Stories mapped place by place

Explore stories through spaces and maps

Follow novels, films, games, myths, real expeditions and historical events place by place — with sources and honest notes on how precise each location is.

362 routes to explore

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Books Movies Real Journeys History Games Mythology

Featured journey

History

Harriet Tubman: Maryland to St. Catharines

Harriet Tubman escaped slavery in 1849 and then went back to Maryland about 13 times, bringing out some 70 people. Her work depended on a chain of Quakers, free Black ministers and abolitionists who hid and moved people north. The route follows that chain from the Eastern Shore through Wilmington and Philadelphia to Niagara and Salem Chapel in St. Catharines, then to her farm at Auburn. Real routes were kept secret, so most pins are approximate.

8 locationsOpen journey

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GamesSpeculative

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire: Hoenn and Kyushu

Hoenn is a world of volcanoes, islands and sea routes, and the games' own region is based on Kyushu, the south-western main island of Japan. Fans and reference writers have matched its towns and landmarks to real places across the island and the seas around it. This route follows the story from Littleroot Town to the Sealed Chamber and sets each stop beside the place it is said to resemble. The region is inspired by Kyushu, not copied from it, so every pin is an outside reading of the map, not an official location.

8 locations0/8 visitable

MoviesApproximate

The Witcher: Season One from Hungary to the Canaries

Netflix's Continent was built from a patchwork of real places: a Hungarian fort, a village museum, a former monastery, Canary Islands coasts and a ruined Polish castle. This route follows season one's shoot from October 2018 to May 2019: Cintra and Marnadal in Hungary, Aretuza and Ciri's desert in the Canary Islands, and Sodden Hill at Ogrodzieniec in Poland. Filming spots only; the Continent itself is invented.

7 locations3/7 visitable

MoviesApproximate

Pirates of the Caribbean: Islands Behind the Sets

Port Royal and Tortuga were built on a quiet St Vincent bay, Cannibal Island is Dominican rainforest, and a private Bahamian cay sits behind a famous duel. This route follows the shoots from St Vincent in 2002 through Dominica in 2005 to Grand Bahama, where the ships were filmed in a hurricane season. Most pins mark areas, not exact sets; the sets themselves were built and taken down.

7 locations5/7 visitable

MythologySpeculative

The Epic of Gilgamesh: From Uruk to Dilmun

Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, goes looking for the secret of immortality. This route follows the epic from its city to the Cedar Forest and the flood hero's home, then to the Nineveh library where the tablets were found. The poem's places are legend and the tablets' places are archaeology; each stop says which, and which pins are only candidates. The Iraqi sites are not visitor destinations.

6 locations2/6 visitable

How it works

1.Pick a story
A novel, a film, a game, a myth, an expedition or a historical event — each route follows one of them across the map.
2.Follow it place by place
Read every stop in order, with dates and sources. A label tells you whether the spot is exact, approximate, speculative or fictional, and whether you can visit it.
3.Map your own
Anyone can draft a route in Studio. Sign in to submit it, and a moderator reviews it before it goes public.

Write your own route