Pokémon Sword and Shield: The Britain Behind Galar

Somewhere in Galar stands a hill that recalls the Cerne Abbas Giant. The real giant lies near the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset: a hill figure 55 metres long, formed by shallow trenches cut into the turf and backfilled with chalk rubble. It is one of England's best-known hill figures and a visitor attraction in the region.

Location precision: The game names no real hill; the pin marks the Cerne Abbas Giant, the chalk figure fans see in it.

Visitor guidance: The giant lies just outside Cerne Abbas village in Dorset.

Galar's lighthouse looks like Smeaton's Tower, the striped column on Plymouth Hoe. The real tower is the reconstructed upper section of the third Eddystone Lighthouse, in service from 1759 to 1877 before erosion forced a replacement. It was largely dismantled and rebuilt on the Hoe in Plymouth, Devon, where it stands today.

Location precision: The game names no real lighthouse; the pin marks Smeaton's Tower on Plymouth Hoe.

Visitor guidance: The tower stands on Plymouth Hoe, above the seafront.

Several of Galar's landmarks resemble places such as Bath, Somerset, and the Roman Baths are the city's most game-worthy relic. They are well-preserved thermae where a temple was constructed between 60 and 70 AD, in the first decades of Roman Britain. Together with the Grand Pump Room they receive more than 1 million visitors a year, who can tour the baths and museum but cannot enter the water.

Location precision: The game resembles Bath as a city; the pin marks the Roman Baths, its most famous remnant.

Visitor guidance: The Baths are in central Bath; you can tour them and the museum but not enter the water.

Galar's landmarks also resemble places such as York, the walled northern city. Its great church, York Minster, is formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter: an Anglican cathedral whose east window, depicting the Last Judgment, is the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world.

Location precision: The game resembles York as a city; the pin marks the Minster, its best-known landmark.

Visitor guidance: The Minster stands in the centre of York's old walled city.

Galar holds an arena comparable to Wembley Stadium, and that is no accident: the region's Pokémon Gyms are stylised like football stadiums to showcase the Dynamax and Gigantamax mechanic, and eight of the game's cities hold stadiums housing Gym Leaders, each defeat earning a Gym badge. The real Wembley is England's national football stadium, home to England matches and the FA Cup Final, and with 90,000 seats the largest stadium in the UK.

Location precision: The game's arena is an unconfirmed resemblance; the pin marks Wembley Stadium itself.

Visitor guidance: Wembley is in north-west London; check the fixture list before going.

Galar holds a tower resembling Big Ben, and it rises over Wyndon, where the whole journey ends. After beating the eight Gym Leaders the player makes their way to Wyndon, wins the Champion's Cup and earns a battle with Leon, before Rose awakens the legendary Eternatus and triggers the second Darkest Day. The real Big Ben is the nickname of the Great Bell of Westminster's clock; the tower was renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012 for the Diamond Jubilee.

Location precision: The game's tower is an unconfirmed resemblance; the pin marks the Westminster tower.

Visitor guidance: The tower stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster and is best viewed from the river.

Past the mainland, the Isle of Armor is set on a coastal island based on the Isle of Man. There the island's dojo master and former Galar Champion, Mustard, sets the trials that advance the story, and completing them grants access to Kubfu, which can be trained to evolve into one of two forms of Urshifu. The real island is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, where humans have lived since before 6500 BC.

Location precision: The DLC is based on the Isle of Man as a whole; the pin marks the island itself.

Visitor guidance: The island is a Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, reached by ferry or plane.

The second expansion heads into the snow: the Crown Tundra is set in a snowy land based on Scotland, where Dynamax Adventures are reached through the in-game Max Lair. The Cairngorms make a fitting stand-in: a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland forming an arctic-alpine environment, with tundra-like characteristics and long-lasting snow patches that survive most summers.

Location precision: The DLC is based on Scotland as a whole; the pin marks the Cairngorms, its snowiest mountains, as a stand-in.

Visitor guidance: The Cairngorms are in the eastern Highlands; snow can linger well into summer.