Places ATX Mike Wants to Go

Visiting this cacophonous collection of vintage novelties is like stepping into the mind of a crazed toymaker.

A jaw-dropping "megalibrary" that turns book-browsing into a geometric adventure.

Part bookstore, part café, and part forest.

A Turkish monastery tucked into a cliff wall.

Large miniature theme park with 100-plus models.

While not Turkey's deepest underground city, this subterranean redoubt is the largest.

The deepest underground city in Turkey was designed to protect 20,000 people behind massive stone doors.

Live a night as a Byzantine King, with a minibar and private jacuzzi.

An abused and forgotten metropolis, abandoned for centuries.

A marvel of Byzantine engineering under the streets of Istanbul.

Roman ruins top white travertine terraces formed by ancient hot springs.

This tiny Bulgarian town offers a stunning location in the mountains and a storied history.

The storied steakhouse is the last in a long line of Lebanese-owned supper clubs in Tulsa.

This junkyard made over as a theme park is the "Most Alaskan place in Alaska."

The lost American era of gunfighters, bandits, Indians and steam trains is recreated in Sweden.

A 32-acre fun park dedicated to all things cheese.

A miniature Italianate fantasy village on the coast of Wales and the set of ITC classic "The Prisoner."

The greatest amusement park in the world is wall-to-wall farting dogs, puking rats, and cows with exposed breasts for the whole family.

This eclectic Austin curiosity shop is home to all things strange and unusual.

Hundreds of handmade critters fill this tiny window gallery in the heart of Portland's Alberta Arts District.

Entering this curiosity shop is like stepping into a mad scientist's lab.

One of the few existing, fully functional Showbiz Pizza animatronic shows.

The sole remaining outpost of a once-thriving South Carolina chain still sells “pic-a-nic” baskets.

This 16-foot, 6-ton statue in the singer's hometown doesn't actually look like her.