• From clubs exclusive to rich tycoons and the social elite to interesting islands off-limits
from tourists to prevent contamination, we count 15 places you'd really like to visit
once, but you have almost no chance to do so
15 - Svalbard Global Seed Vault, • This one was built out of fear that all
those sci-fi scenarios about the end of the world might actually come true
• This vault, build on a secluded island in the North Sea, is home to over 250 million
crop seeds shipped from gene banks worldwide with an estimated cost exceeding $9 million
dollars • You can't enter the vault - nobody can,
but researchers, plant breeders and other groups can request seeds from the depositing
genebanks • If you WERE to enter it, you'd see the
biggest hope for agriculture in the event of a polar ice cap melt or similar Earthly
disaster 14 - Mezhgorye,
• A closed military town at the foot of Mount Yamantau, believed by the United States
to be a large secret nuclear facility owned by the Russians
• When questioned, the Russians give inconsistent answers like, it's a mining site, no, it's
a treasury, no, a food storage area - and then finally they said, yep, nuclear bunker
in the event of apocalyptic war • It's believed to house nuclear weapons,
and as much as we want to visit it to inspect, we aren't allowed - Russian newspapers claim
it to be part of the Dead Hand initiative - to automatically launch nukes if a bunch
are about to strike THEM 13 - Woomera Prohibited Area,
• An Australian military testing range covering nearly 124,000 square kilometres - and although
that area is restricted, the nearby town of Woomera is open to the public
• You'll want to go there for one reason, but also want to stay away for another - it's
highly prospective, significant quantities of minable gold, iron ore, opals and uranium
that the general populace can't reach • Due to the amount of unlaunched war material
lying around though, it's basically a minefield, so even if you could get around the military
presence to mine, chances are you'll get your face blown off - not a great way to spend
your weekend 12 - Jiangsu National Security Education Museum,
• This is basically the real-life James Bond exhibit - top secret documents and gadgets
from the history of Chinese espionage • It includes things like, guns disguised
as lipstick, hollowed-out coins to conceal documents and maps hidden in a deck of cards
• The only people allowed to enter this museum are Chinese nationals, entirely because
they don't trust foreigners with their sensitive spy information - which is fair enough
11 - Club 33, • A private club located in Disneyland that
costs 40 thousand dollars for membership and $10,000 in yearly costs
• The reason it costs so much?
It's like a secret backdoor disneyland but with a liquor license and 14-year waiting
list, props from disney films everywhere, animatronics and complimentary valet parking
• You enter the club by buzzing an intercom concealed in a hidden panel in the doorway,
then you take the antique-style glass lift to any of two giant dining rooms
• This is a great place if you're an ultra-rich tycoon
10 - Aldwych Tube Station, • A subway station active during World War
II, also used as an air raid shelter and hiding place for National Gallery artworks
• In 1994 the trains stopped running and now the entire station is unused, a monument
to early 1900s society with vintage tracks, an old lobby and ancient elevators
• On occasion it's open for tours, but for 99% of the time people just break in to take
photos 9 - Fort Knox,
• The location of a fortified vault building, the United States Bullion Depository located
in Kentucky, used to store large portions of gold and precious items
• Today it holds 4,500 metric tons of pure gold, built inside granite walls, protected
by a blast-proof door, weighing 22 tons and 21-inches tick, 30,000 soldiers patrolling
with tanks, personal carriers, attack helicopters and artillery
• In order to enter you need a 10 part secret code held by 10 different people all in different
locations - there's a reason we have the saying "as impenetrable as Fort Knox"
8 - White's Gentleman's Club, • Established in 1693, this is a club exclusive
for British men with notable members Prince Charles, Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge
and the British Prime Minister • For hundreds of years, a famous betting
book has seen notable figures gambling on not just sport, but political developments
even during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars
• Women who approach the club are always denied membership, including the model for
the central character in the BBC television series and one of the best chefs during the
early 1900s: Rosa Lewis 7 - Queen's Bedroom,
• You'll find this in Buckingham Palace, the British Queen's official London residence
first established in 1705 • Even though the place is heavily guarded,
one man managed to break in and hide in the Queen's bedroom in 1982
• To date, he's one of the only men to see the interior without an official Royal Family
invitation or building permit - and if you're just some random shmo like me, then there's
little chance we'll see it this lifetime 6 - Lascaux Caves (las-co),
• Located in France, one of the most important archaological finds - that of cave paintings
and perfectly preserved footprints from human beings that lived tens of thousands of years
ago • Due to the fear of fungal infection from
human presence, these caves have been closed to the public for some time and on rare occasions
only a small group of people escorted over elevated ramps can visit for minutes at any
given time • You can learn more about it in the documentary
"Cave of Forgotten Dreams" one of the few pieces of photography allowed in the cave
network 5 - Area 51,
• And yes, I'm sure a lot of you are relatively close by to this Nevada military site 83 miles
north of Las Vegas • Officially, it's a U.S owned military
airfield whose primary purpose is to test experimental aircraft and weapon systems
• Unofficially, we know it as a super secret Alien landing strip filled with the dead corpses
of a 100,000 deceased martians that all landed on a certain day in 1947
4 - Surtsey, • An Icelandic island that only came into
existence about 50 years ago following volcanic eruptions in the area
• Despite its young age, the island already plays host to over 90 species of bird with
new plant species evolving at a rate of 2-5 per year
• Humans carefully monitor the islands progress from a small hut, ensuring no outside seeds
or unwanted visitors turn up to hurt the naturally evolving ecosystem - they even had to dig
up some potatoes a bunch of kids planted for a laugh
3 - Air Force One, • The official plane of the President of
the United States, first designed during 1953 with many replacements ever since
• It comes with an electromagnetic pulse shield that can fly through highly irradiated
zones from nuclear fallout, deploy missiles, jam radars, and it doesn't need to land to
refuel • During the events of 9/11, then-president
George Bush was flown around in Air Force One and even detected threats from other passing
airliners which later turned out to be miscommunication 2 - Poveglia,
• A small island near Venice that many claim to have had such an intense, violent history
that it's now haunted • It was once a dumping ground for the sick,
dying and deceased, and when the Bubonic Plague arrived in 1348, it became a quarantine zone
with Venice exiling many ill people there • It was immolated when the Black Death
swept through, a hospital for the mentally ill was established and shut down and currently
it's now closed to both locals and tourists 1 - Room 39
• A rumoured secret government organisation in North Korea dedicated to maintaining the
foreign currency slush funds of Kim Jong - fancy talk for money laundering
• Though its activities are seen as illegal, it holds as much as $5 billion in funds and
not TECHNICALLY supported on an official level even though it's critical to Kim Jong's seat
of power • Today, it fetches over a billion dollars
each year through criminal activity and no, they won't let you inspect their papers or
affiliated locations - so don't plan a vacation there