The moai of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) were carved at Rano Raraku quarry and raised on platforms such as Ahu Tongariki and Ahu Akivi, and the island's legends explain them: a founder who landed at Anakena, seven scouts turned to stone, statues that walked, and a birdman race at Orongo.
The route follows those stories from the landing beach to the quarry, the restored platforms and the cliff village above the sea. Oral traditions are told as traditions, not as proven history.
Queen Elizabeth I's life runs through Greenwich, the Tower of London, Hatfield, Westminster Abbey, Tilbury Fort and Richmond: where she was born, imprisoned, crowned, made her Armada speech and died.
The route follows her from her birth in 1533 to her death in 1603. Some palaces are gone, so three pins mark the nearest surviving site.
Napoleon Dynamite is set and was filmed in Preston, Idaho, from Preston High School and the Deseret Industries thrift shop to a chicken farm in Franklin and Lamont Reservoir.
Director Jared Hess shot his 2004 comedy in July 2003 in the town where he grew up. This route follows Napoleon, Kip and Uncle Rico through six places, from the school gym to the wedding. Some scenes were shot elsewhere in Idaho, and the guide gives only street-level addresses for a few spots.
Grigori Rasputin's story runs from the village of Pokrovskoye to Saint Petersburg's Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Peterhof and the Yusupov Palace on the Moika, where he was killed in December 1916.
The route follows the peasant who became the tsar's controversial confidant: his birthplace, his first steps in the capital, his meeting with Nicholas II, the murder, the bridge where his body was found and his burial at Tsarskoye Selo. Much about his death is disputed, and the stops say so.
Marie Antoinette was born in Vienna's Hofburg, married at the Palace of Versailles, played at country life in the Petit Trianon and was held in the Conciergerie before her execution on the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
This route follows the youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa from the Habsburg palaces of Vienna to the royal court of France and the guillotine, in six stops you can still visit.
Battlefield 3 is set in Tehran, Paris and New York, and Battlefield 4 in Shanghai and the Kunlun Mountains. The campaigns follow Marines from Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan to a nuclear plot that ends in Times Square.
The route follows the two campaigns in story order across six real places, from Mehrabad Airport in Tehran to central Shanghai. Most stops are city-level pins, because the games name cities rather than streets.
Twister is set in Oklahoma, and was filmed there at Fairfax, Kaw Lake, Wakita and Guthrie before the finale moved to Eldora, Iowa. Storm chasers Jo and Bill race tornadoes across the plains.
This route follows the story from the opening farm to the F5 climax. Several stops are towns rather than single sites, and the Eldora finale house is private.
The English Patient was filmed in Tunisia and Italy: desert scenes near Tozeur, Nefta and Chott el Djerid, and the wartime monastery at Sant'Anna in Camprena near Pienza in Tuscany.
Contains story spoilers. The route follows the film's Italian settings, then its desert story: Hana's frescoes at Arezzo, a Venice hotel standing in for Cairo, the Cave of Swimmers and Almásy's camp. Some desert sites need a guided trip.
Ben-Hur's Jerusalem, Nazareth and chariot arena were filmed in Italy: Cinecittà Studios in Rome for the 1959 classic, and Matera and Cinecittà World for the 2016 remake.
The route follows the story from Jerusalem and Nazareth to the sea battle, the great chariot race and the Valley of the Lepers, and shows where each scene was shot. Most stops are stand-ins for the story's places, and each says so.
Good Will Hunting is set in Boston and was shot in South Boston, at MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, and at Bunker Hill Community College. Will, a janitor and self-taught genius, moves between a dive bar and the lecture halls of two famous campuses.
The route follows five places from the film, from the blackboard at MIT and the L Street Tavern to Harvard Square and the college where Sean Maguire teaches.
The Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie, is reported around Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands, from the River Ness and Foyers to Urquhart Castle.
The route follows the legend from Saint Columba's water beast in AD 565 through the sightings of 1888 and 1933, the 1934 "surgeon's photograph" later shown to be a hoax, and the 1977 photo taken beside Urquhart Castle. The stories are claims and legends, not proven facts.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was filmed at Seven Sisters in East Sussex, Ivinghoe Beacon in the Chiltern Hills, Black Park in Buckinghamshire, New College and the Divinity School in Oxford, and Steall Falls in Glen Nevis.
From the Portkey landing before the Quidditch World Cup to the dragon task and the Yule Ball lessons, this route follows the 2005 film in story order. Scenes at Hogwarts itself and at the studio are not covered here.
Walden is set at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, where Henry David Thoreau lived from July 1845 to September 1847. This route follows the book from his cabin site to the railroad, Concord's jail, Flint's Pond, Baker Farm and Brister's Hill.
Thoreau compressed his two years into a single calendar year in the book. The stops follow the order of its chapters, and most of the paths and ponds can still be walked around Walden Pond State Reservation. Several spots in the woods are only approximately placed on the map.
Jack the Ripper's Whitechapel murders of 1888 happened along a few Whitechapel and Spitalfields streets: Durward Street (then Buck's Row), Hanbury Street, Berner Street, Mitre Square and Miller's Court in Spitalfields. Five killings are generally attributed to the unidentified murderer.
This route follows the canonical victims in date order, with the Goulston Street graffito and the Ten Bells pub. Some sites are gone or renamed, and Miller's Court has no pin.
Company of Heroes is set in Normandy in 1944, from Omaha Beach and Carentan to Cherbourg, Saint-Lô, Mortain and Chambois. Its Able Company missions follow real battles of the Normandy campaign.
The route follows the game's single-player story in order, pairing each mission with what the real fight there looked like. The game simplifies events.
Overwatch (called Overwatch 2 until February 2026) sets its American maps in real places: Midtown ends at Grand Central in New York, New Queen Street is Toronto, Havana is in Cuba, Paraíso is Rio de Janeiro and Hollywood is a Los Angeles movie lot.
This route follows seven maps west to east from Hollywood to Rio, including Dorado, a Mexican town whose look came from a photo of Italy. Other routes cover Overwatch maps in Europe and in Africa and Asia. Pins mark a real model place, not a copied district; Dorado and Runasapi have no pin because they are invented towns with no named real place.
Overwatch (called Overwatch 2 until February 2026) sets its European maps in real places: King's Row is a London neighborhood, Circuit Royal is Monte Carlo, Colosseo is Rome, Rialto is Venice and Esperança is inspired by Porto.
This route follows eleven maps west to east, from Grímsvötn in Iceland to Volskaya Industries near St. Petersburg, with the mode, the date each arrived and the real place behind it. Other routes cover Overwatch maps in the Americas and in Africa and Asia. Pins mark a real model place or landmark, not a copied district.
Seven Samurai was filmed at Toho Studios in Tokyo and in Shizuoka and Hakone, because no single location could cover the whole area.
Kurosawa's 1954 film has one mountain village, but it was stitched together from different places: studio rice fields in Setagaya, a valley above the Tanna Tunnel, a mill site in Izu, a waterfall in Shizuoka and a mountain pass in Hakone.
The stops are approximate because the screen village never existed as one place.
Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi) was born in Shikoku, studied in Xi'an and founded Shingon Buddhism at Jingo-ji, Tō-ji and Mount Kōya, where he is entombed at Okunoin.
The route follows the monk from his birthplace at Zentsū-ji to Qinglong Temple in Tang China, then back to the temples near Kyoto and the mountain retreat he asked for in 816. It ends at his mausoleum, where monks still bring him meals.
Where was Yamatai, the kingdom of Queen Himiko? The two leading answers are Yoshinogari in Saga, northern Kyushu, and Makimuku beside the Hashihaka Kofun in Sakurai, Nara.
The route follows the Wei Zhi account of Himiko from Iki Island and the Shikanoshima gold seal to the two rival sites, and ends at the burial mound often linked with her grave. The location of Yamatai is still unsettled.
The Great Buddha of Nara at Tōdai-ji was the work of Emperor Shōmu, who also ordered a temple in every province and moved his capital from Heijō Palace to Kuni-kyō and Shigaraki.
After smallpox, rebellion and poor harvests, Shōmu turned to Buddhism for protection. This route follows him from Nara through two short-lived capitals and a provincial temple in today's Tokyo, back to the Eye-opening Ceremony of 752. Some sites are only ruins or remain approximate.
Prince Shōtoku's temples in Japan run from Tachibana-dera and Asuka-dera in Asuka to Hōryū-ji and Chūgū-ji in Ikaruga, plus Shitennō-ji in Osaka.
The route follows the regent who promoted Buddhism, from the place said to be his birthplace to his palace site at Ikaruga and the embroidery made after his death in 622. Several dates rest on temple tradition rather than firm records, and the birthplace is marked as traditional.
The Last Samurai (2003) is set in Japan in 1876 but was filmed mostly in Taranaki, New Zealand, where Mount Taranaki stands in for Mount Fuji, plus Engyō-ji near Himeji, Chion-in in Kyoto and Castle Green in Pasadena.
This route follows Nathan Algren's story from the opening restaurant scene to the parade ground, the fog battle, Katsumoto's village, his temple and the emperor's palace, and shows where each one really is. Several stops are sets or stand-ins.
Shakushain's War (1669) was the Ainu uprising against the Matsumae clan of Japan, fought between Shinhidaka, Matsumae Castle and Kunnui in Hokkaido.
The route follows the revolt from the feud on the Shibechari River to the mediation at Matsumae, the fighting at Kunnui and the leader's death at Piypok. It ends with the Shakushain statue in Shinhidaka. Several sites are approximate and are marked as such.
