Forza Horizon 4: A Britain Road Trip

The game's Britain opens in Edinburgh, which Forza Horizon 4 includes as a condensed representation — and the city's heart has always been the Old Town. It is the oldest part of Scotland's capital, where much of the medieval street plan survives: the Royal Mile runs on a downwards slope from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace, and narrow closes, often no more than a few feet wide, lead steeply downhill to both north and south. Together with the 18th/19th-century New Town it forms part of a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is all walkable on foot.

Location precision: The game condenses Edinburgh as a whole; the pin marks the Old Town around the Royal Mile.

Visitor guidance: Start at Castlehill by the castle gates and walk the Royal Mile down to Holyrood Palace.

Bamburgh Castle appears in the game as itself, crowned over the Northumberland coast. The real fortress stands on a black crag of volcanic dolerite on the northeast coast of England, by the village of Bamburgh, and is a Grade I listed building. In 1894 the Victorian industrialist William Armstrong bought it and completed its restoration in 1905. Today it is open to the public and still owned by the Armstrong family.

Visitor guidance: The castle is open to the public, on the coast road by the village of Bamburgh.

Derwentwater is home to Forza Horizon 4's best trick: in winter the lake freezes over and players can drive straight across the ice to reach parts of the map that no other season allows. The real lake lies just south of Keswick, surrounded by hills the locals call fells, many of the facing slopes extensively wooded. Four main islands — Derwent Island, Lord's Island, Rampsholme Island and St Herbert's Island — belong to the National Trust. You cannot drive the lake, but a regular passenger launch crosses between landing stages, and seven lakeside marinas hire out boats.

Location precision: The game uses the whole lake; the pin marks the middle of Derwentwater.

Visitor guidance: The lake is a short walk south of Keswick; the passenger launch calls at landing stages around the shore.

The game's Lake District includes Ambleside, the small town at the northern tip of Windermere. The real Ambleside sits at the head of Windermere, England's largest natural lake, and its postcard landmark is Bridge House, built over Stock Ghyll more than 300 years ago, probably as a summer house and apple store for Ambleside Hall. Listed Grade I, the little black-and-white building is now used as an information centre for the National Trust. From the lakefront, steamers — the local name for the ferries — run most days down the lake to Bowness-on-Windermere.

Location precision: The game represents the town, not a single building; the pin marks central Ambleside.

Visitor guidance: Ambleside is on the A591 at the north end of Windermere; Bridge House stands in the town centre over the beck.

Higher into the fells, the area around Tarn Hows features in the game's map. The real spot holds a picturesque tarn about two miles northeast of Coniston, which a visitor described in 1913 as set wildly among larches and heather slopes, more like a highland lake than the other waters in Lakeland. A dam built at Low Tarn created the larger water seen today, and the place became so popular that it drew over half a million visitors a year even in the 1970s. The National Trust manages it.

Visitor guidance: Tarn Hows is off the B5285 between Hawkshead and Coniston; a path loops the tarn.

The route finishes in the game's Cotswolds, which include Broadway. The real Broadway is sometimes called the Jewel of the Cotswolds: a wide grass-fringed main street, centred on the Green, lined with red chestnut trees and honey-coloured Cotswold limestone buildings, many dating from the 16th century. Above the village, the 65-foot Broadway Tower stands on its hilltop site in the Broadway Tower Country Park. Microsoft counted 24 million players by November 2020, but the game was delisted from sale on 15 December 2024 across all platforms — Britain, though, is still open.

Location precision: The game's Cotswolds include the village as a whole; the pin marks central Broadway.

Visitor guidance: Broadway's High Street is signposted off the A44; Broadway Tower is about a mile uphill, with a country park car park.