Leave it to a travel magazine to leave one dreaming about destinations other that a Disney theme park. This Conde Nast Traveler slide show features 8 real-world locations that inspired Disney movies.
Here are a few of my favorites from the list:
Mont Saint-Michel on the Normandy Coast of France is practically a fairy-tale kingdom of its own. During high-tide it becomes an island. That is probably why Disney drew inspiration for the Island castle from Tangled from this gorgeous spot
Animators drew on the Scottish highlands castle of Eilean Donan to create the castle for clan DonBroch in Pixar’s Brave. While this location was used mostly for interior design, I can just picture Merida riding her horse across the bridge into the country side.
You may recognize a few from the rest of the list, but who knows, you may learn something too.