Discover

The Discover page is an archive of about strange but true trivia about destinations around the world, previously featured in the Discover section on the main page. You can contribute and add or edit future facts to the list here. Previously displayed facts:

April 2015

• Vatnajökull National Park is the largest national park in Europe, home to Iceland's highest mountain, largest glacier, and Europe's most powerful waterfall (pictured).
• Many minority tribes live in the area surrounding Cao Bang, and their village markets make fascinating places to visit.
• Richman is a local street food specialty of Bratislava.

• Visitors to the Alamo (pictured) in San Antonio are often surprised by its small size.
• Udaipur is referred to as the "Venice of the East", the "Most Romantic City of India" and the "Kashmir of Rajasthan".
• York is famous for giving its name to the city and state of New York in the United States.

• Kazan (Kremlin pictured) holds the title of "The Third Capital of Russia”.
• Saba is so safe that some hotels do not have locks on their doors.
• The capital of Japan for over a millennium, Kyoto carries a reputation as its most beautiful city.

• The Temple Square (pictured) in Salt Lake City, including the headquarters of the LDS church is the most visited tourist site in Utah.
• Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and the second-oldest official Christian nation in the world.
• The Monument of Bulgarian-Soviet friendship is a concrete behemoth that overlooks Varna from Turna hill, mostly abandoned nowadays.

• If you take the Jambo Kenya Deluxe train (pictured) from Nairobi to Mombasa you may see wildlife up close.
• According to the World Meteorological Organization, Bangkok is the world's hottest city.
• Orson Welles filmed part of his Othello in Essaouira; west of the medina there's a square named after him.

• The small farming town of Hyden is justifiably overshadowed by its better known attraction, Wave Rock (pictured).
• Traverse City is known as the Cherry Capital of the World.
• Freak street is a street in central Kathmandu, formerly popular among western hippies.

March 2015

• Ljubljana (pictured) is noted as one of the greenest capitals in Europe.
• The Sundbåt ferry in Kristiansund is the world's oldest public transport line in continuous operation.
• Okayama is known as the "Land of Sunshine".

• No visit to Montreal is complete without at least one plate of poutine (pictured).
• The most westernly and remote McDonald's in the world can be found in central Apia.
• Zhuhai is known as a tourist destination for Chinese nationals, and as playground for Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan businessmen.

• Paarl is famous for having one of the world's largest rock outcrops, the Paarl Rock (pictured).
• Want to visit a French fries museum? Head to Bruges!
• Jacksonville is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States.

• The geographic South Pole marker (pictured) is moved every year to account for the shifting ice.
• It is said that St. Louis is second only to Washington, D.C. in the number of free activities available in an American city.
• One thing not to miss while in Çanakkale is bomba, which is the usual döner in half a bread plus an omelette added in.

• An island in the Ao Phang Nga National Park is known as the James Bond Island (pictured).
• Bolzano’s archaeology museum is famous worldwide as the home of the alpine iceman "Ötzi".
• The Marine Tower in Yokohama is the largest onland lighthouse in the world.

• Bishnupur is famous for its terracotta temples (pictured).
• Because of the first downtown pedestrian mall in America, Kalamazoo got the nickname "the Mall City" in 1959.
• Wells is the smallest city in England, with a population of around 10,000.

• The urban rail network of Seoul (subway car pictured) is huge with a combined track length of almost 1,000 km and it also boasts the highest ridership number.
• Due to its country music image, Nashville is sometimes called “"Music City, USA”.
• Chile is among the longest countries in the world with several climate zones and types of nature.

• Central Yerevan (pictured) is a true jewel of early Soviet architecture.
• Borås used to be the centre of the Swedish textile industry, and is still well known for having many shops that sell high-quality textiles at low prices.
• A hideaway from pirate attacks, Corfu’s Old Perithia has views to, but cannot be seen, from the sea.

• Newcastle has Australia’s oldest sea port (pictured).
• A local delicacy in Matabeleland are sundried mopani worms.
• Port Augusta is known as the crossroads of Australia, as it is situated where the country's main north-south and east-west roads cross.

• Burj Khalifa (pictured) in Dubai is the world's tallest building by far.
• Newquay is known as the surf capital of Great Britain.
• Hornindal Lake near Stryn is believed to be the deepest lake in Europe.

• The Stuart Highway (pictured) known as "the Explorer's Way" is a highway running north to south through the middle of Australia.

February 2015

• The Italian town of Bra is home to the Slow Food movement and the University of Gastronomic Sciences.
• Each Friday morning a historical event is re-enacted in the Moro Naaba palace in Ouagadougou.

• Nidaros cathedral (pictured) in Trondheim was supposedly built over the grave of St Olav, Norway's patron saint and "eternal king".
• Polish is unique in that it retains the nasal sounds lost in other Slavic languages and uses an unique diacritic mark.
• The names Uluru (pictured) and Kata Tjuta come from the local Anangu people and respectively mean "Earth Mother" and "Many Heads".

• The names Uluru (pictured) and Kata Tjuta come from the local Anangu people and respectively mean "Earth Mother" and "Many Heads".
• Eight places in the old Japanese capital Nara have been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, including five Buddhist temples, one Shinto shrine, an imperial palace and a primeval forest.
• Svalbard is bound to a treaty that stipulates that any sign of human presence from before 1946 must remain untouched, including loose objects.

• Baiyoke Tower II (pictured) in Pratunam in Bangkok is the tallest tower in Thailand.
• The Dutch are among the largest coffee drinkers in the world.
• In rural British Columbia you can still hear slang terms from the Chinook Jargon pidgin language.

• Xijiang (pictured) bears the title "thousand household village" and is known as the largest Miao village in China.
• Kourou used to be part of a penal colony for the worst criminals in France.
• Owensboro is known for burgoo, a traditional stew originally made with squirrel or venison, but now made with mutton, chicken, beef and vegetables.

• The striking cone-shaped peaks Large and Small Piton (pictured) on Saint Lucia constitute one of the scenic natural highlights of the Caribbean.
• There are around 200 million Portuguese native speakers, the vast majority in Brazil.
• In Karratha you can sleep in the local mining accommodation villages.

• The Hurtigruten ferry line (M/S Polarlys pictured) along Norway's jagged coastline is sometimes called the world's most beautiful sea voyage.
• In Frankfort (Kentucky) you can take a tour in the Rebecca Ruth candy factory where the Bourbon ball candy was invented.
• Kolkata is called the City of Joy.
• There are 174 ASI Protected monuments in the Indian capital of Delhi.

• In the winter when the ice is strong enough it is possible to drive to the island (pictured) of Hailuoto without taking the ferry.
• Akaroa was the only French settlement in New Zealand and the French heritage remains in form of names of streets and businesses.
• Samarkand literally means “stone fort” or “rock town”.

• With a façade from around the year 1700, the city hall (pictured) is one of the most prominent buildings on the market square of Roermond.
• Bangalore is the major centre of India's IT industry popularly known as the Silicon Valley of India.
• Hokkaido is home to Japan's native Ainu people.

• Meteora consists of a number of rock pinnacles topped with a total of 24 monasteries (Megalou Meterou pictured).
• A certain rum made on Grenada has an alcohol content of 75%, making it illegal to take home to many countries, at least on flights.

January 2015

• Venice is the world's only pedestrian city.

• In Baalbek you can visit great ancient temples (pictured) built by the Phoenicians, the Romans, and other civilisations.
• Possibly the premier zoo in North America, the San Diego Zoo encompasses over 100 acres of displays and habitats.
• The Forbidden Island near Saipan was allegedly once occupied by evil spirits but is now a bird sanctuary.

• German architecture (pictured) and the world’s second largest Oktoberfest are examples of the strong German heritage of Blumenau in Brazil.
• Kansas derives from the Sioux language meaning "People of the South Wind".
• Ko Tao was once a detention site for political prisoners, but today it is a great place for divers.

• In Ushuaia you can ride the train to the end of the world (pictured).
• The name of the city of Kotka translates to “eagle”.
• Saint Martin is one of the smallest land masses that is divided between two countries.

• Roskilde hosts a viking museum with several original viking ships (pictured).
• In 2004, Edinburgh became the first member of the UNESCO Creative Cities initiative when it was designated a City of Literature.
• Nuclear tourism is travel to places connected with nuclear research and technology.

• Mt. Warning (pictured) is the world's largest extinct shield volcano.
• Labrador is home to the largest herds of Caribou in the world.
• Though it never was buried by a volcano, Jerash is sometimes misleadingly referred to as the "Pompeii of the Middle East”.

• Saint-Denis (pictured) is the largest city in all of the French Overseas Departments.
• The Bavarian village of Aufsess holds the record for most beer breweries per capita.
• Calico museum of textiles in Ahmedabad is regarded as one of the finest textile museums in the world.

• The Gateway Arch (pictured) in St. Louis is the world’s tallest national monument.
• Because of numerous festivals, the Philippines is often dubbed "The Fiesta Islands".
• The New World Afro-Diasporic customs of Vodou are widely practiced in Haiti.

• Jakarta has a large number of giant, glittering malls (Grand Indonesia pictured), well above expectations for newcomers.
• Boat building traditions are kept alive at the Maritime Quarter in Mariehamn's eastern harbour.
• Uliastai used to be a provincial capital of the Manchu Empire and is one of the three oldest settlements in Mongolia.

• Cimetière du Père Lachaise (pictured) in Paris is probably the most visited graveyard in any Western city.
• Capurganá is surrounded on three sides by dense jungle and no roads lead to it.
• The islands of the Indian Ocean are a varied collection, including many of the smallest territories and one of the largest island nations (Madagascar).

• The world's first grain elevator was built at Buffalo Harbor (marker sign pictured) in 1842.
• Saariselkä boasts Europe’s northernmost Spa.
• New Orleans Mardi Gras is known as the biggest free party on earth.

Old discoveries

• 2014
• 2013
• 2012
• 2011
• 2010
• 2009
• 2008
• 2007