15 real-world places every movie fan should travel to

Flickr/Dave Catchpole

The best movies are the ones with the truly memorable settings, and the best settings aren’t stitched together with CGI. They're taken from the real world and made into something more. Some real-world places have become inextricably linked to the movies that were shot there: in New Zealand, Lord of the Rings tours have become a pretty giant industry, and it’s hard to look at pictures of some of the more dramatic Hawaiian coasts and not think of Jurassic Park.

Movie fans are spoiled for choices when it comes to travel. No matter where you are in the world, you probably aren’t far from a place a movie was shot. But here are 15 of the absolute must-do's for traveling cinephiles.

Namib Desert, Namibia — "Mad Max: Fury Road"

Flickr/David Siu

The stunning "Mad Max: Fury Road" was originally supposed to be shot in the Australian Outback (as the previous "Mad Max" films were) but the area that was set for filming had a sudden onslaught of rain that made the desert bloom with flowers. The set was moved suddenly to Namibia. And thank god it did — the resulting movie was beautiful. The Namib Desert is one of the more stunning places on earth. If you go here, though, be more careful than the film crew was: there are reports that they damaged the landscape.

New Zealand — "The Lord of the Rings"

Flickr/Jeff Hitchcock

Peter Jackson's excellent "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, along with his less-excellent "Hobbit" trilogy, is basically an extended advertisement for New Zealand. There are actual, honest-to-God LOTR tours for fans, including tours of the still-standing Hobbiton film set in Matamata on the North Island.

Tunisia — "Star Wars: A New Hope"

Flickr/Neil Rickards

The "Star Wars" universe is truly massive, and as such, you can go to a lot of places where the films were shot. But probably the most iconic spot you can still visit is Luke's home on Tatooine, at the underground Sidi Driss Hotel out on the edge of the Sahara Desert.

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