Explore 18 Fantasy locations Collections - Atlas Obscura
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Fantasy Locations

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Accusations around sex and race have caused controversy and change at a major LARP community.
plague

Racism and Sexism Claims Shake a Modern Fantasy Village

In North America's largest medieval-style town, it’s not just architecture that needs some 21st-century renovation.
Ellery Weil November 13, 2024
Citizens of <em>Mogdir</em> feast on insects like the <em>pitter</em>, a giant caterpillar that spins edible silk.
food

What's on the Menu in Your Fantasy World?

Meet three worldbuilders who bring their magical settings to life through food.
Andrew Coletti August 13, 2024
A New and Correct Map of AMERICA (London, 1752).
islands

For Hundreds of Years, People Thought California Was an Island

Dozens of maps show cartography's most persistent mistake.
Frank Jacobs February 16, 2024
An ancient English woodland that inspired a young J.R.R. Tolkien.
literature

Podcast: Tolkien Takes Us Places

Unearthing the real-life places and events that inspired fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien.
The Podcast Team October 9, 2023
An Iranian Tolkienologist sees swaths of Pakistan and India in J.R.R. Tolkien's specific descriptions of mountains and rivers.
fantasy locations

Is Mordor Based on the Himalayas?

Much of Asia seems to be riddled onto the Lord of the Rings map of Middle Earth.
Frank Jacobs September 15, 2023
Wyoming's Casper Mountain is home to witches who appear once a year, on Midsummer's Eve, thanks to the rich imagination of writer and artist Neal Forsling.
witchcraft

On Wyoming's Casper Mountain, the Crimson Dawn Witches Appear Every Midsummer's Eve

Nearly a century ago, writer and artist Neal Forsling's magical tales began a local legacy that celebrates family, nature, and imagination.
Michelle Harris June 19, 2023
Birmingham, England

Moseley Bog

An ancient woodland that inspired a young J.R.R. Tolkien.
The enchanting north door.
Stow-on-the-Wold, England

St Edward's Church

This medieval sanctuary's tree-framed door looks like a portal to a mythical realm.
maps

For Sale: A Historical Map of the Imagination

Bernard Sleigh's dreamland mashes up myths, fairy tales, and nursery rhymes.
Jessica Leigh Hester March 18, 2019
Stahovica, Slovenia

Velika Planina

An otherworldly alpine pasture in Slovenia with historical ties to WWII and architecture that recalls Middle Earth.
An altered sign in Didcot, England, directs drivers to Middle Earth.
news

Mysterious Road Signs to Fictional Places Have Appeared in Didcot, England

This way to Narnia!
Natasha Frost March 20, 2018
Permanently Closed
Yucca Valley, California

Bob's Crystal Cave

A meditative space out of a fantasy story.
Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, not long after it was first built.
forests

Get Lost in These Real-World Fairy Tale Landscapes

18 magical places on Earth that seem straight out of a fantasy world.
Meg Neal June 12, 2017
First look 👀
Port Orchard, Washington

Hobbit House

A little piece of the Shire is hidden behind a plant nursery in Port Orchard, Washington.
The newest glass bridge in Zhangjiajie Park.
Zhangjiajie, China

Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge

The latest in a series of long glass bridges suspended at terrifying heights.
forests

8 Real-World Forests That Look Like They Belong in a Fantasy Novel

These enchanting groves are the perfect settings for a heroic quest.
Eric Grundhauser June 8, 2016
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Spain

Gaztelugatxe

Hundreds of stone stairs and a winding medieval bridge connect this haunting Spanish island to the mainland.
Wrights Hill Fortress
Wellington, New Zealand

Wrights Hill Fortress

Anyone wanting to know what a dwarven mine sounds like need only visit the tunnels of this New Zealand artillery compound.