The Fallout series first appeared in 1997 and since then has become one of the household names of gaming. This post-apocalyptic RPG started out using turn-based combat in its original entries before transitioning to the real-time FPS-like combat that most players recognize today.
But while the combat may have changed dramatically, Fallout's worldbuilding has stayed consistently amazing and with that has come some seriously memorable locations. And with each game providing more amazing content it's hard to pick out the best to ever exist, but that doesn't mean it's impossible, especially as some locations in the series are truly iconic.
10 The Strip - Fallout New Vegas
The Las Vegas Strip is unlike anything else players will ever see in the Fallout series. With towering casinos that still operate despite the nuclear apocalypse and huge glitzy signs that would be garish even if the rest of the world wasn't struggling to even find food.
And with an entire route of Fallout New Vegas's main questline focusing around Mr. House of the Lucky 38 casino, it's no wonder so many players remember this building specifically when thinking back on the glitz and glamor of The Strip.
9 Red Rocket Truck Stop - Fallout 4
If you saw any trailers or promotional material for Fallout 4, then you've seen the distinctive red service station that is the Red Rocket Truck Stop. This particular abandoned Red Rocket outlet is the first unfamiliar location most players will encounter in Fallout 4 and where you find Dogmeat.
Likely to be your first settlement in the game, many have made the Red Rocket Truck Stop their home in the years since Fallout 4 was released, making it all the more memorable for players of the game. So between all the promotional material, constant usefulness in the game, and the good boy that comes with it, it's easy to see why this is one of the most standout locations in the series.
8 Sierra Madre - Fallout New Vegas
Fallout New Vegas had some of the best DLC content of any Fallout game and one of those expansions was Dead Money, taking players to the old world casino of Sierra Madre. It's one of the toughest areas in the entire series, as it strips you of all your belongings before attaching an explosive collar to you, and throws you against horrors that range from poison gas to the murderous ghost people.
The entire area is such a departure from the rest of the Fallout New Vegas experience that it would be hard for it not to be a memorable experience. And when you add to that the Sierra Madre's unique blend of feeling like the Old World and being one of the best horror experiences in the series, it's easy to see why so many fans love this place.
7 Sanctuary Hills - Fallout 4
Sanctuary Hills occupies a unique position in the Fallout series as being one of the few locations players get to see existing before the Great War that caused Fallout's nuclear apocalypse - upon emerging from Vault 111, it gives us a direct view of the damage the war has done to the world.
And in showing players that comparison, Sanctuary Hills became one of the iconic locations of the series by turning the Old World into something players don't just hear about, but something that they have experienced, and making so many storylines throughout the series that much more poignant.
6 Megaton - Fallout 3
It might be a town entirely colored in drab brown, but Megaton and the nuclear bomb that sits in its center is without a doubt one of the most iconic locations in Fallout 3 and the series as a whole. It serves as many players' first experience of post-apocalyptic civilization in the world of Fallout and the Capital Wasteland.
It is also central to one of the biggest moral choices players are given in the entire series - when you are given the option to disarm the bomb and make Megaton safe, or rig it to explode before watching the detonation from Tenpenny Tower. Deciding to detonate the town and the people with it is so evil, in fact, that Fallout 3 instantly sets you to the lowest possible karma level should you choose to push the button.
5 Novac - Fallout New Vegas
An independent town in the hotly contested Mojave Wasteland, Novac and its gigantic dinosaur attraction is one of the most standout locations in the series. Home to the ever-memorable companion Boone, Novac is built around the Dino Dee-lite Motel where Courier 6 can find a brief respite from their travels.
With several of New Vegas's best-known questlines revolving around Novac and the surrounding areas, including the memorable Come Fly With Me quest, it's no surprise that it stands out even amongst Fallout's seemingly endless locations. And if the quests and characters aren't enough to make it iconic, the dinosaur statue is there to make sure Novac is never forgotten.
4 Mariposa Military Base - Fallout and Fallout 2
There aren't many locations that have had as much of a lasting impact on the series as Mariposa Military Base did. As the first location in the series to feature Forced Evolutionary Virus that created the super mutants, it changed every game in the series by introducing a whole new race of powerful enemies.
It's also the location where The Master, the main antagonist in the original Fallout, was created, ultimately making Mariposa Military Base not just iconic, but also one of the most significant locations in the series's history.
3 Super-Duper Mart - Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76
An iconic of Fallout's capitalist world, Super-Duper Mart was a prime destination in the days before the nukes fell and if Fallout 3 and 4 are anything to go by, the nuclear apocalypse didn't do much to slow demand. Raiders and scavengers descend on Super-Duper Marts hoping to find a treasure trove of loot and consumables.
And of course, that's exactly what leads most players to these places too, especially if they are playing with the game's survival mechanics enabled. But regardless of the reason you first visited Super-Duper Mart, its addition to the world-building and atmosphere of the wastelands has made it an icon of the series.
2 Big MT - Fallout New Vegas
Old World Blues is arguably the best of Fallout New Vegas's DLC and perhaps even the best Fallout DLC overall, and that's in no small part due to the location it takes place in - The Big MT Research Facility. Featuring the Think Tank and its now robotic occupants, the Big MT is a uniquely interesting location in the series filled with surprisingly comedic NPCs and situations.
And it is this mix of a compelling story and these entertaining NPCs that make the Big MT so iconic in the series as it gave players a respite from the harshness of the wasteland without ever breaking their immersion in the game.
1 Vault 101 - Fallout 3
Home to Fallout 3's Lone Wanderer, Vault 101 is just one of many Vault-Tec vaults that are seen over the course of the Fallout series. But Vault 101 holds a special significance as it plays host to the opening sequence of Fallout 3 that establishes the supposed bliss of a vault dweller's life before casting the player into the Capital Wasteland.
But Vault 101 isn't just memorable for being the start of Fallout 3, it also introduced series icons like the G.O.A.T and the Tunnel Snakes, a source of endless Fallout memes that not only cemented them in the memory of Fallout fans but also Vault 101 as an icon of the series.