Films and books are more than just their characters. The settings that are brought to life through these stories are just as important as the stories themselves. They build a fantasy land that sounds much better than the real world. However, in many cases, these fantastical places are actually places from the real world. Sure they won't ever be the exact same thing. Many will have different names and be missing key features that could only be added in by special movie effects.

If you have a movie that you are a huge fan of chances are you will be able to visit the main places in the film in real life. This may require some traveling as many different parts of the world share many different characteristics. Some places may be a great place to film a cold setting like Winterfell from Game of Thrones. Or other places like The Shire from Lord Of The Rings is a place of sunshine and rolling hills of bright green grass. Whatever the case, these places are usually made naturally and are beautiful enough for directors to choose them as locations in their films.

20 The Shire From Lord Of The Rings

This is perhaps the least likely place people would think would be a real-life place from Lord of the Rings. The Shire is a small village in which the film's Hobbits live. They are known to build houses into the hillsides of The Shire. Most of the locations used in the Lord of the Rings trilogy were shot in New Zealand. Similarly, The Shire was also shot in New Zealand in a place known as Matamata. Here you can pretend you are a Hobbit and find all the prominent places in The Shire. 

19 Winterfell From Game Of Thrones

If you are a fan of the TV series Game Of Thrones and you side with the Stark family than Castle Ward in Northern Ireland is the perfect place for you to visit. The castle is located only 40 minutes away from Belfast and is easily accessible (unlike it is in the show). This castle was used to film all of the scenes that took place in the fictional place Winterfell in the show. The castle was mostly used for interior shots of the castle however some shots were used as establishing shots from outside the castle walls. If you are a Game Of Thrones fan this should definitely be a place to visit someday.

18 Visit Arendelle From Disney's Frozen

Arendelle is the home of the two main characters in Disney's Frozen. The setting in the film is beautiful with snow-capped mountains in the background and an overall cold feeling. You can actually visit the kingdom in real life or the closest representation to the kingdom. It is located in Bergen which is a place in Norway. Bergen is a small place as far as population goes as it only features a few homes along the river way. The rest is left up to nature and everyone should travel there to take in its beauty at least once.

17 Neverland From Peter Pan Is Actually Located In Vietnam

Neverland from Peter Pan sounds like a nice vacation spot to anyone who has spent the day in the real world. Even in the Peter Pan story, Neverland is a place of magic where people never grow old. Who wouldn't want to take a trip there? This place actually exists or at least for most this is the closest to Neverland they can get. Halong Bay in Vietnam may not include the anti-aging properties of Neverland but the beauty of Halong Bay will be more than enough to make up for that.

16 Water Gardens From Game Of Thrones

Game of Thrones is a prominent TV show when it comes to using real-life places to make up its fantastical world. The show is known to use the Earth's beauty to its advantage and create the places that George R.R. Martin wrote in his books. The city of Dorne in Game Of Thrones sounds more than likely the best place to visit out of the seven kingdoms. It features some of the best weather and atmosphere. Much better than that of Winterfell or even King's Landing. The inspiration for Water Gardens is in Seville, Spain.

15 The Cinderella And Sleeping Beauty Castle

While you won't find princesses in this castle you can see the closest representation of one of Disney's most famous landmarks in Bavaria. The Neuschwanstein Castle is a beautiful architectural accomplishment and it served as one of the biggest inspirations for Walt Disney during the creation of both Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. While Disney World has their own magic castle this one is real and definitely filled with magic in its presentation. As the castle sits upon a mountain it overlooks the rest of Bavaria in all of its wonderful beauty.

14 Hogsmeade From The Harry Potter Series

The mythical world of Harry Potter has been a want for everyone who has ever read the books or seen the movies. The unique setting in which the series takes place makes everyone want to grab a wand and set out for Hogwarts. While Hogwarts is inspired by a real-life place we will be focusing on a place where you can actually feel like you are in the Harry Potter universe. Universal is the best place to live out your fantasy of becoming a wizard and entering the universe of Harry Potter. They've crafted quite a look-alike town to the setting of the Harry Potter series.

13 The Planet Of Tatooine From Star Wars

One of the most prominent areas in the Star Wars universe is the planet known as Tatooine. The planet that resembled a desert and housed the family of the famous Luke Skywalker. A small town known as Tunisia was used for most of the filming on Tatooine for the original three Star Wars films. If you visit Tunisia you could find yourself walking through familiar territory. Most of the outside of the buildings in Tunisia were used as establishing shots for Tatooine and most scenes with Luke Skywalker before he became a Jedi.

12 The Hall Of Justice From Super Friends

The show Super Friends which featured the Justice League had a headquarters where all the superheroes met to plan their next big move on the bad guys. This HQ is an actual place. Sure it doesn't have Superman or Batman hiding away inside but the outside architecture resembles the Hall of Justice a little too much to be just a coincidence. The Cincinnati Union Terminal shares similar characteristics to the Hall of Justice and is probably the closest you will ever get to step inside the Hall of Justice. The terminal was used to inspire the creators of the show to use it as the superheroes HQ because of its unique build and history.

11 The Flintstone's House

The Flintstones was a popular cartoon way back in the day. It has tried to have its fair share of reboots but nothing beats the original cartoon. The Flintstones house that was featured in the cartoon made several appearances and made many of us watching want to live in a house with such a unique structure. If you still hold this feeling then you are in luck because there are houses that are built just like the ones shown in The Flintstones. This house is located in Malibu, California and will cost you around 3.5 million dollars. We doubt that is how much Fred and Wilma paid for their stone house.

10 Pentos From Game Of Thrones

The city of Pentos in Game Of Thrones is a real-life place. If you recall watching the show during the wedding of Daenerys and Khal Drogo this is the place where that wedding took place. It is located in Malta and is known as Dwejra and the Azure Window. This location is beautiful in of itself and is worth the visit to anyone wanted to recreate the wedding scene from Game of Thrones. The Azure Window sits upon the shore of the Mediterranean sea giving it a beautiful view of the ocean before it. This is a beautiful place to visit if you are a fan or just an adventurous person at heart!

One of the most visually stunning films in the past few years would have to be James Cameron's Avatar. The movie was a milestone in the way CGI had come in way of films. However, CGI didn't make up the entirety of the movie like many would be led to believe. Several places featured in Avatar's Pandora are real-life places. For example, the prominent mountain form featured in the film is a real-life place and is known as the Hallelujah Mountains. The area is absolutely breathtaking and looks as if you are actually in the film.

8 The Ewok Village From Star Wars Return Of The Jedi

The Ewok Village from Star Wars is a unique scene from the film franchise. The Ewok village is made up in a forest and features small huts along the sides of trees. If you are a fan of Star Wars Return of The Jedi or if you just love the small and cute Ewoks then you will be happy to know that the Ewok village is a real place. This place is located in Costa Rica and while you won't be able to actually live in the small huts that Ewoks live in you will be able to live in much nicer houses made into trees. The small village also features zip-lines from place to place.

7 Visit Radiator Springs From Cars

Radiator Springs is the main town in the film Cars. The town is known to have struggled with keeping itself afloat as the town doesn't see much tourism or visitors. This is because it is located out in the middle of nowhere. The direct inspiration for this concept of a town was taken from a town in California known as Amboy. There isn't a singular Radiator Springs you can visit because most of the places that make up Radiator Springs are locations all across the United States. For example, the Cozy Cone Motel in the film is a direct inspiration from the Wigwam Motel in Arizona.

6 Paradise Falls From Pixar's Up

Pixar and Disney are known to throw references into their films any chance they get. However, when referencing the real world this can be quite different. Often times it is hard to pinpoint exactly where Pixar and Disney are referencing in their fictional places if any at all. One of these places is known as Paradise Falls from the film Up. Pixar took direct inspiration from a real-life place known as Angel Falls located in Venezuela. Pixar spent weeks taking notes on Angel Falls and even sent several teams to visit the falls so they could do it justice in the film.

5 The Emerald Bamboo Forest From Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

The film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is a martial arts film which featured a prominent area in the movie that a lot of people most likely remember. It was featured in one of the fight scenes where the main characters fight on top of long bamboo stalks. Bamboo forests are nothing new but the one featured in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is from a real place and is located in Kyoto, Japan. The forest is a little out of Kyoto and is called the Arashiyama. Places like Arashiyama are beautiful with tall stalks of bamboo and make you want to make your own martial arts film.

4 The Canyon City From Indiana Jones

One of the most unique cities featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was a city that was seemingly built into the side of a mountain. This city exists in real life and was mostly used naturally for the filming of the movie. The city is known as Petra. The city was said to have been created by a group of people known as the Nabataeans who were known for creating their cities by carving them right into the stone. The city of Petra is one of a kind city and is likely why Stephen Spielberg decided to use it in his film. The city has natural beauty and likely made it easy to film in without adding in much in the post.

3 The Inspiration For Silent Hill

Silent Hill is a series of horror based video games that released in the early 2000's. The games featured abandoned towns and cities that were crawling with strange creatures. A town in Pennsylvania known as Centralia is one of the main inspirations for the game's environment. The town of Centralia was once a thriving city with a thousand or so residents. That is until the people of Centralia were forced out due to a mine underneath the town catching fire. The town is still smoking from the fire that happened many years ago. At this point, the town is just as scary if not scarier than the one featured in the Silent Hill series.

2 Batman's Arkham Asylum

Arkham Asylum is one of the most prominent places in the Batman universe. It is the place that Batman puts all of his enemies in after he is done capturing them. While you won't be able to go to the real Arkham Asylum and visit The Joker you can find an eerily similar mental hospital that shares similar looks to the fictional Arkham Asylum. It is known as the Danvers State Hospital and is located in Massachusetts. The hospital is no longer in use and closed down in the early 90's. However, you can still visit the hospital to take pictures and pretend as Batman sent you there to seek justice.

1 Mordor From Lord Of The Rings

Okay, so you can't actually travel to Mordor. You can, however, travel to the place Mordor was filmed. Even though it won't have the Eye of Sauron or any of the cool green screen effect it will offer a beautiful landscape to hike in. There is a mountain that shares a resemblance to that of Mount Doom in the films. This mountain can be found in Tongariro National Park in New Zealand. Tongariro National Park is a popular place to hike as it usually has great hiking weather and offers hikers quite a challenge. With the added bonus of being close to a real-life Mordor, a trip to Tongariro National Park couldn't hurt.

References: atlasobscura.com, thesun.co.uk, thecostaricanews.com, scribblerinseville.com, the13thfloor.tv