1. New Zealand: Lord of the Rings
All three Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in New Zealand’s diverse landscape, and director Peter Jackson has returned to the country to work on his next project, The Hobbit (in two parts), the first of which is due in December 2012. Tourism New Zealand offers an online guide to LOTR-related destinations, including Matamata (Hobbiton) and Mt. Ruapehu (Mt. Doom) as well as numerous themed tours, such as a day trip from Christchurch to view Mt. Sunday (Edoras) and the Misty Mountains and play with replicas of Aragorn’s sword and Gimli’s axe. (Photo courtesy of j0055/Creative Commons Flickr)
