Sydney Opera House lights up as part of Vivid Live at Sydney Opera House on May 23, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. Vivid Sydney is an annual event celebrating the themes of music, light and ideas throughout the city. (Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images) Vivid Sydney is part music festival, part celebration of art and part extravagant display of technology. Combined, the effect is more harmonious than might be expected and offers something everyone who can travel to Australia's shores in late May...

Tucked away in the Canar Province of Ecuador is an archaeological wonder, the largest known Inca ruins in Ecuador. Named Ingapirca ("Inca Wall"), the city was built in the 15th century when the Inca people merged their community with the native Canari who already inhabited the area. According to Moon Travel Guides, there's little left of the area except for the foundations of old buildings, since the invading Spanish razed the town. That said, the area is still rich in...

Stretching through the canopy of evergreen trees, high above the ground, the Capilano Suspension Bridge takes intrepid walkers to a world far above the one they normally inhabit. The bridge is located near Vancouver in the Canadian region of British Columbia. Originally built in 1889 by a Scottish civil engineer, the bridge was made from hemp ropes and cedar planks. Today the bridge has been updated and the surrounding area includes a full park, complete with seven suspension bridges in...

An airplane flies over Maho beach as it arrives at Princess Juliana International Airport in St. Maarten. (Josef and Jakob Hoflehner) On Maho Beach, located on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten, airplanes soar dangerously close to beachgoers and Austrian father-son photography duo Josef and Jakob Hoflehner captured it all on film. “We have always been fascinated by airplanes, and our projects require travel by plane on a fairly regular basis,” Josef Hofleher told weather.com. “For all projects, we are...

Perfectly situated in the middle of the passage this giant calcite stal boss makes a huge statement. Dwarfed by it's sheer size, Hong Meigui team member; Matt Ryan can only look up in amazement. This is one of many gigantic formations in San Wang Dong. (Robbie Shone) More people have been to the moon than to some of the caves Robbie Shone has photographed. His passion is showing people above ground what lies secretly beneath the earth's surface. "I'm obsessed...

Airplane manufacturer Airbus wanted to find out how the extremely wealthy like to travel when they head out to lavish destinations for the summer. The company concluded that Middle Eastern oil magnates and Chinese industry leaders prefer to travel in style on jumbo jets. (PHOTOS: Scariest Runways On Earth) Sorry, millionaires, what you’ll see in the video above may just be out of your price range. We’re talking ultra luxury, which translates to the obscenely rich traveling in groups totaling...

Inside the Essex County Jail Annex in North Caldwell, N.J. (Matthew Christopher) Essex County Jail Annex in North Caldwell, N.J., which housed inmates for 132 years, now lies crumbling after it was abandoned for a new facility in 2004. Photographer and urban explorer Matthew Christopher visited the decrepit Victorian-style jail to document what the building, which was built in 1872, looks like now. (MORE: Trapped Behind Bars: 9 Crumbling Prisons to Tour (PHOTOS)) “The building was badly deteriorated in some...

An abandoned building. Photographer Seph Lawless has documented the modern ruins and decaying, abandoned buildings in Cleveland, East Cleveland and the northern Ohio area. (Seph Lawless) Most travel photographers aim to capture cities with with beautiful images of sun-drenched landscapes or majestic skylines. Photographer Seph Lawless(a pseudonym) prefers to explore the darker corners of cities and document the "poor, abandoned and forgotten" places of America. The slideshow above collects his photos of abandoned schools, asylums, hospitals and houses from Cleveland,...

Tristan da Cunha, South Atlantic When most people feel the need to escape crowds or the distractions of technology, they head to the mountains or fly to a tropical island. But some people want to truly get away from it all, away from coffee shops and an Internet connection. Those adventurers may want to check out these 10 remote — but beautiful — locations. Not only do they offer stunning views and spectacular landscapes, they also offer the tranquility of...

Since 1975, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has named more than 900 sites forming part of the cultural and natural heritageand considered as "having outstanding universal value." From the wild of East Africa's Serengeti to the archaeologicalsites of Angkor, the World Heritage List spotlights the planet's most beautiful places. In a conference in Qatar, which began on June 15, UNESCO named new World Heritage Sites around the world, including one in the United States — the Monumental...

'Divine Makeover.' Kaveripattinam, Tamilnadu, India. (Mahesh Balasubramanian/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) From the spectacular Northern Lights in Southern Iceland to San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge shrouded in fog, entries from the 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest features incredible images from around the world. National Geographic Traveler’s annual photo contest offers photographers the chance to win an eight-day National Geographic Expedition to Alaska for two. (MORE: Dusk to Dawn: Amazing Photos of Cities at Night) Photographers’ submissions are aimed to...

European ruins in an unknown location. Photographer refuses to disclose locations of the images she takes. (Pati Makoska/Caters News Agency) Europe is dotted with majestic buildings with intricate architecture and interiors that recall a time of grandeur. Many of these buildings still attract tourists from all over, but some have been abandoned, exposed to the elements and left to crumble in ruins. Pati Makoska, a history teacher from Warsaw, Poland, decided to capture the beauty in decay with her photographs...