Places Samantha Chong Wants to Go

A colossal floating restaurant built to look like a ancient Chinese imperial palace.

The oldest pastificio in Queens offers visitors fresh noodles and a peek inside the macaroni-making magic.

Deliciousness abounds at a Guatemalan restaurant masquerading as a pizzeria.

This taxidermy scene brings the struggle for survival in the Indian jungle to a quiet corner of a Manhattan museum.

Tucked inside a South Bank bar is an epic expressionist chronicle of the 20th century.

The site of the "Bone Wars" between two rival paleontologists during the dinosaur rush of the 19th century.

Traveling this mountain pass reveals quaint stone buildings, stunning Irish scenery, and a bridge said to grant wishes.

This portrait of Philip V is always hung upside down, in a protest three centuries in the making.

Surrounded by ash fields in Iceland, an impossibly verdant valley looks like something out of a fairytale.

This colorful theme park dedicated the official fruit of Maine serves sweet, tasty treats.

This interactive gallery makes you feel like you've stepped into a fantasy world filled with whimsical monsters.

Neon signs that grace the windows of Bergdorf Goodman's and Tiffany & Co. come from this studio in Brooklyn.

A private collection of over 30,000 ancient and modern items showcasing the beauty of Islamic calligraphy.

A hidden bar inside an ad agency has a deliberately misleading name, so employees can stay late under pretext of paperwork.

This oddly beautiful water cistern is a techno-temple to the wet stuff and a multimedia masterpiece.

Dodge prohibitionists and slide through the telephone booth in Crif Dogs.

A theme park made of glass, from the gleaming books on the shelves to the crystal fish in the mirror lake.

This golden temple is surrounded by hundreds of stone tablets that comprise the "world's largest book."

This lavish room in a New York City mansion is a rare relic from the end of the Gilded Age.

Once thought to be the fabled Holy Grail, it is now known to be an oil lamp.

This eatery re-creates dishes from the Ottoman Empire so you can dine like a sultan.

Hidden beneath a beautiful overlook you’ll find the history of the city depicted in comic strip format next to a pay toilet.

This charming candle shop has been in business since 1789.

Some of the best Persian food in New York comes from the front window of an unassuming pizza shop.