water is supplied and get grisly images of the era when Paris had open sewers running through the streets. It’s surprisingly fascinating, and not quite as filthy as you might think.
New Bridge
Where? Bratislava, Slovakia
What? Sprawled over the Danube in the Slovakian capital, this futuristic bridge looks as though a UFO has landed on top of it. For those wanting to check whether there are really little green men inside, there is a restaurant inside.
The Spy Museum
Where? Tampere, Finland
What? In the cellar of a shopping centre, this world of poison-tipped umbrellas, secret codes and skulduggery is a brilliant insight into the world of real life James Bonds. It’s all very interactive too – you can try out covert listening devices and play at being a sniper whilst learning the history of espionage.
The Lavra
Where: Kiev, Ukraine
Nearly 1,000 years old, the Lavra is a series of monasteries and chapels dug into the rocks by the riverside. It’s possible to go through some of the narrow tunnels, flanked by the mummified corpses of dead monks.
Kostnice Ossuary
Where? Kutna Hora, Czech Republic
What? The Kostnice Ossuary is possibly the world’s most disturbing chapel – most of the decoration is made from the bones of dead monks. There are pyramids, chandeliers and all manner of ornamentation on display – usually topped off with a skull.
Leksakland
Where? Malmo, Sweden
Clearly the product of an insane personal enthusiasm, this Toy Museum must go through a fortune in batteries. Everything’s whirring, clicking and talking, and amongst the exhibits are thousands of Happy Meal toys, a wall of Barbie Dolls and possibly every Star Wars or Disney action figure ever made.
Ars Electronica Centre
Where? Linz, Austria
What? The self-styled museum of the future is a world of seriously strange technological wizardry. You can fly above mythical cities in a hang-glider-like contraption, navigating your way through a ‘virtual cave’, play guitar with beams of light and merge your photograph with those of previous visitors. And that’s just the bits that you can understand what’s supposed to be happening.
Marzipan Museum
Where? Keszthely, Hungary
What? It appears as though marzipan has many more uses than just being cake decoration. In this small but thoroughly bizarre shrine to the sweet almond-based substance, artists with too much time on their hands have gone crazy. Expect to find palaces, guitars, Shrek and all manner of intricately weird things made purely out of marzipan.
Vigeland Sculpture Park
Where: Oslo, Norway
The Norwegians clearly think that you need more than trees, grass and benches in a park. So they let sculptor Gustav Vigeland loose on one, and he filled it with over 200 extremely odd sculptures of writhing bodies and screaming babies. Highly disturbing, but visually magnificent.
