Sitting in the sands that separate two salt lakes, the enormous Chott El Djerid and smaller Chott El Gharsa, Mos Espa is an one of several former Star Wars sets that are scattered across the Tunisian desert. Many of the exterior sets for the desert planet Tatooine—named after the very real nearby town of Tataouine—were purpose-built for the films and then abandoned to the sands and the fans once filming was over.

Collecting Star Wars memorabilia is its own specific hobby, and there is no one with so fervent a passion for it than Steve Sansweet, owner and curator of Rancho Obi-Wan, which is the largest collection of Star Wars items in the entire world. The impressive collection began as Sansweet's personal hoard of Star Wars toys, models, promotional items, and assorted ephemera, and grew into a fantasyland for Star Wars fans.

Located in Northern Guatemala, Tikal is one of the largest of the ancient cities of the Maya civilization. You might recognize the ruined temples peeking out over the treetops as Yavin 4, a jungle-covered moon that housed the headquarters of the rebel alliance in A New Hope.

Skellig Michael is a precipitous, rocky island situated eight miles from the coast of County Kerry, Ireland. It is the larger of two jagged islands that jut out from the swell of the Atlantic Ocean. Once relatively little known, the remote island was thrust into fame when its precarious cliffside stairs and beehive-shaped huts were used as the setting for Luke Skywalker’s isolated hideaway seen at the end of The Force Awakens and again in The Last Jedi.

A university in Germany transformed its hilltop observatory into the charming likeness of R2-D2. The blue and white building looks like an oversized replica of the beloved droid. The project that transformed the building into this pop culture homage was led by Dr. Hubert Zitt, an immense fan of the Star Wars franchise who even gives lectures on the films. He and his students painted the observatory and turned it into the quirky attraction it is today.

Spread out across more than 4,000 square miles, Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat in the world. The endless sheet of hexagonal tiles (created by the crystalline nature of the salt) is dotted with pyramids of salt. This spectacular landscape was the filming location for the planet Crait, the site of a major battle in The Last Jedi.

While enjoying the success of his first blockbuster, American Graffiti in 1973, George Lucas settled into his San Anselmo home to work on a script that would eventually become Star Wars. In the following years, Lucas also began working on his other career-defining franchise, Indiana Jones. To commemorate the role that San Anselmo played in the creation of both of these iconic series, Lucas donated Imagination Park to the community in 2013.

Nearly half a million people enter through the doors of the Washington National Cathedral each year, many of them just to admire its breathtaking beauty. It's perhaps fitting, then, that the cathedral offers a bit of tongue-in-cheek eye candy for the dedicated architecture enthusiast—a well-hidden, but very official, carving of Darth Vader perched high among its many spires.

In Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker have a legendary lightsaber battle in the middle of a molten lava landscape. Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, served as a real-world reference for the fiery volcanic planet of Mustafar. Star Wars was filming in Italy when Mount Etna began erupting in 2002, so they sent film crews to capture footage of the lava flows, which were incorporated into the background of the lightsaber duel.

Few auto museums are as colorful or eclectic as the Volo Museum. Founded in 1960, the family-run museum began life as a small dealership selling a handful of unrestored cars. Sixty years later, it has grown into a 35-acre attraction with exhibits ranging from classic automobiles to iconic vehicles from TV shows and movies. One of the more otherworldly objects within its collection is Luke Skywalker’s Land Speeder.

Dreams of a getaway to the islands of the Caribbean do not usually involve the likes of Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Yoda, and Ewoks. But the Yoda Guy Movie Exhibit museum, run by Creature Effects Designer Nick Maley and his wife Gloria, offers visitors a rare opportunity to learn from a master how these beloved characters are brought to life. The museum features a mind-blowing collection of props, costumes, and artwork from the more than 50 movies that Maley has been involved in.

After the success of the first Star Wars film in 1977, George Lucas wanted a full-scale model of Han Solo’s fabled spaceship, the Millennium Falcon, for the next installment in the series. Constructing the 88-foot vessel fell to a team working out of this historic dock complex in Wales. The quiet location was supposed to protect the secrecy of the project, but word soon got out that a UFO was being built in town.

Outside of the Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco's Presidio is a statue of one of the wisest beings in the galaxy far, far away. Jedi Master Yoda, known as maybe the wisest Jedi in the Star Wars universe, has been immortalized in bronze atop a fountain outside the headquarters of Lucasfilm, where he attracts droves of new acolytes each day.