home
Menu
Create
Random
0
0
0
thumbnail

Places - Real or Fictional?

Can you guess whether these places really exist(ed), or were originally invented as a work of fiction?
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Featured Quiz
Last updated: February 8, 2021
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
More quiz info >>
First submittedFebruary 8, 2021
Times taken43,644
Average score80.0%
Rating4.49
Quiz and answer stats >>
Friends stats >>
4:00
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
1. Sherwood Forest
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
It still exists in fact, although it has been reduced to about 2 square miles in size
2. The city of Troy
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
The ruins of Troy are located in modern-day Turkey. They were rediscovered in the 1800s.
3. Shangri-La
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
Shangri-La is a fictional Himalayan utopia described in the 1933 novel "Lost Horizon"
4. Machu Picchu
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
5. Transylvania
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
Transylvania is a historical region located in modern-day Romania
6. Wakanda
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
Wakanda is a fictional African country from "Black Panther"
7. Lapland
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
Lapland is a region found in northern Finland and Sweden
8. Mount Zion
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
Mount Zion is a hill just outside of Jerusalem
9. El Dorado
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
10. Atlantis
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
11. Baker Street, London
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
Baker Street exists even though its most famous resident, Sherlock Holmes, was fictional
12. Loch Ness
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
By volume it is the largest lake, er loch, in Scotland
13. Minas Tirith
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
Minas Tirith is the capital of Gondor in "The Lord of the Rings"
14. Valhalla
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
Valhalla is a majestic hall in Norse mythology where half of those who die in combat are taken
15. The Forbidden City
Real ✓
Fictional ✓
The Forbidden City, located in Beijing, is a former Imperial Palace built during the Ming dynasty
Suggested Quizzes See all >>
Flags of Europe Quiz
Disney Animated Characters
Mythical Lands
Countries by Borders in 90 Seconds
More from Quizmaster See all >>
General Knowledge Quiz #29
Noble Gases
1970s... or 1980s?
American Legal Vocabulary
98 Comments
1ProximaCentauri
+13
Level 54
Feb 9, 2021
El Dorado County, California is a real place. Maybe specify that only the most famous one is what you are asking for.
FlabberBapper
+10
Level 74
Feb 9, 2021
Pretty cool county if I do say so
1ProximaCentauri
+1
Level 54
Feb 9, 2021
It was your profile that made me know this.
IsleAuHaulte
+11
Level 90
Feb 9, 2021
Seriously?
DonTheLamplighter
+6
Level 85
Feb 9, 2021
There's an El Dorado in Arkansas (pronounced el door-AYE-doe), but I figured the quiz was alluding to the lost city of gold, so correctly guessed "fictional".
cornflakesfu
+45
Level 87
Feb 9, 2021
Yes, and there are also thousands of real places that are named after Shangri-La, Valhalla, Atlantis, etc. Please use some common sense.
SWATkun
+2
Level 59
Feb 20, 2021
Not so hitherto you count Hotels, restaurants, theme parks and such.
Dimby
+6
Level 79
Feb 27, 2021
I saw Hotel Transylvania and that movie is fictional so therefore it's a fictional place, right?
Kylwalda
+1
Level 50
Mar 5, 2021
Well, there is a part of Romania that is called Transylvania it borders the Carpatian Mountains. ;)
PumpkintheNerd
+1
Level 40
Apr 20, 2022
Sure, genius.
RobNobody
+1
Level 78
Mar 15, 2024
They're making fun of 1ProximaCentauri's comment, genius.
Fresco3
+14
Level 68
Feb 9, 2021
Likewise with the above, there is a city in China called Shangri-La...
julienuh
+1
Level 74
Feb 11, 2021
when fiction becomes reality because the choice's name comes explicitly from the book https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jun/01/china.travelnews
AkJMB
+2
Level 69
Feb 28, 2021
I visited the town before I ever heard of the book! It is the first place in northwest Yunnan Province coming from the south where the majority of the residents are ethnically Tibetan. It sits at over 10,000' in elevation and provides quite a cultural experience worth checking out if you ever find yourself in the area.
camus
+5
Level 78
Feb 9, 2021
I hesitated at Valhalla for a moment because there's actually such a hall with glorious figures in Regensburg, but I figured you were asking for the fictional place.
camus
+2
Level 78
Feb 9, 2021
To my defense I knew the real place before the fictional one.
Djilas
+4
Level 83
Feb 9, 2021
To all of the above: it's not about the most famous place, but the original one.
Quizmaster
+20
Level ∞
Feb 9, 2021
Which also happens to be the most famous one in every single instance.
Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Feb 10, 2021
Gets confusing when several "fictional" places have real places named after them. Here's one.
Quizmaster
+16
Level ∞
Feb 10, 2021
I just named my couch the Loch Ness monster. So I guess the Loch Ness monster is real now :)
Jerry928
+2
Level 76
Feb 10, 2021
If it's shaped like a Loch Ness monster, probably time to get a new couch
QRU
+3
Level 74
Feb 11, 2021
No one knows what Nessie looks light, she might as well be couch-like.
Pharley
+1
Level 74
Feb 13, 2021
Five million Scots will confirm Nessie is real....
dunkinggandalf2
+15
Level 69
Feb 20, 2021
That's how she eludes capture: by being deceptively couch-like and hiding in people's homes.
WillemLAif
+4
Level 76
Feb 9, 2021
The 95% who don't believe Valhalla is real must be headed to Hel, instead.
PjotrL
+4
Level 75
Feb 10, 2021
Saying Heaven and/or "Valhalla" don't exist is much more difficult to contest than most other places in this quiz.

Greetings from HEL

brainchild
+2
Level 69
Feb 9, 2021
I want jump on the bandwagon and say that there is a Valhalla Laundry and Taco Buffet in Guthrie OK (it's a chain). NOT!

Great Quiz! I can hit myself for missing Loch Ness (I was thinking of the monster of course! 👾)! The lake itself is quite real indeed! LOL!

paulus1
+10
Level 73
Feb 10, 2021
Bielefeld should be added to this quiz as its existence is in dispute.
Quizmaster
+20
Level ∞
Feb 10, 2021
Nice. But I'm pretty sure that only wackos think that Bielefeld is real.
JackintheBox
+1
Level 80
Feb 27, 2021
I would argue the opposite 🥴
Kylwalda
+1
Level 50
Mar 5, 2021
I have a friend who lives in Bielefeld. Is that now an imaginary friend? :-D
AlmostAGenius
+3
Level 82
Apr 3, 2022
Yes
interopia
+17
Level 85
Feb 10, 2021
I think a good addition to this quiz would be Timbuktu.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Feb 10, 2021
That would have been a good one!
AlexThirkell
+4
Level 75
Feb 11, 2021
Great idea! If you'd like some other suggestions for #2...

Real:

-Zanzibar

-Luxor

-Limpopo River

-Mt Olympus

-Lindisfarne

-Xanadu

-Bermuda

-Outer Mongolia

-Lake Placid

Fictional:

-Isle of Lucy

-Skull Island

-Dawson's Creek

-Lilliput

-Ambridge (for the UK listeners!)

-South Park

-Middlemarch

-Los Santos/Liberty City

JackintheBox
+3
Level 80
Feb 27, 2021
Another real one: Hamelin (of Pied Piper fame)
kalbahamut
+2
Level 81
Feb 27, 2021
South Park is a real place, and predates the show. It's the name of a basin in Park County, Colorado. The name of the biggest town in that basin is Fairplay. Trey Parker grew up 40 miles away in Conifer (also referenced on the show). The name of the fictionalized town in the show is the same as the basin: South Park. So... if you wanted to make this clearly a fictional place you'd have to specify "the town of South Park, CO."

Also maybe better for the real place clues to use The Bermuda Triangle, which is also real but has more legendary tales associated with it? I don't think many people doubt the existence of Bermuda.

kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
Feb 27, 2021
And Xanadu is a little iffy. Sort of like Atlantis. Based on a real place - Shangdu - as visited by Marco Polo. But heavily mythologized as Xanadu, in popular consciousness, after appearing in a poem by Samuel Coleridge. Kind of like Plato's writings about Atlantis. Only difference being that we don't know for certain where the real place was that the legends of Atlantis sprung from, or if there truly was one. But it's not unlikely.

Historians used to think that Troy was a made-up place, too.

pitzikat
+2
Level 74
Feb 11, 2021
Nitpicking, perhaps, but while Mount Zion is adjacent to but outside the 16th century Ottoman wall, it is very much in the center of the city of Jerusalem
KanzazKyote
+2
Level 89
Feb 11, 2021
Is Lapland an especially mystical area?? I only heard of it as a region in Scandinavia.
brandybuck96
+5
Level 83
Feb 18, 2021
It's common in many European countries to believe Father Christmas lives there, so by extension it's often thought of as fictional
camus
+1
Level 78
Feb 11, 2021
Babylon, Mount Olympus, Xanadu, possibly South Park also come to mind.
Marvo7
+3
Level 61
Feb 27, 2021
The polarisation between 'real' and 'fictional' doesn't cover it. Some of these places are 'mythical' which is neither.
salvadoran
+1
Level 62
Feb 27, 2021
Valhalla is actually a real place - it is located near Regensburg in Bavaria.

Would be cool if you could adjust that question!

Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
Feb 27, 2021
The question is accurate.
turnbacktwo
+1
Level 43
Mar 1, 2021
That's Walhalla
RedSox49
+1
Level 36
Feb 6, 2024
Valhalla is also a place in Westchester in NY
Irish28
+4
Level 44
Feb 27, 2021
atlantis is like troy, it just hasen't been found and proven yet.
Yukhan
+2
Level 50
Feb 28, 2021
Troy ? Seriously ? The city has been found in 1873. There's no doubt about it.
RobNobody
+6
Level 78
Feb 6, 2024
Yes, I believe that's exactly what they mean. They're saying that Atlantis is like Troy, in that they were/are both assumed to be myths, but that unlike Troy it just hasn't been found yet.
BillB1
+1
Level 62
Feb 8, 2024
I believe Plato said it was a real place, and I'll believe that over these archeologists who keep "discovering" that humanity is older than expected. They only believe what they see and find, which is silly to me. As mentioned, Troy was not considered real until it was discovered to be so.
dunkinggandalf2
+2
Level 69
Feb 10, 2024
It's almost like people change their mind once there's evidence, instead of just blindly believing whatever they feel is real, or would like to be real.
Chad
+1
Level 64
Feb 27, 2021
What do you mean fictional for Valhalla? It’s totally a real place :)
Phil
+1
Level 57
Feb 27, 2021
Valhalla New York
Archer1212
+3
Level 63
Feb 27, 2021
to say definitely that Atlantis is fictional is quite odd. there's quite a bit of evidence to suggest the opposite. the most impressive of which is Edgar Cayce's various assertions on it, including the existence of a hidden chamber of their records under a paw of the Sphinx, proven in 2005 that it is in fact there, but the Egyptian government refuses to allow it to be explored. either way, the book is most definitely not closed.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Feb 27, 2021
Read this please:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis

For one, Atlantis of legend wasn't anywhere near Egypt, but out in the Atlantic Ocean.

dunkinggandalf2
+1
Level 69
Feb 10, 2024
If we're counting some dude's assertions as real, then this quiz needs to be seriously updated!
marjobro
+3
Level 66
Feb 27, 2021
Quite surprised, and gratified, to have made 100% on this quiz....common sense folks! Not talking about obscure places named for famous fictional and/or nonfictional locales, but their place in literature and mythology....Thanks for a very interesting quiz.

Love Alex Thirkell's ideas!

Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Feb 27, 2021
Glad you liked it! It's mostly a common sense test, although I could see getting a few wrong if you had never heard of them.
Angbo
+1
Level 65
Feb 27, 2021
El Dorado is a county in eastern California.
TamuAudwodia
+1
Level 66
Feb 28, 2021
Richat structure in Mauritania is the most likely location of Atlantis as described by Plato. When the sea levels was higher and the Sahara was yet to exist, this area would have been on an island.

Atlantis being fictional or real is still disputed, as there isn't enough evidence to prove or disprove it.

Elan
+1
Level 65
Feb 6, 2024
The Richat structure is a geological formation that's pretty easy to explain. The Earth's crust developed a bump, pushing the various rock layers up towards the middle. Then the bump got eroded, or essentially scraped away, leaving behind a bunch of flat concentric rings.

The Richat structure is nowhere near the reported location of Atlantis, it's orders of magnitude larger than the reported size of Atlantis, and nothing of note has ever been found there.

Atlantis is totally real though. Just not in the Sahara.

Nathaniel
+1
Level 75
Feb 28, 2021
Valhalla is real:

Valhalla (Wikipedia)

Kalleanon
+1
Level 66
Mar 1, 2021
That's Walhalla.
Historyman0
+1
Level 38
Mar 1, 2021
"w" sounds like a "V'' in Swiss and German
McKenzieFam
+1
Level 66
Feb 6, 2024
Valhalla is real

Valhalla (Wikipedia)

McKenzieFam
+1
Level 66
Feb 6, 2024
Because, y'know, adding a link to Wikipedia makes something real
theRomanianGuy
+3
Level 60
Feb 28, 2021
According to 8% who took this quiz, I do not live in a real place.
cashmercury
+2
Level 66
Mar 1, 2021
I think Atlantis was real
turnbacktwo
+2
Level 43
Mar 1, 2021
Atlantis is real it is in Dubai
twained
+1
Level 61
Mar 3, 2021
How did a majority of people know that Sherwood Forest was a real place? Is that somehow common knowledge?
reverendmeat
+2
Level 83
Feb 17, 2023
I associate it with Nottingham, which is obviously a real place
vincc
+2
Level 58
Mar 3, 2021
Shangri la is real
muzito
+1
Level 47
Mar 19, 2021
We're still waiting on a Atlantis to be announced.
FSLiudger
+1
Level 59
Apr 16, 2021
15/15 in 19 seconds

first try

comradecora
+1
Level 69
May 29, 2021
after this quiz I googled shangri-la and google maps showed me a result about 30 minutes south of where i live
stevk
+2
Level 62
May 31, 2021
There is very much a real town called Shangri-La in the Himalayas in Yunnan Province China - I have been there.
Quizmaster
+6
Level ∞
May 31, 2021
And there are no doubt many strip clubs named Valhalla. The fact remains that Shangri-La was originally invented as a work of fiction. Any real city came later.
NoahGBurns
+1
Level 37
Sep 17, 2021
Perhaps take Valhalla out - the vikings believed it a real place, and the alternative today is Christianity's heaven or Islam's Jannah - I'm sure many vikings would be turning in their treasure-filled Earth-mound and the one's still alive groaning in the pain of grief and sorrow.
Rumreisender
+1
Level 47
Sep 7, 2022
Valhalla is a place in Bavaria... why is it marked as fictonal?
BeckyZee
+1
Level 73
Feb 17, 2023
Shangri-La is a real place in Yunnan province, China.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangri-La_City

reverendmeat
+1
Level 83
Feb 17, 2023
This has already addressed multiple times in the comments, maybe you should read them before posting.
casiopea
+1
Level 55
Mar 29, 2023
As far as I'm aware, there's no consensus that the city of Troy ever existed.
McKenzieFam
+2
Level 66
Feb 6, 2024
Don't worry, the consensus still stands if you haven't heard of it.
GenMo
+1
Level 41
Apr 16, 2023
What Minus Tirith? It’s the only one I’ve never heard of, but luckily, guessed right.
Dollyfroggy
+1
Level 61
Feb 6, 2024
It's from Lord of the Rings.
jeahhhhh
+1
Level 44
Jun 13, 2023
Lapland is also partially in Norway and a bit in Russia as well, not just Finland and Sweden!
Samthetard
+1
Level 46
Sep 29, 2023
I had no idea the Shangri-La was some kind of fictional place, I thought it was a hotel
AlphiOz
+1
Level 24
Feb 6, 2024
Australia has an El Dorado too, a small town in Victoria. It has the smallest public bar in the state. It was named after the original. cheers.
zeven10
+1
Level 56
Feb 6, 2024
But what about the Atlantis reference in Plato's works? ;)
hamilton614
+1
Level 48
Feb 6, 2024
Shangri-La, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China is a real place
Ilikequizzes26
+1
Level 51
Feb 6, 2024
I'm dumb. Of course Loch Ness is real and I knew it was real, but I was so accustomed to denying the existence of the Loch Ness Monster that I said it wasn't. Whoops.
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 70
Feb 6, 2024
Just missed Minas Tirith, idk it sounded like some Minoan/Crete type thing and I don't know much about LOTR
MikeAfton
+1
Level 28
Feb 6, 2024
I thought it was talking about the El Dorado in Cali
Aoto327
+1
Level 74
Feb 6, 2024
10/15, had to guess for almost half of them…
GeographyQuizMan
+1
Level 21
Feb 6, 2024
I just said, “Well, Sherwood Forest sounds like a real place.”, so I chose that.
helenap13
+2
Level 66
Feb 7, 2024
I would argue that fiction and mythology/religion are not necessarily the same thing. Wakanda is fictional. There is no real place with that name and there are no people or cultures that believe in its existence. Valhalla had, and perhaps has, a very real group of people who wholeheartedly believe that it is an actual place.
dunkinggandalf2
+1
Level 69
Feb 10, 2024
It's almost as if this quiz doesn't count people's beliefs and feelings as equivalent to facts and evidence! What's up with that?
Save Your Progress
Similar Quizzes by Tag

Copyright H Brothers Inc, 2008–2024

Contact Us | Go To Top | View Mobile Site