1. Alberobello, Italy
Located in the Puglia region of southern Italy, Alberobello is best known for its trullo structures: hundreds of whitewashed, calcareous houses topped with conical roofs resembling beehives.
2. Taketomi Village, Japan
Situated on the tiny island of Taketomi in the prefecture of Okinawa in Japan, Taketomi Village is a modernized example of traditional Ryuku architecture — a style prevalent in the storm-prone Okinawan islands once controlled by the sovereign Ryukyu Kingdom.
3. Bo-Kaap, South Africa
While the vivid colors of the Bo-Kaap neighborhood of Cape Town date only from a few decades ago, the homes themselves have been around centuries.
4. Matera, Italy
Matera has been Hollywood ‘s preferred stand-in for ancient Jerusalem and a stroll through the multi-tiered area is enough to see why.
5. Setenil de las Bodegas, Spain
Setenil de las Bodegas’ true beauty, or Setenil as it is called, is the creative use of both the natural elements and the atmosphere.
6. Salento, Colombia
Set among the green hills of the Coffee Triangle or eje cafetero region of Colombia, Salento is a colorful city that attracts locals and travelers alike.
7. Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama, Japan
Located in the Japanese Alps, the once-remote rural mountain villages of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama both feature a distinctive form of vernacular Japanese architecture known as Gasshō-zukuri — distinct for their stung, steeply slanting roofs resembling two hands in prayer.
8. Kovachevitsa, Bulgaria
Founded in the 17th century on an isolated slope of the Rhodope mountains, Kovachevitsa is known for its unusual two- and three-story homes designed to house families with protruding upstairs and basement farmed livestock.
9. Wildwood, New Jersey
New Jersey’s Wildwoods motel boom started in the 1950s when automobile travel took off and it became easier for other Americans to get bigger.
10. Matmata, Tunisia
Star Wars fans may remember Matmata, Tunisia as Luke Skywalker ‘s house, a role that director George Lucas reproached in the 2002 movie prequel for the unique Berber place, “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of Clones.”
