25 Most Bizarre Cities And Towns That You’ll Ever Visit

Posted by , Updated on November 15, 2023

Check out the latest list: 25 Most Bizarre Cities and Towns That You’ll Ever Visit! The world is full of amazing and wonderful locations. However, for every sparkling metropolis or quaint hamlet, there’s a wildly weird community just down the road.

These crazy and unique cities and towns are found all around the globe. They encompass every stretch of the imagination; from hippie communes lost in the mountains of Australia. And, even to the dwarf villages deep in the heart of China. The only thing for certain is that these strange places will cause you to feel certain emotions.

You may appreciate the normality of your own home or feel like you’ve got one boring life! Without further ado, prepare for one crazy tour as we present the 25 most bizarre cities and towns that you’ll ever visit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPlcRNmTewo

25

Supilinn, Estonia

25https://www.inyourpocket.com/tartu/Supilinn_70120f

If you’re a fan of simplicity, solitude, and vegetables then this beautifully weird town in Estonia is the right place for your next vacation. Once a former slum, most of the houses in this town lack advanced construction materials, and the unusual naming of all of the town’s streets after various vegetables has resulted in the small town earning the nickname of “Soup Town.”

24

Nameless, Tennessee

24https://www.wilsonpost.com/community/a-place-named-nameless/article_917dc061-6309-5229-9747-260668139642.html

This interestingly named place is an unincorporated community in Jackson County, Tennessee. Due to its unusual name, Nameless was mentioned in the Elvis Costello song “My Dark Life,” along with two other strangely named places; Ugly, Texas and Peculiar, Missouri.

23

Nimbin, New South Wales

23https://www.visitnimbin.com.au/nimbin/about-nimbin/p/45

Located in the “Rainbow Region” of NSW, Nimbin is a haven of Australian counterculture that dates back to the early 1970s when an influx of young college students, hippies, misfits, and party people migrated to the town and revolutionized its culture. Nimbin is often described by the media as a social experiment or the drug capital of Australia, but to many it’s just a place to chill and have a great time.

22

Longyearbyen, Svalbard

22https://www.johnnyjet.com/12-facts-you-never-knew-about-longyearbyen-the-worlds-northernmost-city

This cold but beautiful city on the island of Svalbard is home to a number of unusual quirks due to the frigid temperatures. Houses are built on stilts to keep the melting snow from flooding homes in the summer, the sun stays set for four months in the winter, and it’s illegal to die and be buried in the town since the perpetually freezing temperature keep corpses from decomposing properly.

21

Hell, Michigan

21https://www.gotohellmi.com

Hell is a small town in Michigan and don’t worry; the devil doesn’t live there, just a few ordinary people. Hell was featured on the Travel Channel’s Extreme Towns, and it was the home to the KFC promotional sweepstakes “Hotter Than Hell”, which gave away 500 coupons every day for free hot wings to entrants whose hometown’s temperature was higher than the temperature in Hell, Michigan.

20

Rennes-le-Château, France

20https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-europe/conspiracy-theories-b-renger-sauni-re-and-rennes-le-ch-teau-002460

This small, beautiful French hilltop village is known as the home of a number of mysteries including mythical treasures, unsolved murders, and secrets going all the way back to the roots of Christianity. Fans of the author Dan Brown might also recognize the name as one of his main sources of inspiration for his best selling novel, The Da Vinci Code.

19

Accident, Maryland

19http://deepcreekdebbie.com/why-do-they-call-it-accident/

Accident is a small town in Garrett County, Maryland, and its name is thought to have come from the 1786 land survey. Two friends accidentally claimed the same plot of land and decided to name it as such. As for the town’s residents? According to the book Labels for Locals by Paul Dickson, a resident of Accident is called an “Accidental.” It seems the town was built on friendship and it was meant to be. Now, wouldn’t it be fun if they changed the name to “Meant-to-Be?”

18

Gibsonton, Florida

18http://www.weirdus.com/states/florida/fabled_people_and_places/gibsonton/index.php

One of the most “fun” towns on this list, Gibsonton, Florida is a retirement spot and home for people who have worked in the circus industry. The town is also famous for its many exceptional museums on the carnival and circus lifestyle. So, if you have some circus tricks and you want a group of the ready-made audience (and critics), head on over to Gibsonton!

17

Thames Town

16https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/03/20/thames-town-chinese-town-modeled-after-english-market-towns-with-cobbled-streets-victorian-terraces-and-pubs/

Despite being the spitting image of a stereotypical English city, this little town is actually found right the middle of Shanghai, China. The aptly named town has traditional English architecture, cuisine, and even those classic red phone booths we all identify with London. It might be unusual, but it’s a perfect stop for any tourist wanting to make a brief stop in Britain while on their tour of East Asia.

16

Elista, Russia

17https://slate.com/human-interest/2017/01/the-alien-inspired-chess-city-in-russia-is-a-haven-for-chess-lovers.html

Widely known as the “Chess City,” this Russian city contains an area entirely themed around the game of chess. That’s not even the weirdest part about it. What’s weird is the city was built by the megalomaniac king Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, a chess fanatic who claimed to have been abducted by aliens that gave him the wild mission of bringing chess to the people of Elista.

15

Bangkok, Thailand

15https://www.maungawhau.school.nz/2014/11/10/bangkoks-real-name/

Many people are aware that the capital of Thailand is the metropolitan city of Bangkok, however, it is less known that the true name of this city is actually something totally different. Ceremonially referred to as Krungthep Mahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathani Burirom-udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amonphiman Awatansathit Sakkathattiya Witsanu Kamprasit, this long name actually translates to “City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Visvakarman at Indra’s behest,” making it the current record holder for the world’s longest place name.

14

Swastika, Ontario

13https://o.canada.com/news/swastika-ontario-is-a-real-place-in-canada

If you’re worried that this city is brimming with every neo-Nazi, fascist, and racist out there, you’ll be relieved to learn that such things couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, this small, peaceful community was founded in 1908 around a mining site in Northern Ontario, decades before the Nazi party ever existed.

13

The Villages, Florida

12https://thevillagesflorida.com

Although this small Florida community isn’t technically a real town, its rules and regulations are so weird that we couldn’t just ignore it. The community is barred to anybody under the age of nineteen, and those over nineteen must have a person older than fifty-five living with them or be forced to move out.

12

Yangsi, China

14https://www.procaffenation.com/truth-astonishing-dwarf-village-china/

Often referred to as the “dwarf village” for obvious reasons, an astonishing 40% of the adult population of this remote village of China exhibits dwarfism. Although the exact reason for this unusually high number of little people is a mystery, theories range from a high concentration of mercury in the soil to feng shui. Even stranger, many townspeople also believe they are cursed! Apparently, a ghostly black turtle with weird feet has been munching on the souls of the village-folk for many generations back.

11

Roswell, New Mexico

11http://www.theworldisabook.com/15549/alien-city-of-roswell-new-mexico-with-kids/

After the infamous Roswell UFO incident took place in New Mexico back in the ‘40s, the place became famous worldwide as the “UFO Town.”  The residents have been claimin for years that they have often seen unidentified flying objects in the sky, but at this point its almost impossible to tell which encounters have any truth to them and which are just adding more fuel to the city’s mythology.

10

Hashima Island, Japan

10http://www.hashima-island.co.uk

Hashima, AKA “Battleship Island,” is a Japanese island which went from a thriving community to a ghost city nearly overnight. It was abandoned in 1974 after the coal mine that employed most of the city’s inhabitants closed. Today, the spectral island is populated only by thrill-seeking tourists after a spooky tour and a super creepy experience. The bottom line, expect a lot of scary encounters when visiting the island!

9

Fucking, Austria

City limit sign of Fucking, Austriahttps://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/weve-fg-had-enough--fed-up-797502

Even though this Austrian town has had this name for centuries, it started gaining global fame only when British and American soldiers discovered the place during WWII. The residents of the town have attempted to change their “Fucking” name on a number of occasions, but the financial opportunities have kept it unchanged as the unusual name has made it a hot destination for the English-speaking tourists.

8

Manshiyat Naser, Egypt

8https://www.globotreks.com/destinations/egypt/garbage-city-cairo/

Found in the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, Manshiyat Naser is primarily made up of its infamous “Garbage City” quarter, a slum settlement with an economy which revolves around the collection and recycling of the city’s garbage. It lacks infrastructure, sewers, or electricity, and often has no running water. Perhaps this is one city you can skip on. There is nothing to see at a garbage city aside from the wastepile there…unless you’re into the stench of decaying food bits, leftover items, and dirt. In that case, you’ve found paradise!

7

Lily Dale, New York

7https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/04/style/lily-dale-mediums-spiritualism.html

Do you need a little spiritual guide? Here is a place for all those people who have felt at some point during their lives that they had of a spiritual connection. Incredibly, there is a town for people searching for their spiritual connection.  Lily Dale is a town made up completely of self-proclaimed mediums and psychics! Some of the residents in this spooky community even hold “supernatural” services for visitors. These services include a long list of miscellaneous acts intended to spur the dead into the living world.

6

Monowi, Nebraska

6https://www.countryliving.com/life/travel/g4204/monowi-ne-one-person-town/

This small town in Nebraska is probably the only town in the world with a total population of just one person. The only resident of the town, an elderly woman, owns and operates a bar and a public library for visitors, as well as serves as the town’s official mayor. So, if you wander to town and find more than one person living there, you’ve got a problem! But let’s think about that for a moment. If you were the only person in town – do you become the sheriff, the mayor, the judge? One-person town problems….

5

Centralia, Pennsylvania

5https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2196

This Pennsylvanian ghost town is as weird as it is dangerous. An underground mining fire has been burning beneath this once bustling mining town ever since 1962. It’s been causing some major sinkholes and toxic gases that have forced most of the town’s residents to relocate to nearby cities. Nevertheless, a few brave people who refused to leave their livelihoods behind still live there to this day.

4

Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong

4https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2139914/A-rare-insight-Kowloon-Walled-City.html

Before it was demolished in 1994, the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong was famous for being the densest place on earth. It is essentially a metropolitan. It’s a city made up of tiny houses stacked on top of each other. And, it’s thought that over 33,000 people would live on a single block during the city’s peak.

3

Coober Pedy, South Australia

3https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/unearthing-coober-pedy-australias-hidden-city-180958162/

Although underground cities might be a staple of sci-fi films and graphic novels, the Australian city of Coober Pedy is very real. It’s a primarily subterranean city built into a network of old abandoned mines. Even though it sounds like a weird place, it is known as a very enjoyable and cool during certain times of the year. If you want to visit this city, pick a time of the year when it’s not going to be hot and sweltering underground!

2

Colma, California

2https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/sports/football/the-town-of-colma-where-san-franciscos-dead-live.html

Colma is often called the “city of the dead” because of its many cemeteries including Jewish, Chinese, and even a pet cemetery among the others. The city was founded as a necropolis of San Francisco in 1924, and though its living population is only about 1,200 souls, the number of people buried there is estimated to be closer to two million.

1

Miyake-jima, Japan

1http://theplaidzebra.com/if-you-want-to-live-in-miyakejima-japan-you-must-carry-a-gas-mask-at-all-times/

Located at the base of an active volcano, this town, and its inhabitants are exposed to unnaturally high levels of sulfur dioxide 24 hours a day, seven days a week! Gas masks must be carried at all times in case of spikes of toxic gas in the atmosphere. The volcano on the island, Mount Oyama, has erupted 13 times in the past 500 years, including a series of eruptions in 2000 that completely shut down the island for more than four years.



Photo: 1. theplaidzebra.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 2. dothebay.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 3. Lodo27 from Moscow, Russia, Coober Pedy - Inside jewelry shop, CC BY-SA 3.0, 4. Ian Lambot, KWC - 1989 Aerial, CC BY-SA 4.0, 5. www.flickr.com, CC BY 2.0, 6. www.countryliving.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 7. thepsychicfile.blogspot.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 8. Salut at ru.wikipedia, Cairo Garbage City Street, CC BY-SA 3.0, 9. Tobias "ToMar" Maier, City limit sign of Fucking, Austria, CC BY-SA 3.0, 10. Flickr user: kntrty https://www.flickr.com/photos/kntrty/, Battle-Ship Island Nagasaki Japan, CC BY 2.0, 11. www.theworldisabook.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 12. www.procaffenation.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 13. www.villages-news.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 14. commons.wikimedia.org (Public Domain), 15. commons.wikimedia.org (Public Domain), 16. commons.wikimedia.org (Public Domain), 17. pixabay.com (Public Domain), 18. www.pinterest.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 19. www.pinterest.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 20. No machine-readable author provided. Chosovi assumed (based on copyright claims)., Rennes-le-Château, CC BY-SA 2.5, 21. Sswonk, NWS Hell MI, CC BY-SA 3.0, 22. www.flickr.com, CC BY 2.0, 23. www.pinterest.com (Fair Use: Illustrative Purposes Only), 24. Brian Stansberry, Nameless-jackson-co-tn1, CC BY 3.0, 25. Maasaak, Supilinn in Tartu 2, CC BY-SA 4.0