Cemeteries can offer travelers more than a place to remember the dead. Their architecture, paths and traditions reveal aspects of local history and culture, while providing a distinctive way to explore a destination. The following nine cemeteries are highlighted for their scenery and heritage.

Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn was founded in 1838 and covers 478 acres of hilly grounds. A National Historic Landmark and Revolutionary War site, it is also the burial place of figures including artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and composer Leonard Bernstein. More than 260 bird species have been spotted there.

In Los Angeles, Hollywood Forever Cemetery dates to 1899 and is the final resting place of stars including Judy Garland and filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille. The grounds have also hosted outdoor film screenings. A cenotaph honors Toto, the dog from The Wizard of Oz.

Established in 1821, Cementerio General in Mérida, Mexico, is known for its mix of Neo-Gothic, Neo-Maya and Art Deco architecture. Its tree-lined avenues contain more than 25,000 burial sites. Before Día de los Muertos, the Paseo de las Ánimas procession begins at the cemetery.

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans is currently closed to the public, with no reopening date set. Visitors can still walk around its perimeter, where the roots of towering live oaks have lifted sections of the concrete curb. The 19th-century cemetery has appeared in films including Interview with the Vampire.

Paris’s Père Lachaise Cemetery spans 110 acres and is known for its tree-lined paths and extensive burial grounds. Its notable graves include those of Jim Morrison, Frédéric Chopin, Oscar Wilde and Édith Piaf. The grounds are home to about 5,000 trees.

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in New York is a 19th-century site spread across 90 acres of landscaped grounds. Writer Washington Irving is buried there, and the cemetery hosts special events, including an adaptation of his Bracebridge Hall.

In Buenos Aires, Cementerio de la Recoleta was designed to resemble a city. Its neoclassical gates open onto tree-lined paths and a maze of nearly 5,000 above-ground burial vaults, including marble mausoleums. Argentine presidents, Nobel laureates and cultural figures are among those buried there.

Highgate Cemetery in London combines historic grounds with a nature reserve and active burial site. Visitors can explore its east and west sections without a guide, or book a tour. Its notable burials include philosopher Karl Marx and novelist George Eliot, whose real name was Mary Ann Evans.

Bonaventure Cemetery sits on a bluff above Georgia’s Wilmington River. Its live oaks, draped in Spanish moss, shade Victorian sculptures and old tombstones. Among those buried there is naturalist John Muir, who once slept in the cemetery during a long walk and later recounted the experience in “Camping Among the Tombs.”

Sources: Vogue.