Pride and Prejudice 200th birthday – Fictional Locations In Stories

In 1813, Thomas Egerton wrote a novel, which went on to become one of Britains best loved reads still to this day. The story was made popular again to the modern generation, with the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, starring Colin Firth as Mr Darcy. The 28th January marked the 200th anniversary of this phenomenal book, with many tv programs being played in dedication to this masterpiece.

The novel is set in Hertfordshire, however the exact location (Meryton) is actually a fictional area, much like Take Me Out’s ‘Isle of Fernando’, which is in fact Tenerife. Some of my favourite fictional areas have been:

1. Camelot – Watch any film based around King Arthur of England and it will be based in the fictional town of Camelot. It might be a fictional place but I know I wanted to eat my dinner with Knight Lancelot.
2. Gotham City – There is a positive side to this area not being real, as we don’t seem to struggle with masked maniacs attacking our cities on a daily basis, however the fictional Batman city left a strong impression on the childhood of many.
3. The Island in Lost – No one knows where they are in the American Series ‘Lost’, and for good reason, as the Island is completely made up by a script writer. While there is a scary dark side to this island, I think we have all wanted to be on a desert Island for the experience, providing we could escape and we were provided with large quantities of alcohol.
4. El Dorado – Many a story have been based around the city El Dorado, in South America, where massive amounts of Gold can be found. Unfortunately, you guessed it, it’s not a real place, however it does have an amazing ring to it, while it also makes you feel South American just saying the words ‘El Dorado’.
5. Hogwarts – I have to include this, having grown up reading the Harry Potter books, desperately waiting for the next ones to come out, spending my holidays barely able to look up from those mystical pages. Of course, there isn’t really a school of wizardry (that I know of), but you can visit many of the locations where these were filmed.
6. Neverlands – Not to be confused with the Netherlands, which certainly are real! No, I mean the land just beyond reach which you can visit alongside Peter Pan. The idea of never growing up sounds pretty good, while fighting pirates doesn’t sound too bad either, although I didn’t see any great restaurants, I don’t plan on fishing for the rest of my life.
7. Narnia – Admit it, you used to look at the back of your wardrobe to see if it would ever open up to this snowy world. The originals were actually quite scary at times, however it definitely made me crave Turkish delight, something I can’t say I’m still craving.
8. The Gatsby Mansion – Whether you read the original stories or saw the Leonardo Di Caprio movie, it always seemed like the coolest party in the world. It would go down as the greatest party of your life if you ever got to go, in a mansion we could only ever dream of living in. A glimpse into how the ‘other half’ live their lives, a fair shout away from the scrimping of a travel bloggers life.
9. Swallow Falls – Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to know the name instantly, it is the sardine filled town from Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. I loved this Disney movie, it certainly would have been my favourite if I saw it during childhood, however there won’t be any trips to see food falling from the sky any time soon (I wish), yep, this one can’t make it onto my list of things to do before you die.

Can you think of any other famous fictional locations? Let me know in the comments below!