This Destination Was Just Named the Most ‘Otherworldly’ Magical Place on the Planet

The best destinations are those that totally transport you. They are places that have a natural ability to make you feel like you’re on a whole other planet, far away from all your worries and your cares. If you need a little assistance finding just where those otherworldly destinations are, the gaming site Slingo has created a definitive list.

To find out which spots around the globe display a magical essence, the team analyzed several online blog lists, each containing “magical” and “fairytale” destination recommendations. It then assigned each destination a category (fairytale, otherworldly, or mythical) and then analyzed the destinations on their number of global Google searches between April 2023 and March 2024 (sourced using Google Ads Keyword Planner), the number of Instagram posts that mention the destination, the number of TikTok posts that mention the destination, and the percentage of reviews for the destination on Tripadvisor that contain the word “magical.” Each destination was then given a normalized score out of 10 after each factor was averaged. 

After examining all the data, it named Pamukkale, Turkey, the most “otherworldly” place on Earth. 

“Pamukkale, located in the Denizli Province of southwestern Turkey, is renowned for its surreal landscape of terraced hot springs and travertine pools,” the team wrote about its winning spot. “Known as the ‘Cotton Castle’ for its white, cotton-like appearance, Pamukkale is a natural wonder that mesmerizes visitors with its otherworldly beauty.” 

Indeed, those gorgeous baby blue hot springs helped catapult this destination to the top of the list, with 1,264,156 Instagram posts and 71,400 TikTok mentions. 

Following close behind in second is Antelope Canyon in Arizona, a place that allows visitors to walk through the wave-like walls of the canyon through a kaleidoscope of reds, pinks, and earthy tones. 

Joining these destinations on the list are Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia in third, followed by Socotra, Yemen; Zhangjiajie, China; Waitomo Glowworm Caves, New Zealand; Seljalandsfoss, Iceland; Ilulissat, Greenland; Vatnajökull, Iceland; La Digue, Seychelles; and Lake Hillier, Australia rounding out the top 10.

See the full results and where else made its fairytale lists at slingo.com.