Weird and wonderful travel destinations

So you’ve shopped ’till you drop in New York, tried your hand at surfing in Sydney, fallen in love with Laos and eaten your bodyweight in pastries in Paris. Yet still, people don’t seem that interested in your travel stories. Check out some of our favourite unusual destinations and have your colleagues hanging off your every word back in rainy Blighty.

Hallstatt Project, Huizhou, China

About 60 miles northeast of Hong Kong lies a curiously European-looking town. The Hallstatt project, in the Chinese city of Huizhou, is an exact replica of its UNESCO World Heritage listed Austrian namesake, with costumed security guards, brightly painted buildings and a clone of Hallstatt village’s iconic church clock tower.

Coober Pedy, South Australia

Deep in the Australian Outback, the intriguing town of Coober Pedy looks more like a Hollywood film set than the birthplace of 95 per cent of the world’s opals. The soaring heat of the Aussie red centre has literally sent its residents underground, with homes, shops, hotels and even churches burrowed deep down into the rock, avoiding the need for 24/7 air conditioning. Locals might save a heap on their electricity bills with this unique form of green energy, but the eerie dark and quiet of a below-ground desert town certainly sends the imagination running wild – and most tourists tearing towards Adelaide on the first break of dawn.

Mount Kelimutu, Indonesia

Kelimutu is an Indonesian volcano with a difference. Three crater lakes reward tired travellers at the summit of the mountain – but the colour of these lakes remains a surprise. Volcanic activity triggers a series of chemical reactions, causing the lakes to changes colour at different times and speeds. The kaleidoscopic, thousand-foot lakes make for a great photograph and a fantastic story, framed by the lush greenery and devilish danger of an active volcanic field…

Cancun Underwater Museum

The Cancun Underwater Museum is one of the largest submerged attractions in the world, consisting of over 400 permanent and life-size sculptures. Visible by swimmers, snorkelers and scuba-divers alike, this magnificent marine museum has to be seen to be believed.

Peabody Hotel, Memphis

The bizarre and sublime come together in this Italian Renaissance building, home to the magnificent four-star Peabody Memphis. Luxurious rooms and suites are available to weary travellers, but the upstairs penthouse is reserved strictly for the hotel’s resident ducks, who parade through the grand lobby twice a day, much to the delight of fanatical tourists. Just a hop, skip and a jump from Tennessee’s famous Graceland, you can be sure there’ll be plenty of crazy to go around.

Darvaza Gas Crater, Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan’s Karakum Desert in Central Asia is home to a dramatically dazzling attraction, known to some as “The Gates of Hell”. This ominous sounding sight was formed in the 1970s, when a group of engineers inadvertently set alight to a cavern of natural gas. Hoping it would burn out in a few days, this fiery pit has raged on for over thirty years and shows no signs of slowing down.

Principality of Hutt River, Western Australia

It may be the second Aussie entry on our list, but the residents of the Hutt River Province, don’t consider themselves Australian at all. See micronation madness in full swing in this self-proclaimed independent sovereign state, a few hundred miles north of Perth. Ruled by “His Royal Highness Prince Leonard I of Hutt” and “Her Royal Highness Princess Shirley of Hutt”, the tiny province has its own coins, stamps and passports, and you can even grab an entry stamp in your own travel documents as a lasting souvenir. Just don’t get smart – they might declare war on you like they did on Australia in 1977.

What are your favourite unusual travel destinations?