Fantasy and sci-fi film tours: Westeros to Middle-earth

Fantasy and science fiction films need places that look like nowhere else, and they keep finding them in the same corners of the world. The Lord of the Rings trilogy turned New Zealand into Middle-earth between 1999 and 2000: the Shire near Matamata, Mount Doom in Tongariro National Park, Rivendell in Kaitoke Regional Park, and Isengard and the Misty Mountains around Glenorchy. Our ten-day tour follows the films from Hobbiton to Queenstown.

Game of Thrones built Westeros from Northern Ireland, Croatia, Iceland, Spain and Malta, and we run tours in all five. Harry Potter was filmed mostly at Leavesden, outside London, but the films also used real places across Britain, from King's Cross to the Glenfinnan Viaduct in the Scottish Highlands, which our tour crosses on the steam train, after a drive through Glencoe, where the crew of Prisoner of Azkaban built Hagrid's hut. Star Wars came to the Plaza de España in Seville for Naboo in Attack of the Clones (2002), to Dubrovnik for The Last Jedi (2017) and to Wadi Rum in Jordan for Rogue One and The Rise of Skywalker.

Science fiction adds Iceland, where Interstellar (2014) filmed its frozen planet on the glaciers of the south coast, and Wadi Rum again, which played Mars in The Martian and Arrakis in Dune. These are long-distance tours with big landscapes, the most scenic drives in our program and, in places, real weather. Leaders carry stills and clips, so you can line up the mountain with the frame.

Much of what you remember from these films was built on stages or added by computer. Our leaders tell you plainly what was real, and the real part is usually the most striking.

Fantasy fans are often the best-prepared travelers we meet. Bring your questions, your favorite scenes and, if you like, a costume for one photo. Our leaders love a challenge, and they will find the frame you are looking for if it exists anywhere on the route.