10 Miniature City Marvels Around the World

If you’ve ever read the book Gulliver’s Travels, and wondered how Gulliver felt when he was washed ashore from his shipwreck and woke up in a land of tiny people called Lilliput, here’s your opportunity to find out.

You probably won’t get tied up and find yourself in the middle of a war of tiny nations, but you will get to see some astounding miniature buildings. The attention to detail at these parks is hard to believe. You’ll find yourself wondering how the designers created such intricate, exact replicas.

Bekonscot Model Village and Railroad – United Kingdom

This miniature park is located just 10 minutes outside of London in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. It was constructed in 1929, making it the oldest park of it’s kind in the world. Walking through the two-acre site will undoubtedly give you a glimpse of what English country life was like in the 1930‘s.

It was built in the back garden of the designer, around his swimming pool (which he used to represent the sea) as entertainment for his guests. Much later it became a tourist attraction. The six model villages are all make-believe places with shops that have silly names like the Lee Key Plumbers Merchants.

Wander through the colorful gardens, take a train ride around the property, stroll along the elevated walkway, play with the radio-controlled boats and enjoy the picnic area.

Madurodam – The Netherlands

This was a great park that we visited when my children were small. They thought it was incredible that they were bigger than the buildings and it was fun to watch them race down the paths, stopping occasionally in front of a structure that they recognized from our travels through this small country.

While strolling through the miniature city you’ll see gabled houses, canals, windmills, cows, canal boats and other typical Dutch scenes. You’ll even find a mini version of Schiphol airport, which took two years and four months to complete. The detail in this park is so amazing that you’ll enjoy it even if you are traveling without kids.

The park is located in the Hague, just outside of Amsterdam. A route guide to help you navigate the park is available in 13 different languages.

Cockington Green Gardens – Australia

This park opened about 30 years ago and is still a family owned establishment. It’s so well done that it’s won several tourism awards. The gardens are located about 15 minutes outside of Canberra.

The original models include the thatched roof village of Cockington in Great Britain, Baraemar Castle in Scotland and Stonehenge. Since then, the owners have added an international area where you’ll see the Lahore Gate and Red Fort from India, St. Mark’s Church from Croatia, the Palace of Darius – Perspolis from Iran and a lot more.

Along with the miniatures there is also a cafe, a small steam train ride, a mini train display, lovely gardens that sprawl across a two acre area, and an indoor exhibit area which currently displays an incredible 34 room Georgian style doll house.

Window of the World – China

Located in the city of Shenzhen, this is a park where you can spend a good portion of a day and see 130 of the world’s most incredible sights. You’ll wonder why you bothered to travel the planet when you could have seen everything in one place.

Set on 148 acres, you’ll find replicas of a 354-foot tall Eiffel Tower, the Palace of Versailles, the Acropolis, the Pyramids, the Colosseum, the Taj Mahal, Mt. Rushmore, the Grand Canyon and on and on. The displays in the park are built at ratios of 1:1, 1: 5 and 1:15.

If you like, you can choose different adventure trips to experience while you are visiting including skiing in the indoor alpine area or navigating the Colorado River. There are also several festivals each year hosted at the park – the Cherry Festival, International Beer Festival, Pop Music Festival, World Dance and Singing Gala and others.

Swiss Miniatur – Switzerland

This open-air miniature park is located in Melide on the shores of Lake Lugano. It was built about 50 years ago with the goal of representing a smaller version of the country of Switzerland. All of the models are built on a scale of 1:25.

Inside the park you’ll discover 120 replicas of houses, castles and cathedrals that represent life in Switzerland including Burgdorf Castle and Chillon Castle. There is also a wonderful display called Heidi’s Village in Maienfeld, which is a must-see for anyone who read and enjoyed the book.

For the train lover, there is an extensive miniature train display that includes 11,500 feet of track and 18 moving trains. This outdoor park is open from mid-March through mid-November.

Forbidden Gardens – United States

This park, which is located in Katy, Texas, about 25 miles outside of Houston, was built in 1997 by a Hong Kong native living in the United States. His idea behind the development of the park was the hope of educating people about the history and culture of ancient China.

The sprawling park sits on 40 acres and inside you’ll find replicas of the Forbidden City, the Terra Cotta Warriors, the Summer Palace and more. If you visit with your kids on Asian Adventure Day (which needs to be booked in advance) they will get a guided historical tour, and have a craft activity like making Chinese opera masks or paper lanterns.

Ave Maria Grotto – United States

This unusual park sits on four acres of a Benedictine Abbey in Cullman, Alabama. It was constructed over a 40-year period by a monk named Brother Joseph Zoetti. He built the 125 miniatures of famous churches, shrines and other buildings out of, well, basically junk that people donated for the cause – glass, marble, costume jewelry, broken tiles, whatever, along with some cement and other building materials.

As you walk down a forested trail you’ll pass by replicas of St. Peter’s Basilica, various Spanish missions, scenes of ancient Jerusalem and even a Tower of Babel. What started as a hobby for him became a life’s work and has been written about in a book entitled Miniature Miracles.

Mini Israel – Israel

This park is symbolically laid out in the shape of the star of David, with each point representing a specific area – Tel Aviv, Haifa, Negev, Jerusalem, Galil and Center. In it you’ll find 350 structures which have historical, cultural and religious importance to Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

The models were built on a ratio of 1:25 and completed in 2002 by a diverse team of designers, architects and model builders from different areas and various religious affiliations. It is located in the Avalon Valley near the city of Latrun.

Along with all of the religious structures you’ll also see live bonsai trees, about 30,000 figurines of people, 500 figures of animals, and close to 5,000 mini automobiles, trains motorcycles and airplanes.

Mini Europe – Belgium

After spending a few hours at this park in Brussels, you’ll feel like you’ve visited all of Europe. The models are a representation of 80 cities consisting of 350 buildings. You’ll see things like the Viking Ring Fort of Denmark, the City Hall of Stockholm, the Doge’s Palace in Venice, the Acropolis of Athens and the Houses of Parliament in London.

This park is very well known for the quality of the models. Many of them were quite expensive to build (hundreds of thousands of dollars.) Some of the models were gifts donated by the country represented. Many of the models actually work, like an erupting Vesuvius.

Tobu World Square – Japan

Let’s face it, most people are not going to get to that many UNESCO World Heritage Sites. But, if you make it to this park you’ll at least get to see 42 of them in a miniature 1:25 scale. Some of the models include the Great Wall of China, Parthenon, Statue of Liberty, Sphinx and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The creators of the park paid very close attention to detail during the five years of building. In fact, you may want to bring binoculars so you can get a really up-close look at the engravings, reliefs and stained glass found on some of the models. Every display has been well thought out – a great example of this is Tokyo Station surrounded by hordes of miniature people.

Read about author Deanna Hyland and check out her other BootsnAll articles

Photo credits:
Bekonscot by bortescristian on Flickr, Madurodam by przemion  on Flickr, Cockington Gardens by mecookie on Flickr, Window of the World by dcmaster on Flickr, Swiss Miniatur by MnGyver on Flickr, Forbidden Gardens by Mr. Kimberly on Flickr, Ave Maria Grotto by southerntabitha on Flickr, Mini Israel by Templar1307 on Flickr, Mini Europe by Crispy Rice on Flickr, Tobu World Square by scion_cho on Flickr

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No Beelzebub, No Devil’s Son to be Found! - Branson, Missouri

The first night I attended a dinner show in Branson, Missouri, I knew this was as different a place culturally as I have ever been to. As I was enjoying a pre-show dinner consisting of tender sirloin tips and a skinless chicken breast with a tasty baked potato at the Magnificent Variety Show, cover songs of some classic rock songs were blaring out of the loudspeakers. One in particular was Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. I was waiting for my favorite line from the song to be crooned out, the one about Beelzebub having a devil for a son, and alas, the lyrics were changed instead to referring to the song as being “a hoot”. Should I be surprised the devil’s minions were struck down in song since this locale is not only nestled in the Ozarks, but also in the Bible Belt?

The feeling I got as I visited this entertainment mecca was one of being transported back to a different time period. Sure, I saw lots of people talking on their cell phones, and the internet is alive and well here, but there is this sense of old fashioned values that emanates out of Branson, where the locals are generally polite and will ask you “Where you from?” Each attraction that’s narrated or live show will basically pay homage to our troops and veterans.

Branson entertainment is definitely not Las Vegas fare, as the live music shows that have been entertaining visitors since 1959 are aimed at a more conservative values-oriented audience. But that’s okay, for that’s the neat aspect of travel: being able to find cultural differences than the ones you’re used to, and still have a good time.

My first live music show in Branson at The Osmonds Theatre was still a memorable experience as the musical troupe led by husband and wife team Joe and Tamra Tinoco made more than 300 costume changes during 90 minutes of performing parts of some of the most memorable pop hits by decade in vignettes, beginning with the 1940’s and running all the way through today for the first half of their act, in which they dressed in the styles of each decade and impersonated the musical performers the best they could, which was quite good! Since I grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s, my favorite covers that they did were when they imitated Michael Jackson’s Thriller video with all those ghoulish/zombie-like costumes and when they got into various uniforms to play the Village People while crooning out Y.M.C.A.

This Magnificent Variety troupe encouraged audience participation, too, as they came off stage sometimes to sing a slow love song to one of the ladies, and for one 1970’s vignette, they got some of the audience members to go back stage with them to put on some wacky-looking wigs and then they all danced before the audience.

In the second half their act following an intermission, the show consisted of full renditions of songs from various Broadway plays like Funny Girl, The Phantom of the Opera, and more, and ended with a patriotic tribute to America’s veterans and then to America itself. The only thing missing that night without Beelzebub and his devilish son was apple pie: after all, chocolate cake was served! Nonetheless, the audience made up of primarily middle-aged folks and senior citizens enjoyed themselves.

The Civil War “Re-enacted” at Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede

As I walked to the entrance of Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede from the parking lot, Palominos and Quarter horses were next to the sidewalk to be admired. These horses would be used during a 90 minute show that takes place in a 35,000 square foot arena, with its staging area being about as large as a basketball or hockey arena in my estimation.

I was greeted at the door by young ladies dressed in Southern Belle costumes and taken to the pre-show area, where hundreds of other guests and I could got snacks like popcorn and peanuts plus soft drinks in a commemorative cup. We then got to watch the opening act of our live show experience, a comedian juggler and musician named David Lucas. He entertained us with his juggling of various items like 7 rings, 3 large knives, and golf balls which he spit out of his mouth. I really enjoyed it when he juggled some tambourines to the soundtrack of Arabic music, which created a pleasant harmony. He referred to himself as an “Oriental Redneck” and got lots of laughs talking about his life and show business family. He’s performed before the Queen of England and U.S. Presidents.

We were then ushered into the arena that seats 1,100 people by a Confederate and Union soldier, who determined which side of the arena we would be sitting on: The North or South side. I was put in the North, and after we were all seated, it was explained to us that we would be helping to re-enact The Civil War as each course of finger food was served to us over the next hour by Union or Confederate soldiers (depending on which side we were on). This included a fluffy biscuit, creamy soup (the bowl had a handle), corn-on-the-cob, refills on coffee and Pepsi, a small but complete rotisserie chicken that was super tender and tasty, plus a large and succulent pastry dessert that reminded me of a Pillsbury fruit turnover.

My side’s job was to stomp our feet at designated times and cheer positively at the Union soldier performers in the arena, and boo the Confederate side, who would be determining the fate of the Civil War not by violent means, but by various competitions with the stable horses and other farm animals like little racing pigs dressed in Civil War uniforms. In between competitions were comedy skits. Some audience members were used to perform silly things like ride a broomstick horse.

Before the Civil War competition began, energetic singing and period piece costumes and real animals like Texas Longhorns made up a show that focused on the history of America before the Civil War; for instance, we got to hear the players act like pioneers and sing campfire songs and see Southern Belles come down from on high! The Stampede really has this ability to get the audience involved and uses energetic music and great staging to make for a memorable experience.

Unbelievable Abilities Showcased by the Acrobats of China

If you see only one live show in Branson, it’s gotta be this show which is part of The New Shanghai Circus. We were instructed by the Master of Ceremonies how to say “hello” and “thank you” in Chinese before the show began so we could communicate with these stars at the end of the show if we chose to, as they would be on hand for autographs and picture taking.

I’ve never been more impressed with an acrobatic troupe over the course of two hours (including a short intermission), who used pulsating music and various special effects lighting to help underscore their feats of illusion, drumming, and Chinese storytelling (with one act employing ballet-like moves). I saw things by these gifted performers that I still don’t understand how it could be done. One of the acts involved a girl who stood on top of her head while twirling a four-legged table in the air while another group of young women twirled several plates in the air using long sticks! The guys in the troupe jumped through stacked hoops and caught each other in the air with their feet after they were thrust upwards, as if effortlessly.

I visited China in 2000, and watching the Acrobats of China made me feel like I was back in that enchanted land. Beware: the smell of buttered popcorn in the 1,000 seat arena was so overwhelming that I had to get some for myself, even though I try to stay away from food with a lot of saturated fat.

Note: Photos of Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede and Acrobats of China were taken with permission by the respective attractions. All photos by Roy A. Barnes.

Roy’s first Branson article at Bootsnall.com

Biography: Roy A. Barnes writes from southeastern Wyoming and is a frequent contributor to Bootsnall.com.