Top 5 Destinations For Travelling Nerds

by Tasha in Nerd

People are different. Some are big, some are small, some are short and some are tall (and there are some who talk like Dr. Seuss without realising it, but we don't like to talk about them....shhhh). However when travelling, it is assumed that tourists will follow the same schedule, want to see the same sights and eat the same foods. I guess on one level it makes sense as it is all different than home.

But should I then assume when I'm sitting in the food court, eating my lunch, that the mother with three kids next to me, or the Sex-And-The-City wannabe across the row are eating the same as me? After all - it's all takeout.  But no, as I sit here with my naan, dumplings and pizza (because why does all the best food have to come from one shop!) the SATC lady picks at her salad, and the mother of three dishes out the Happy Meals, we all have different tastes. I happen to be a nerd (proud of it!) and on my pilgrimage I would be remiss to bypass these holy temples of Nerd-ism. 

5. Torchwood Central, Doctor Who/Torchwood - Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom

A must do for any decent Who fan (or indecent as the case may be). Although the new series isn’t directly set in Cardiff – although the lengths you can say Doctor Who is set ANYWHERE is fairly ambiguous – it is hometown to some of the series's seminal moments, as well as the comparably inconsistent spinoff based on the Cardiff division of the titular Torchwood Institute.

Walking around Cardiff, you can easily pass Amy Pond’s village, Rose Tyler’s workplace and the invisible elevator that marks the entrance into Torchwood 3, conveniently in front of the beautiful Millennium Centre as seen above. Also if you go on a bit of a drive you can even stand on the - supposedly Norwegian - Dårlig Ulv Stranden (Bad Wolf Bay).

Norway...Wales...it's all semantics right?

And if you’re not into show locations (c’mon - who doesn’t want to stand on the invisible elevator!), Cardiff also hosts the permanent Doctor Who exhibit devoted to all things Who. Once located at the Red Dragon Centre, they have very recently relocated to their new home at Port Teigr, where the exhibit has rebuilt many of the classic sets as well as created new interactive portions narrated by Matt Smith. Now I’ve heard A LOT of bad audio tours, but even if the script is bad – I could listen to Matt Smith for hours.

Sigh, where was I?

4. Legoland - Billund, Denmark

Legoland is one of those mystical places you can't quite believe exist. It makes me feel like Homer Simpson in the World of Chocolate - "What? You mean I can eat the roadsigns and the houses and there's a chocolate shop....MADE OF CHOCOLATE!"

Mmm...Chocolate pole

It's a theme park - based on lego - where the rides look like lego - there are cities made of lego, the mini parks within the park are based on lego, there is even an entire section devoted to famous statues....all made of lego.

There's even a lego mariachi band

Perhaps this may not come as a shock as the park is called LEGOLAND after all. But come on, staring straight at the lego Statue of Liberty or a random lego octopus, doesn't it look possible that if you had enough time, enough inclination and enough damn lego blocks - you could make one too. That's the true legacy of Legoland - the belief that anything is possible, anything is doable, and a childlike imagination isn't just for childlike humans.

For example, the smallest figure in all of Legoland is a dove - it's made of only four bricks and is hidden somewhere in Miniland. There's even a competition to find it! That compared to the largest lego monstrosity - Mt Rushmore at a whopping 1.5 million bricks and 40,000 duplo blocks. Isn't that enough to fire up even the most remote of neural neutrons?

There are a number of Legolands across the world and each is a hive of wonder and awesome - however why not go where the magic began. To the very heart of Lego - in the heart of Denmark - home of the best icecream company in the world.

Icecream and Lego - This is the start of a beautiful friendship

3. Cheyenne Mountain, Stargate - Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

Ok, so NORAD may seem like an odd addition to a list of the nerdiest locales. But not only was Cheyenne Mountain the setting for the (fictional) Stargate Command, which is awesome in its own right, NORAD retains a distinct Area 51-ish quality - with the bonus that it's NOT lost in the desert and there is definite tangible evidence of its existence.

See...it has a name tag and everything

In fact the Cheyenne Mountain complex has run base tours from its grand opening in 1966 all the way until 2001. Unsurprisingly, security has tightened significantly since then, and this savvy blogger would not recommend attempting an unauthorized self-guided tour. The biggest surprise remains that there is actually quite a lot of entertainment to occupy your free time from not breaking in to secure government facilities. From arcades to white water rafting, caving, museums and even the Air Force Academy. But my personal favourite remains the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - notably America's only zoo situated on a mountain. And although the north and east sides of the mountain are private property (NORAD and CMZ respectively), the summit itself is actually part of the Pike National Forest and perfectly climbable.

Left at the giant trees, right at the jagged peaks...total cakewalk

Okay to recap - not only can you climb onto one of the most secure military bases in America, you can even pet cute animals on it.  Its a wonder any of the SGC found time to go offworld. Although I can't WAIT for the screen edit where the Goa'uld descend down upon Cheyenne Mountain and a giraffe's head pops into view!

But surely it's in a deleted scene!

2. Studio Ghibli - Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan

Before there was Sailor Moon and Pokemon, there was a little old animation studio - named Studio Ghibli. It was a happy studio, personified beautifully by its mascot Totoro - a large fluffy forest spirit (or death omen - depending on who you speak to) with a penchant for bouncing and loud unsettling growls.

Who...Me?

Such is the nature of the brilliant mastermind Hayao Miyazaki that gave us such jewels as Kiki's Delivery Service (a broom-riding adolescent courier witch), Porco Rosso (a pig headed pilot...literally!), Howl's Moving Castle (the ever-wandering home of an 18-turned-90 year old hatter, a fire demon, and a shape-shifting......Howl?) and Spirited Away (...I really don't know how to explain this one without half a pound of acid and some neon lights).

Each themselves are masterpieces of film and whose plots are as simple and easy to follow as a hyperactive toddler in a ball pit, which is also a slide, then it turns into an elephant, who uses his telepathy to turn the sun purple.

Obviously

But I digress. Studio Ghibli is a potent polariser in nerd culture, and for the many who worship at the altar of Ghibli, there is no greater aspiration than to visit the storybook Museum located in the heart of Tokyo district. There within lies lots of nerdy gems such as a life size Totoro, a statue robot from Laputa, and a real fuzzy Catbus.

No...really

And if all that isn't cool enough, they have a special theatre – where the roof is a giant painting – where they show special animated shorts of all our favourite characters. That would be like if Pixar built a cinema inside a giant Luxo ball and all they showed all day were animated shorts that told extra tales of the people from the other animated shorts, and then you got to meet Nemo. 

Yeah....cool, huh?

1. Disneyland/Walt Disney World - Anaheim, California/Orlando, Florida, USA

 

The holy motherland for all children of the 90’s, Disneyland combines the ultimate theme park with all our favourite characters, allowing us to dance in Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, parlay with swashbuckling Pirates in the Caribbean, and run wild in the Animal Kingdom.

Run wild with all the mice and dogs and chipmunks and ducks...

Seriously – is there any place more magical as a kid? Now it may be true I have a decade's experience at double digits, but I remain to this day, proudly, a child at heart. 

Nowadays the Disney magic has been tainted publicly by dirty words such as 'consumerism', 'long queues', and…..gasp…'the bottom line'. However as Disney is now home to two of my favourite film studios – Pixar and Marvel – I have no, none, absolutely zero qualms handing over my hard earned cash for a set of Mickey ears (or maybe Minnie ears…the bow is so darn cute). It may be pricey – but it’s worth every cent.

Now I know what you're going to say, "But Tash - there IS more than one Disney theme park you know, I mean you've got Disneyland, and Disney World and Euro Disney....."

And it's true, there are many many Disney theme parks now, and similar to Legoland, you can pick your favourite or go on a spree to see them all (I am in no way discouraging this plan!). Personally, I'm narrowing my parameters to just two - the quintessential Disneyland, California, and the omega Walt Disney World, Florida. I've heard many pros and cons between the two - one is more accessible, one is bigger, one is aimed at kids, one at adults, round and round until I know of only one way to break the tie.

I will have to summon the strength, courage and moral fortitude......and go see them both.

.....oh darn!  photo by: tombricker

Honorable Mention:

The White House, The West Wing - Washington DC, USA
Lastly, a shout-out to one of my favourite television shows of all time. The complex is simply amazing, and the level of detail - brilliant. For the lucky few, a guide will show you around most of the sets - although unfortunately many of them are now blocked off. Apparently they are still in use by someone.

I don't remember him in the TV show...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading. If you liked the article and want to see more like it – let us know down in the comments. If you want to follow along with us - you can subscribe to our email feed down below, and be sure to check us out on facebook or follow us on twitter.

If the pretty pictures caught your eye and you would like to see more travel photography hop on over to flickr or for our daily oddities check out our instagram feed.

As always – Don’t Forget To Be Awesome!