10 Fallout Locations You Can Visit In REAL LIFE

The Hoover Dam

“Fallout: New Vegas” (2010)

As you track down the man who shot you in the head, you quickly learn that Vegas is in the middle of a power struggle – literally. Two rival factions are battling over the Hoover Dam, because whoever controls the Dam control’s Vegas’s energy supply; electricity is coveted in the Wasteland. Not only can you visit the NCR side of the Dam whenever you like – and, indeed, you SHOULD, because it contains a collectable snow globe – but it’s the site of numerous important missions, from protecting or assassinating President Kimball to the game’s finale. In real life, it took five years to build the Hoover Dam, and roughly a hundred people died during construction. It currently draws millions in tourists each year and is nearly 100 years old.

Bar Harbor

“Fallout 4” (2015)

This small town in Maine is located on Mount Desert Island, referred to only as “the Island” in “Fallout”, and draws in plenty of tourists even without its video game association. It appears as the main setting in “Fallout 4’s” “Far Harbor” DLC, as another example of the post-nuclear world misreading signs and changing names around. Luckily, if you go to Bar Harbor in real life, you’ll be treated to delicious seafood and historic architecture – you probably WON’T be attacked by giant, mutated fish and hermit crabs. It’s also NOT highly radioactive; you can leave your hazmat suit behind when you head over to enjoy some traditional lobster rolls in Stephen King country.

Reno

“Fallout 2” (1998)

The second game in the franchise started to stray beyond California and into Nevada, taking players to the seediest city in the Wasteland, New Reno. With its criminal underworld and widespread gambling, in “Fallout”, it’s more Sin City than Sin City itself; yes, Vegas is tame in comparison. In real-life, Reno is another of Nevada’s biggest tourist attractions, surrounded by picturesque – but dangerous – mountains, and also having legalized gambling, which keeps the tourists and the cash rolling in. “Fallout 2” is also the only “Fallout” game that lets you get married, and it’s also the only one in which you can get divorced. And yes, you have to go to New Reno – specifically, the Drunk Cupid Chapel – to do it.

Point Pleasant

“Fallout 76” (2018)

With its enormous map, “Fallout 76’s” version of Appalachia is packed full of notable, West Virginia landmarks. You can visit Charleston, the state capital, or the New River Gorge Bridge – which remains the biggest bridge in the world outside of China. But we think a more modest location is the most interesting: Point Pleasant. Fans of folklore will know that Point Pleasant is the home of Mothman, one of America’s most recognizable cryptids. Mothmen are dangerous foes who spawn throughout Appalachia, but his cult’s base is in Point Pleasant, along with the Mothman Museum. You can also encounter another famous cryptid in “Fallout 76”, the Flatwoods Monster, which is actually an alien.

Fenway Park

“Fallout 4” (2015)

At over a hundred years old, Fenway Park remains the MLB’s oldest baseball stadium that’s still operational. Unfortunately, by the 2280s, it’s no longer being used to play baseball at all, and has become the Commonwealth’s biggest settlement – though it’s closely rivalled by nearby Goodneighbor. With the fond nickname “Diamond City”, you can acquire an apartment here and complete quests for many of “Fallout 4’s” best characters, Piper and Nick Valentine among them. There’s also a memorable quest where you’re sent into the city to get some green paint to fix up the wall. Alternately, you can ruin the stadium by getting the wrong paint color and using that instead. Unfortunately, if you visit Fenway Park in real life, they won’t let you paint the wall for them.

The Strat

“Fallout: New Vegas” (2010)

Just as integral to the plot of “New Vegas” as the Hoover Dam is the Lucky 38. It’s the biggest landmark in the game, visible from almost every point on the map, and brighter than the moon at night. It is, of course, based on the Strat, Vegas’s most recognizable casino. Formerly known as the Stratosphere, the enormous tower remains the tallest structure in the whole city. It’s a lot easier to visit in real life, too, since you don’t need to be invited in by the hotel’s reclusive owner and his army of robots. You can go all the way to the top and experience the revolving restaurant and the many thrill rides on the roof, neither of which exist in the game. You can GO to the restaurant, but it’s stationary; it does contain another snow globe, though.

Old North Church

“Fallout 4” (2015)

The past and the future collide here, as the crypt underneath the Old North Church is the base of the Railroad in “Fallout 4”, dedicated to rescuing synths from the Institute. It was never used as part of the real Underground Railroad, but it IS still a crucial piece of American History. Before embarking on his Midnight Ride to warn militiamen that British soldiers were incoming, Paul Revere told patriots to hang one lantern on the church if the British are coming by land, and, famously, “two if by sea”. You can, indeed, find two lit lanterns in the steeple if you explore. The statue of Paul Revere near the church is also recreated in-game, as are other landmarks from the American Revolution, like the USS Constitution and Bunker Hill.

The National Mall

“Fallout 3” (2008)

Nearly all the major landmarks in “Fallout 3” are found in the National Mall, the heart of American government and democracy. The Washington Monument is visible across the Capital Wasteland, as is the distinct, domed roof of the US Capitol. After braving the city’s maze-like metro tunnels – which are thankfully still working here in the real world – you’ll finally arrive, able to explore everything from the Air and Space Museum to the Lincoln Memorial. Many of the game’s best quests take you to the Mall, including the one that sends you into the Capitol Building to steal the Declaration of Independence. You can see the ruins of the White House, too, though it’s been almost completely razed by the war.

Los Angeles

“Fallout” (1997)

Though LA is huge in real life, and the US’s second most populous city, it’s a lot smaller in-game. This is largely because it was a prime target for nuclear warheads and has been almost completely annihilated; all that remains is Boneyard, and it’s sparsely populated. People instead live in places like Junktown and Shady Sands, far outside of the city. It IS, however, home to one of the most important locations in the franchise: the Los Angeles Vault, where the Master slowly builds his Super Mutant army. There are no Super Mutants in real-life LA, but it remains an important “Fallout” setting, as the 2024 “Fallout” TV series also took place here.

JOKE #1

Mothership Zeta

“Fallout 3” (2008)

In the “Fallout” games as in real life, we frequently find ourselves abducted by Zetan aliens and subjected to twisted experiments. Of course, we’re kidding; you can’t actually visit alien spaceships – not yet, anyway. The REAL number one is…

Goodsprings

“Fallout: New Vegas” (2010)

This humble town is where “New Vegas” begins, after you’re shot in the head and buried in a shallow grave. Goodsprings is a former goldrush town with a population of less than 200 in the 2020s, but every year, that population increases when the “Fallout” fans roll into town. Beginning in 2022, the town hosted “New Vegas Day”, where “New Vegas” fans to arrive and see the town for themselves, which was lovingly recreated in-game. So, not only CAN you visit Goodsprings, but you SHOULD, because the town loves the association with the game. It’s now a piece not just of American history and the Old West, but video game history, too.

Let us know in the comments if you’ve been to any of these landmarks!