While a sprawl of new tourist attractions have popped up in recent years, like Japan's Ghibli Park and Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood, we also said goodbye to a number of legendary institutions and failed landmarks from the Museum of London to Hawaii's Haiku Stairs.

Click through the gallery and take a last look at sights around the world you'll need to remove from your travel checklist...

The Marble Arch Mound was a good idea in theory: a high green haven with far-reaching views of surrounding central London. But the turf-covered scaffold structure went way over its £3.3 million ($4.4m) budget, costing a reported £6 million (about $8m at the time), and ultimately appeared more bleak than verdant. Needless to say, it failed to attract the visitor numbers anticipated. 

There was originally an entrance fee, but that was scrapped after visitors complained about dying plants and weedy trees. After six measly months, the failed tourist attraction closed in January 2022, but parts of it were dismantled and reused in a nearby estate transformation instead. 

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The Underground Museum was founded in 2012 by the late painter Noah Davis and his wife, sculptor Karon Davis. The free museum occupied four small storefronts and served as an art gallery, bookshop, organising space and community centre. It successfully brought world-class art to the lesser-known Arlington Heights neighbourhood, with a focus on works by artists of colour.

Noah sadly passed away in 2015, and despite celebrity visits from the likes of John Legend and Beyonce, the museum struggled post-pandemic and was forced to shut its doors in March 2022.

The unique Rougan Megane Hakubutsukan – better known as the Spectacles Museum – was located on the east side of Ikebukuro Station in Toshima, Tokyo. This photogenic store was a spectacle in itself, with its ceilings, walls and facades adorned with an assortment of colourful frames.

But after 50 years, the hard-to-miss store closed for good in March 2022. It's not clear why it closed down, but in its final throes, it offered a half-price discount on all items.

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Towering 380 feet (116m), this coastal redwood was only discovered in 2006, hidden within a densely-forested section of Redwood National Park. Although it’s taller than the Statue of Liberty, visiting the tree has always been a little tricky, as there are no nearby trails and there's patchy GPS signal. Despite the arduous undertaking, a steady stream of visitors have made the trek to Hyperion’s location, causing severe erosion to its base as well as leaving a trail of litter and human waste.

So, if you were planning on seeing the world’s tallest living tree in person, think again. In July 2022, the National Parks Service (NPS) announced hefty fines and jail time for anyone found in the tree’s vicinity, asking visitors to head for the park’s 200-odd miles (322km) of approved trails instead.

Dublin is perfect for book lovers, home to sights such as the beautiful Trinity College Library and host to literary festivals throughout the year – the Irish capital has even been home to four Nobel prize winners (William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett, George Bernard Shaw and Seamus Heaney). So it was sad news when the Dublin Writers Museum permanently closed its doors in the summer of 2022.

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A spokesperson from the Irish tourism board stated it "no longer meets the expectation of the contemporary museum visitor in terms of accessibility, presentation and interpretation". To fill the gap, pay a visit to the Museum of Literature Ireland instead, which pays tribute to important Irish writers, displays semi-rare works by the likes of James Joyce and dazzles with the gorgeous Dedalus Library.

Daikanransha (or the Giant Sky Wheel) formed part of Palette Town, a huge shopping, dining and entertainment complex on the man-made island of Odaiba. The 115-foot (35m) Ferris wheel once reigned supreme as the largest of its kind in the world, with a 15-minute ride taking in the views of surrounding Palette Town and sky-high buildings.

Following the closure of Palette Town's Mega Web Toyota City Showcase, the Giant Sky Wheel took its final spin in August 2022. The Odaiba district is under redevelopment, with a new sports and entertainment arena planned for the site in 2025, and new attractions opening including the EV Go-Kart track and immersive indoor theme park Immersive Fort, located in the former VenusFort mall complex that was part of Palette Town. 

Detailing the harrowing events of 11 September 2001, the 9/11 Tribute Museum welcomed over five million visitors during its 16-year run. The Greenwich Street-based museum displayed video and photographic footage, fire rescue uniforms and other artefacts from the tragedy, along with exhibits about the area's reconstruction and the World Trade Centre bombing in 1993 too.

In August 2022, it closed its doors for the final time, having been affected by low visitor numbers after the pandemic and funding issues. While its physical location is no more, you can book an audio tour of the 9/11 Memorial through their website. You can listen to survivors, rescue and recovery workers and civilian volunteers as they share their experiences during and after the attacks.

When the Cliffhanger opened at Blackgang Chine theme park in 2005, it took pride of place as the only roller coaster on the Isle of Wight. The popular ride soared above the coastline and offered sweeping views across to sea stacks The Needles for some 18 years.

Sadly, in October 2022, the iconic ride closed down, with Blackgang Chine's Director Dominic Ray stating that it was more costly to maintain than more modern coasters. But all hope was not lost: it found a new home at Dreamland Margate and was renamed the Rock 'n' Roller. What's more, Blackgang Chine replaced it with a new, state-of-the-art ride, Extinction, which swings over the cliff and rotates 360 degrees.

The Museum of London is one of the Big Smoke's much-loved free tourist attractions, looking back to prehistory and boasting displays on everything from grime music to the infamous Whitechapel fatberg. After a 45-year run, in December 2022, the institution located at London Wall closed its doors, marking its final day with a 24-hour musical event.

However, it’s not gone forever. In 2026 it will reopen as The London Museum in Smithfield, just a 10-minute walk away, and form part of London’s Culture Mile. Similarly, the popular Billingsgate and Smithfields markets will relocate to a purpose-built site in Dagenham Dock, east London, between 2027-2028.

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Built in 1942 by the US Navy, this dizzying staircase lines Oahu’s green Ko’olau mountains and is nicknamed the 'Stairway to Heaven' for good reason. But with rising safety concerns, the stairs have been closed to the public for several years, with hefty fines for trespassers.

Honolulu City Council voted to permanently remove the staircase, and after a protracted process that saw objections from the community, the government is now in the process of dismantling the staircase altogether.

The charming little Pollocks Toy Museum, housed inside a townhouse stuffed with vintage teddies, dolls’ houses, rocking horses, miniature theatres, electric train sets and antique models, was a treasure trove of Victoriana right in the heart of London’s Fitzrovia. It dated back to the 1850s, when printer Benjamin Pollock produced popular paper theatres in his workshop.

Since 1956 it has been an independent museum, but after it ran into funding problems post-pandemic, the museum was shuttered and its collection put in storage. There has been a small light at the end of the tunnel, however, with a pop-up shop housing some of the collection opening in Croydon’s Whitgift Centre on Saturdays, featuring the original Sooty and Sweep puppets donated by their creator.

Despite its modern facade, the iconic inside-out Pompidou Centre in Paris is in fact more than six decades old. Housing the nation's huge collection of modern and contemporary art, it's a popular Paris landmark that's affectionately known as 'our lady of the pipes'.

But catch its collections while you can as there are ambitious plans for a €262 million (£224m/$280m) remodelling of the site, which will see it shut after the Paris Olympics in summer 2024 for more than five years – not to reopen again until at least 2030.

Colossal coastal rock formations tend to capture the imagination, and none more so than Elephant Trunk Rock on Shen’ao Headland beside Taiwan’s New Taipei City, which was named for its unusual shape and had become a popular photo spot.

But unfortunately, coastal erosion caused the feature on Taiwan’s north-east coast to collapse into the ocean at the end of 2023. It had been closed off to the public for more than a decade due to fears for its stability.

This immersive Star Wars hotel experience based on the franchise required a two-night stay with a hefty $2,500 (£1,990) per night price tag. Galactic Starcruiser featured set recreations of a starship and interactions with Star Wars characters in live-action role plays.

At the full service hotel, you could train to use a lightsabre and chat to droids. But despite hundreds of millions of dollars in investment and a starry opening, Walt Disney World decided to shut the attraction in autumn 2023, just 18 months after its opening, with plans afoot to redevelop the site.

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