8 Fantastical Destinations We Wish We Could Visit This Summer

Narnia (The Chronicles of Narnia series, by C.S. Lewis)
Narnia inspires a lust for travel mostly because it showcases every available biome. Tundras, deserts, woodlands, seascapes, witch country—Narnia’s got them all. Not to mention, the realm’s myriad access points from our world provide relatively convenient journeying. What could be better than a vacation you can take through your closet? Maybe one where you also will talk to beavers, an all-knowing lion, and Santa. Done and done.

Neverland (Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie)
The beauty of Neverland is that it is what you make of it. Neverland is a world born of your own imagination. Sure, you’ll have your standard mermaids and pirates, faeries and lost boys, but who’s to say you couldn’t fill your lagoon with whatever creature crossed your fancy? We might recommend, however, not loading it with crocodiles. That hasn’t worked out well for previous inhabitants of Neverland.

Hogwarts (The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling)
To be totally honest, the grounds of Hogwarts often seem as if they were designed deliberately to maim, damage, or dismember its students—or worse, get them expelled. That certainty of danger, however, just makes the school all the more enticing. The Whomping Willow, the Shrieking Shack, and the Forbidden Forest are all excellent uses of alliteration and thrilling locales for adventure. (Oddly, they all seem slightly more trustworthy than the merpeople in the Black Lake.) Though, at Hogwarts, you don’t have to be an outdoorsperson to experience magic. Riding the staircases or stuffing yourself in the Great Hall could prove just as entertaining.

Wonderland (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll)
Combining the whimsy of Neverland with the topsy-turvy nature of Hogwarts’s whirling staircases, Wonderland giveth and it taketh away. While it may alter you, temporarily or permanently, Carroll’s exotic land has a surprise around every corner, each more bizarre and more wonderful than the one before. If you can see something in Wonderland, you can probably talk to it, which makes sitting down to tea a new experience each and every time. Toss in hookah with a caterpillar and a heated game of croquet and you’ve got a very merry un-birthday, indeed.

Middle-earth (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Shire tends to get all the attention when it comes to speculative travel to Middle-earth, but there are a number of spots that call out to the adventurous traveler. Rivendell has all the elegance of an oil painting, and Lothlorien has Elven aesthetic sensibilities that make it appear like a dream world—the name literally translates to “dream flower” in Sindarin. Rohan is filled with nothing but horseback rides, and Gondor has improved as a tourist attraction since its latest management change. And, of course, one could do no better for bed-and-breakfasting than Hobbiton, with its idyllic fields, quaint hillside homes, and pints at The Green Dragon.

Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types (The Lumberjanes series, by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Brooke A. Allen)
Lumberjanes is a relatively new entry in the fantasy canon, but this graphic novel series has introduced the summer camp you always wished you could attend. Sure, there are scout badges and scary stories around the campfire, but there are also monsters, dinosaurs, mysterious caves, magic portals, and a little bit of time travel. Meanwhile, the girls of Roanoke Cabin and their sisterhood of strange will have you on the hunt for the check-in sheet.

London Below (Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman)
Gaiman’s sensory wonderland London Below has much of the charm of London Above, with the added bonus of intrigue, oddities, and antiquities. Its central attraction, the Floating Market, is enchanting and mesmerizing, as you might expect of a bazaar hawking truckloads of magic baubles and all manner of kitschy ephemera. The market’s rotating locations also allow you an inside look at tourist attractions like Westminster Abbey without all the selfie sticks.

Discworld (The Discworld series, by Terry Pratchett)
A flat disc that sits on the backs of four elephants that stand on the shell of a giant turtle may not sound like an ideal destination, but Discworld has a certain charm. Maybe it’s the “sausages” inna bun hawked on the streets of Ankh-Morpork, or the aroma coming off the Ankh river. More than likely, the charm in this off-kilter, satirical, yet fully-fleshed fantasy realm is the cast of characters you’ll meet along the way, including surly witches with hearts of gold, wonderfully bumbling city guards, a librarian who’s way into bananas, and Death himself, who’s more likely to ask you questions about humans than actually kill you.