

Travel
Frank and Joe's invstigations have often led them out of Bayport. Red dots on this map indicate places they've visited in the 58 volumes of the original series:
At first, the boys stayed close to Bayport - before the books were revised, they didn't even venture to nearby New York City until volume ten, What Happened at Midnight. But as the series progressed, Frank and Joe became more adventurous, and by the 1970s, they were making international trips in almost every volume. After visiting Australia in volume 57, The Firebird Rocket, the boys had set foot on every continent except Antarctica.
Travels by continent
Here is a complete list of Frank and Joe's travels in the original series, organized by continent. Volume numbers are listed in parentheses; "o" and "r" stand for original and revised editions.
- North America - USA
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- New York: New York City (10 o, 1 r, many others), Seneca reservation (23 r), Niagara Falls (23 r), Buffalo (24 o)
- New Jersey: Princeton University (57)
- Pennsylvania: Philadelphia (17 r) (24 r), Pocono Mountains (41)
- Massachusetts: Boston (20 r)
- Connecticut: Mystic (47)
- Washington, DC: (49)
- Maryland: Baltimore (49) (15 r)
- Ohio: Cleveland (23 r)
- Vermont: (15 r)
- Illinois: Chicago (5 o) (5 r) (38) (40) (52)
- Georgia: Larchmont (14 r)
- The South: Larchmont, Hidden Harbor (14 o), Centerville (29)
- Kentucky: (45)
- Tennesse: Memphis (13 r)
- Montana: Lucky Bottom (5 o) or Lucky Lode (5 r), a mountain in the wilderness (9 r)
- Washington: Seattle (38)
- The West: Red Butte, Green Sand Lake (31)
- Colorado: Denver (50)
- Florida: Miami (20 r)
- Texas: (13 o), Brownsville (13 r), El Paso (28), Amarillo (40)
- California: San Francisco (21 r), desert (40), Los Angeles (40) (47) (57)
- New Mexico: Crowhead Ranch (28), Santa Fe (28) (52)
- Alaska: Juneau, wilderness (38)
- Hawaii: Honolulu (54)
- North America - Canada
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- New Brunswick: St. John's (see note below) (18 o)
- Eastern Canada: Woodville, Little Cove (18 o), Stormwell, Port Manthon (18 r)
- Quebec: Montreal (18 r)
- Ontario: Hudson Bay area (24 o), James Bay area, Sudbury, Toronto, Timmins, Moose Factory (24 r)
- Saskatchewan: Saskatoon (42)
- Alberta: Edmonton (42)
- British Columbia: wilderness (38)
- Northwest Territories: Great Slave Lake (42)
- North America - Mexico
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- (13 o)
- Mazatlan (13 r)
- Mexicali, desert (40)
- Mexico City (43) (56)
- Teotihuacan, Oaxaca (43)
- Mayan ruins in Yucatan jungle (56)
- Europe
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- England: London, East Anglia (55)
- Isle of Man (55)
- Scotland (47)
- Ireland: Dublin (55)
- Switzerland: Zurich (56)
- Greece: Athens, Delphi, Island of Corfu (52)
- Iceland: Reykjavik, Keflavik (48)
- Asia
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- Hong Kong (53)
- Caribbean Islands
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- Ile de la Mer (9 r)
- King Barracuda's Island (18 o)
- Tambio and Cambrian Islands (18 r)
- Centro, Tropicale (37)
- San Juan, Puerto Rico (37)
- Jamaica (54)
- Central/South America
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- French Guiana: Cayenne, Huella Islands (12 r)
- Guatemala (35)
- Brazil (51)
- Africa
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- Morocco: Casablanca, Marrakesh (54)
- Australia
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- Sydney, Woomera, the Outback (57)
In my own opinion, the best Hardy Boys stories were the ones that took place in and around Bayport, or those that involved special trips (such as the journey to Montana in Hunting for Hidden Gold or the trip to Mexico in The Mark on the Door). In the original books, Frank and Joe rarely left the Bayport area, and when they did, it was a big deal, just as it should be to two teenage boys. But in the revised books, the wonder has been lost. When the boys casually fly to the Caribbean to check out a clue (in the revised Great Airport Mystery), the trip means very little, because Frank and Joe show almost no excitement. And as a result, the charm and believability of the books suffers.

Travels by volume
If you're interested in tracing the pattern of increasingly-distant travels, here's a list of the places visited in each volume. Notice that the farthest-reaching international hops (to Zurich, or Morocco, or Hong Kong, etc.) didn't actually start until the 1970s. Blame it on James Bond...
Besides the places listed here, Frank and Joe often visit New York City, as well as many fictional communities in the Bayport area.
- 1. The Tower Treasure (Revised, 1959)
- New York City.
- 5. Hunting for Hidden Gold (Original, 1928)
- Lucky Bottom, Montana, with a stop at Chicago. This was Frank and Joe's first long-distance train ride.
- 5. Hunting for Hidden Gold (Revised, 1963)
- Lucky Lode, Montana, with a stop at Chicago.
- 7. The Secret of the Caves, 1927/1962
- Honeycomb Caves, down the coast from Bayport.
- 9. The Great Airport Mystery (Revised, 1965)
- Ile de la Mer, an uninhabited Caribbean island; Montana.
- 10. What Happened at Midnight (Original, 1931)
- New York City - the first time the boys had ever been there (in the original books).
- 12. Footprints Under the Window (Revised, 1965)
- Cayenne, French Guiana, and the Huella Islands off its coast.
- 13. The Mark on the Door (Original, 1934)
- Texas; Mexico.
- 13. The Mark on the Door (Revised, 1967)
- Mazatlan, Mexico, and Baja California, with stops at Memphis, Tennesse, and Brownsville, Texas.
- 14. The Hidden Harbor Mystery (Original, 1935)
- Larchmont and Hidden Harbor, in the southern US.
- 14. The Hidden Harbor Mystery (Revised, 1961)
- Larchmont, Georgia.
- 15. The Sinister Signpost (Revised, 1968)
- Vermont, Baltimore.
- 17. The Secret Warning (Revised, 1966)
- Philadelphia.
- 18. The Twisted Claw (Original, 1939)
- St. John's, New Brunswick, Canada, which "looks like Bayport," according to Frank. (Note: It seems Franklin W. Dixon, like countless visitors before and after him, was confused by the geography of Atlantic Canada, as St. John's is actually the capital city of nearby Newfoundland. The city in New Brunswick is called Saint John.) From there, they travel to Woodsville and Little Cove in the Eastern Canadian lumber country. Finally, aboard the Black Parrot, they are taken to King Barracuda's Island, presumably in the Caribbean.
- 18. The Twisted Claw (Revised, 1969)
- Montreal, Stormwell and Port Manthon, Canada; Tambio and Cambrian Islands in the Caribbean; Miami.
- 20. The Mystery of the Flying Express (Revised, 1970)
- Miami, Boston
- 21. The Clue of the Broken Blade (Revised, 1969)
- San Francisco; the grape-growing region of California.
- 23. The Melted Coins (Revised, 1970)
- A Seneca Indian Reservation in New York State; Niagara Falls; Cleveland, Ohio
- 24. The Short-Wave Mystery (Original, 1945)
- The Hudson Bay area of northern Canada, with stops at Buffalo and a northern Ontario town.
- 24. The Short-Wave Mystery (Revised, 1966)
- Philadelphia; A hunting lodge in the James Bay area of northern Ontario, with stops at Sudbury, Toronto, Timmins, and Moose Factory.
- 28. The Sign of the Crooked Arrow, 1949
- Cousin Ruth Hardy's Crowhead Ranch in New Mexico, with stops in El Paso and Santa Fe.
- 29. The Secret of the Lost Tunnel, 1950
- Centerville, a town in the Deep South.
- 31. The Secret of Wildcat Swamp, 1952
- Wildcat Swamp, near Red Butte in the western US, with a stop at Green Sand Lake.
- 32. The Crisscross Shadow, 1953
- Ramapan indian country, 500 miles from Bayport. (A breakdown in the school's heating plant allowed the boys to go.)
- 34. The Hooded Hawk Mystery, 1954
- Venus Island, one of the "islands galore" northeast of Bayport.
- 35. The Clue in the Embers, 1955
- Central America: Guatemala City, ancient ruins in the jungles of the "Texichapi" area of Guatemala.
- 37. The Ghost at Skeleton Rock, 1957
- The Caribbean islands: Centro, Tropicale; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Skeleton Rock, Calypso Island.
- 38. Mystery at Devil's Paw, 1959
- Juneau, Alaska, and the wilderness of Alaska and northern British Columbia.
- 40. Mystery of the Desert Giant, 1961
- Chicago and Los Angeles, the deserts of California and Mexico, with a stop at Amarillo, Texas.
- 41. The Clue of the Screeching Owl, 1962
- The Pocono Mountains
- 42. The Viking Symbol Mystery, 1963
- Northwest Canada: Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories; Edmonton, Alberta, with a stopover at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
- 43. The Mystery of the Aztec Warrior, 1964
- Mexico City, Teotihuacan, Oaxaca.
- 44. The Haunted Fort, 1965
- Millwood, New England.
- 45. The Mystery of the Spiral Bridge, 1966
- The Kentucky wilderness.
- 46. The Secret Agent on Flight 101, 1967
- An islet off the New England coast; Scotland.
- 47. Mystery of the Whale Tattoo, 1968
- Mystic, Connecticut; Los Angeles.
- 48. The Arctic Patrol Mystery, 1969
- Iceland: Reykjavik, Keflavik.
- 49. The Bombay Boomberang, 1970
- The Pentagon, Washington, DC; Baltimore, Maryland.
- 50. Danger on Vampire Trail, 1971
- A camping trip to the Rocky Mountains, cross-country from Bayport to Denver, Colorado.
- 51. The Masked Monkey, 1972
- South America: Belem and Manaus, Brazil; the Amazon River
- 52. The Shattered Helmet, 1973
- Santa Fe, New Mexico, with a stop in Chicago; California; Athens, Delphi, and the Island of Corfu, Greece.
- 53. The Clue of the Hissing Serpent, 1974
- Hong Kong.
- 54. The Mysterious Caravan, 1975
- Jamaica, North Africa: Casablanca and Marrakesh, Morocco. (Luckily, that trusty school boiler broke down again!)
- 55. The Witchmaster's Key, 1976
- London, East Anglia, Stonehenge; Dublin, Ireland; the Isle of Man
- 56. The Jungle Pyramid, 1977
- Zurich, Switzerland; Mexico City, Mayan ruins in the Yucatan jungle.
- 57. The Firebird Rocket, 1978
- Princeton University; Australia: Sydney, Woomera, and the Outback, with stops at Los Angeles and Honolulu, Hawaii.
