Every unique place worth the detour, on one world map

What Detourmap is

Detourmap is a world map of 39,832 notable places built from open data, and it carries two kinds of thing and nothing else: what nature made — waterfalls, caves, volcanoes, coves and mountains — and what people left behind — ruins, tombs, ghost towns, wrecks, catacombs and mines. No museums, no theme parks, no cathedral in the middle of town.

Most of it is little-known: for every Mount Fuji there are a few hundred quiet ruins, sea caves and abandoned villages — places like Pyramiden, a Soviet mining town left behind in the Arctic. Every pin has a photo and a Wikipedia article behind it, and there is nothing to switch on to see them: the whole atlas is drawn from the first frame, and zooming in only pulls the dots apart.

The two layers

Every layer has its own page, as does every country with eight or more places — start from all 39,832 places by country and by kind.

• Nature — parks, mountains, waterfalls, caves, volcanoes and coves (25,830 places)
• Archaeological — ancient ruins, tombs, ghost towns, shipwrecks, catacombs, mines, battlefields and crash sites (14,002 places)

Frequently asked questions

What is Detourmap?

A free interactive map of 39,832 places across 233 countries, in two halves: what nature made — waterfalls, caves, volcanoes and coves — and what people left behind — ruins, tombs, ghost towns and shipwrecks. Mount Fuji and the Colosseum share the map with sea caves and abandoned Arctic mining towns.

Is it free?

Yes — free, with no account and no ads. The data is open too: place records from Wikidata (CC0), photos from Wikimedia Commons.

How do I find hidden gems instead of famous landmarks?

Each place has a fame tier (Iconic, Renowned, Notable or Hidden gem) computed from how many Wikipedia editions cover it. Switch off the famous tiers and the long tail appears. “Surprise me” also rolls a little-known place more often than not.

Is there a game?

Yes — UniqueGuessr. One photograph, no name: tap the world map where you think it is, and the closer you land the more of 5,000 points you keep. It can ask about every place on the map, famous or not — a quarter of rounds come from the best-known places, the rest from further down.

Where does the data come from?

Wikidata (CC0) for the place records, Wikimedia Commons for the photos. A place only makes the map if it has coordinates, a photo, an English name and a Wikipedia article — in English where one exists, otherwise in at least three other languages.

There is a game, too: UniqueGuessr — one photograph, no name, and one tap on the world map to say where on Earth it is.

Detourmap needs JavaScript and WebGL to run the interactive map. What's shipping lately is in the changelog. Sister atlases: Castlemap, FilmMap and World Train Map.