Places douglasjtimpe Wants to Go

This palatial spiral staircase was so unusual the name "snail" was given to the noble family who built it.

Sunset-colored dunes of volcanic ash make taking a poor photo impossible.

A collection of intricate sculptures so small they have to be seen through a microscope.

A midcentury ranch house hides a literal treasure trove of unique rocks and minerals.

A six-foot pair of socks hangs from a drawer of the world's largest bureau.

Large, airy hallways hide within an impenetrable fortress that beckons urban explorers.

A ruined hotel with an unlucky history and an eerie present.

The steepest classic funicular in the world glides along a dizzying incline.

The huge collection of paintings of the American West is one of Denver's best-kept secrets.

Frank Lloyd Wright died a year before construction on his largest public project even began.

Travelers leave tea kettles in a remote part of Death Valley as part of a mysterious, decades-old tradition.

A tiny theater hidden in an alley plays a constant stream of short silent films for anyone willing to peer through the peephole.

An easy-to-miss plaque marks the building that first held this 19th-century telephone innovation.

This huge concrete map of Scotland was built as a thank you gift from a Polish soldier.

Cities of the world and famous Thai monuments in minature.

A meow-velous tribute to a beloved street cat, made famous on the internet.

South Korea's love of the silly photograph is on full display at this goofy collection of trompe l'oeil paintings.

Secret North Korean passage discovered below the world's most dangerous border.

South Korea's only sex-themed park.

Meet the bronze beloved pet to a family of famous peeing statues.

Brussels' favorite peeing boy has a sister.

A little sculpture with a large wardrobe.

An elderly widow still operates the incredibly detailed model railroad she and her husband built by hand.

The "world's biggest dinosaur" once housed a creationist museum in its abdomen.