Detourmap
Every place worth the detour, on one world map
A free atlas of ruins, beaches, caves, waterfalls, volcanoes, monuments and ghost towns — the places people plan whole days around. Click a country to start.
70,343 places · 348 countries
What Detourmap is
Detourmap is a world map of 70,343 notable places built from open data. Most of it is little-known: for every Eiffel Tower 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.
The sixteen layers
Every layer has its own page, as does every country with eight or more places — start from all 70,343 places by country and by kind.
- 🗿 Ancient & megalithic — ruins, stone circles, dolmens, pyramids, geoglyphs and hillforts (6,458 places)
- 🏛️ Monuments & statues — memorials, colossal statues and triumphal arches (3,610)
- ⛩️ Sacred sites — churches, temples, monasteries and shrines (14,267)
- 🏖️ Beaches & coves — shorelines worth the detour (768)
- 💧 Waterfalls — cascades and falls (1,185)
- 🕳️ Caves & caverns — show caves, grottoes and lava tubes (1,086)
- 🌋 Volcanic & geothermal — volcanoes, geysers, hot springs and crater lakes (1,261)
- 🏞️ Natural wonders — national parks, canyons, valleys, arches, impact craters and mountain passes (14,906)
- 🗼 Towers & lighthouses — lighthouses, campaniles and lookout towers (2,610)
- 🌉 Great structures — historic bridges and aqueducts (2,490)
- 🏰 Castles & palaces — castles, fortresses, palaces and châteaux (9,519)
- 🏚️ Abandoned & ghost towns — deserted villages, ghost towns and forgotten Arctic outposts (584)
- 💀 Macabre & curious — catacombs, ossuaries, shipwrecks and storied cemeteries (1,406)
- 🖼️ Museums & galleries — art, history and science museums (6,117)
- 🌳 Parks & gardens — botanical gardens, arboretums and grand city parks (2,413)
- 🎡 Fun & leisure — theme parks, zoos, aquariums, ski resorts and planetariums (1,663)
Frequently asked questions
- What is Detourmap?
- A free interactive map of 70,343 places across 348 countries: ruins, beaches, caves, waterfalls, volcanoes, monuments, castles, museums and ghost towns. The Colosseum and the Taj Mahal 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.
- 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 and an English Wikipedia article.
Detourmap needs JavaScript and WebGL to run the interactive map. What's shipping lately is in the changelog. Sister atlases: Castlemap, Beachmap, Sunshine Atlas and TrainRouter.