For a show with so much of its plot set in a hellish otherworld, Netflix’s Stranger Things shoots a surprising number of scenes in location. From the town of Hawkins, Indiana, to a gulag in Kamchatka, the hit sci-fi series features numerous places that fans can actually visit in the real world. However, just like in the Upside Down, the buildings and streets that appear in Stranger Things aren’t always what they seem. Instead of the American Midwest, the “real” Hawkins is actually in the Southern state of Georgia. As for the Russian peninsula best known in the West for its strategic position in games of Risk, its scenes were actually shot in Lithuania. If you’re wondering what other real locations are featured in Stranger Things and what stranger places they play in the series, here’s a handy guide you can use to plan your next TV-themed vacation.

Downtown Jackson, Georgia

This might strike some fans as a disappointment, but there is no city of Hawkins in the state of Indiana. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t walk down the same streets as characters like Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) and Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer). In downtown Jackson, viewers can find many places that have starred in the Stranger Things as the main administrative and commercial area of Hawkins. At the corner of 2nd Street and North Mulberry, you can find Melvald’s General Store, in which Joyce bought all those Christmas lights to communicate with Will (Noah Schnapp) in the Upside Down. At Oak Street, is Bradley’s Olde Tavern, featured in Season 1 as the local movie theater, and just past the bar is the alley in which Steve (Joe Keery) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) throw hands. At West 3rd, you can find the outside of the Hawkins Public Library, better known by Jackson citizens as the Butts County Probate Court. The library’s interior scenes were shot at the East Point Library, in East Point, Georgia.

8485 Courthouse Square W, Douglasville, Georgia

Not all of Hawkins is located in Jackson, even though you don’t have to cross state lines to find the rest of the town. At 8485 Courthouse Square W, you can find the former town hall of Douglasville, also known as the Hawkins Police Station. You probably won’t see Hopper (David Harbour) walking around, though. Still, there’s no harm in asking.

6501 Church Street, Douglasville, Georgia

Also in Douglasville is the commercial lot that served as the Palace Arcade in which Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Will first hear about MADMAX, a.k.a. Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), in Season 2. Right next to the arcade is the store that serves as the Family Video that has Steve and Robin (Maya Hawke) as its most well-known employees. The two stores are currently for sale, but you can still take a good look at their front.

Patrick Henry Adult Education Center, Stockbridge, Georgia

In Stockbridge, you can find the Hawkins Middle School and the Hawkins High School, and the best part is that, much like the Family Video and the Palace Arcade, they’re both in the same spot. The schools the kids of Hawkins attend are both played by the same actor, the Patrick Henry Adult Education Center, right on South Lee Street.

149 Coastline Road, Fayetteville, Georgia

Speaking of the kids, if you ever feel the need to visit the Byers residence, look no further than Fayetteville. The house in which Joyce, Will, and Jonathan used to live is up on 149 Coastline Road. Just be aware that this is actually someone’s home.

906 East 2nd Avenue, Rome, Georgia

Another memorable house from Stranger Things that fans can check out in the real world is the Creel Residence, in Rome, Georgia. The Victorian mansion is the perfect setting for the Creel family massacre that kicks off Vecna’s story in Season 4. Much like with the Byers home, it’s important to keep in mind that there might be real people living in the Creel mansion. If you decide to visit, be very careful not to bother anyone and do not trespass.

Bradley’s Big Buy, Palmetto, Georgia

If, during your Stranger Things-themed road trip, you find yourself short on Eggos, take a detour to Palmetto, Georgia, and pay a visit to Bradley’s Big Buy. That’s where Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) gets all her Eggos after escaping from the Hawkins National Laboratory in Season 1.

Emory University Hospital, Smyrna, Georgia

Yet another Georgian town that contributed a lot to the look of Hawkins is Smyrna, in which the Emory University Hospital is located. In the show, the hospital is called Hawkins Memorial, and it’s in there that we last see Max, in Season 4, after her final encounter with Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). Hawkins Memorial also plays an important part in Stranger Things Season 3, serving as a real battleground for the kids and one of the Mind Flayer's minions.

Gwinnett Place Mall, Duluth, Georgia

While we’re on the topic of the Mind Flayer, the great battle against the beast took place right there in Duluth. The now deactivated Gwinnett Place Mall served as the main location for Hawkins’ own Starcourt Mall, in which Billy (Dacre Montgomery) lost his life and Hopper was captured by the Soviets in Season 3, during the eponymous Battle of Starcourt.

Bellwood Quarry, Atlanta, Georgia

The Georgian state capital also appears a lot throughout all four seasons of Stranger Things. Located in West Atlanta, the Bellwood Quarry has a small, but important part in Season 1 as the Sattler Quarry in which Will Byers’ fake body is found.

South Bend Pool, Atlanta, Georgia

Another body of water from Atlanta, albeit an artificial one, that pops up in Stranger Things is the South Bend Pool, in Lakewood Avenue, in which the Hawkins Community Pool scenes from Season 3 were shot.

Boat Rock Bouldering Area, Atlanta, Georgia

To Season 4, Atlanta contributed with the Boat Rock Bouldering Area, where you can find the Skull Rock that serves as a hiding spot for Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn).

Building A, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

Last, but definitely not least, the city of Atlanta gave Stranger Things the mysterious and terrifying Hawkins National Laboratory. The place, in which numerous MKUltra experiments were conducted in both adult and child subjects, including our beloved Eleven, is actually a building at the Briarcliff property of Emory University. In real life, the laboratory is actually an abandoned mental hospital. As of August 2022, the building was set for demolition for the construction of a senior living community, according to the Emory Wheel.

Mary Hall, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia

Speaking of mental institutions and universities, Pennhurst Mental Hospital, in Karley County, was actually shot at the Mary Hall building, at Berry College, in Mount Berry. In the show, the hospital houses alleged murderer Victor Creel (Robert Englund), wrongfully accused of killing his entire family back in the 50s, in Season 4.

Stone Mountain Park, Stone Mountain, Georgia

The last Georgian city to be featured in our list is Stone Mountain, home to one of the state’s most beloved (and pretty racist) tourist spots, Stone Mountain Park. With over 3,000 acres of parkland, the park houses the famous old railroad tracks that the kids cross in Seasons 1 and 2, while helping Eleven and looking for Dustin’s pet demogorgon, respectively.

Stone Mountain Cemetery, Stone Mountain, Georgia

Also hailing from Stone Mountain is Stone Mountin Cemetery, which stars in Stranger Things as the Hawkins Cemetery. In Season 2, the cemetery serves as the burial ground for fan favorite Barb (Shannon Purser). In Season 4, it’s a main location, with one of Max’s most memorable face-offs against Vecna taking place while she’s mourning her dead stepbrother, Billy. The funeral sequence for Will Byers’ fake body, in Season 1, on the other hand, was shot at the Bethany Cemetery, in Fayetteville.

Aliberto’s Mexican Food, Los Lunas, New Mexico

Now that you know that the “real” Hawkins is not in Indiana, but in Georgia, it will probably come as no surprise that Stranger Things’ version of California was actually shot in New Mexico. And now for the real kicker: Season 4’s Surfer Boy Pizza isn’t actually a pizza place, but a Mexican restaurant in Los Lunas. Aliberto’s even has a post thanking the Stranger Things crew for picking the place as a location in the restaurant's Facebook page.

Eldorado High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico

In Season 4, after moving away from Hawkins, Eleven and Will attend a new school in California in which El is relentlessly bullied by a group of mean girls. Known as Lenora High, Eleven’s nightmare school is actually the Eldorado High School, in Albuquerque.

Skate-O-Mania, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Also in Albuquerque is the Skate-O-Mania - or should we say Rink-O-Mania - roller rink, in which Eleven is humiliated in front of Mike and finally unleashes her powers against the horrid Angela (Elodie Grace Orkin).

Americana Motel, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Convincing viewers that New Mexico is actually California isn’t that hard. The two states are relatively close to one another and, depending on where in California you are, the climate and the vegetation are pretty much the same. But pretending that New Mexico is actually Alaska? That’s a whole other thing! And, yet, the Stranger Things crew managed to pull it off in Season 4, using a filter to disguise the Americana Motel in Albuquerque as the Alaskan motel in which Joyce and Murray (Brett Gelman) spend a night during their Hopper rescue mission.

Kyviškės Aerodrome, Vilnius, Lithuania

Once in Alaska, Joyce and Murray manage to fly to the Soviet Union with the dubious help of Yuri Ismaylov (Nikola Djuricko), a Soviet smuggler that runs a small business in Nome. Yuri’s Fish’n’Fly offers plane rides over the Arctic for a small fee, and also flies illegal American goods into the Kamchatka region. In reality, Yuri’s establishment is nowhere near Nome, Alaska. The scenes at the Fish’n’Fly were shot at the Kyviškės Aerodrome, in the Lithuanian capital.

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St. Nicholas Church, Semeliškės, Lithuania

The Orthodox church that Yuri uses to stash his contraband is also nowhere near the Kamchatka region. The church, actually called St. Nicholas, is also located in Lithuania, about 30 miles away from the capital, Vilnius.

Lukiškės Prison, Vilnius, Lithuania

Finally, the gulag scenes starring Hopper in Season 4 were shot in the deactivated Lukiškės Prison, in Vilnius. As expected from a prison, Lukiškės has a dark history. The institution was used to house political prisoners by both Polish and Soviet occupants, in different points of Lithuanian history. During World War II, the Nazis used it as a temporary holding facility for Jewish and Polish prisoners. In 1995, Lukiškės was the site of Lithuania’s last execution, and, in 2019, it was closed for good following a series of human rights investigations conducted by European Committee for the Prevention of Torture. The prison was turned into a cultural center, but its story doesn’t end there. Following its use in Season 4 of Stranger Things, the Lithuanian government announced that part of the complex would be sold. In a partnership between Netflix and Airbnb, Lukiškės now features a Stranger Things themed cell that people can pay real money to sleep in - a move was seen by many as tactless, to say the least.