I am a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I know pretty much everything there is to know about them..the only thing I'm not certain about is where they go at the end. The ship that goes "into the west". Is it like a heaven type place?
Also, where is it that the elves go to? (The place where Elrond tries to send Arwen but she has a vision, and returns home) where is the place they're headed?
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OK...you're asking in the book section, so we'll not mix up the film wrong version of events up in the answer. Some of your question however, sounds like you've not read the book(s).
Most of the Elves inhabiting Middle-earth are there in exile and originally come from the Undying Lands. Middle-earth is a continent on Arda, which is Earth. The Undying Lands are across the sea, also known as Aman (Valinor is part of it) and is another continent. At the time of LOTR it is hidden to all but those who are bidden to come back, or who are given special permission to cross over.
The Elves who are travelling west through Middle-earth are heading for Mithlond aka the Grey Havens, which is west of the Shire. It is a port town and is the launch point for ships crossing over to the Undying Lands. They are going home.
Bilbo and Frodo were given special passes to make the journey mainly in thanks for their having been Ring Bearers, and to receive healing, forgetting, peace finding. As slow to evil as the One's effect was on them, they were still changed negatively by it. And Frodo's shoulder injury never healed fully. Mortals passing over do not become immortal, and will eventually die there, but after a long time. They are not dying by passing into that land.
I think you should pick up the book(s) and see that all your movie questions are answered, and then some in the much better story written in the bookI(s). You will find out about what happens to all the Fellowship members, and how Legolas takes Gimli in a boat and heads out for Valinor, and Sam, once Rosie dies, also takes ship. Pippin and Merry end up knights and are buried with the King in Gondor. The detailed real story of Arwen and Aragorn are in there too...nothing like the films. Great visuals, fabu eye-candy those films, but the story was MUCH changed from the better original.
Todd
DEPARTURE OF THE RINGBEARERS
When the War of the Ring ended there was peace and prosperity in Middle-earth once again. At that time it was also ordained that the great Elvish powers should pass from Mortal Lands. So it was that Elrond, Galadriel and Gandalf; the keepers of the Three Elf Rings, and Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, two bearers of the Ruling Ring, came to the Grey Havens. There in an Elven-ship they sailed westwards to the Undying Lands.
David Day, A Tolkein Bestiary, Chancelor Press, 2001, p. 240
NIPHREDIL
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In the Third Age of Sun, the white flower grew still in the Golden Wood of Lothlorien, where, mixed with the gold flower Elanor, it thrived. In the Fourth Age of Sun the fairest Elf-maid of that Age came to the forest. This was Arwen Undomiel, and she, like Luthien, shared the same fate of tragic love for a mortal, and in that forest Arwen plighted her troth to Aragorn, the Dunedain. Years later in that same forest she chose to die on a bed of these white and gold flowers.
David Day, A Tolkein Bestiary, Chancelor Press, 2001, p 188
The author covers tons of things about the lands of Arda (which includes Middle Earth and the Undying Lands), encompassing the timeline of the creation and destruction of various players in a much larger game over a much larger stretch of history than just the story of the ring. It's laid out like an encyclopedia with some really good maps, artwork, and chronologies. I highly recommend you check it out. I'm sure the book talks about where the elves intended to go. I seem to recall that they also were traveling west to the Undying Lands as some sort of holy pilgrimage. In his later novels that talk more about this mythology, Tolkein relays great beings having come "down" to Arda, so that would mean that the Undying Lands is underneath something else and not "heaven" per se. The real "heaven" is implied by the use of the word "halls", which is a place separate from Arda.
Anonymous
The West is known as the Undying Lands. If you look at the map of Arda (The world they live in) there are like two giant islands. The east is where they all lived. Many years ago the firstborn elves traveled to the West with the help of Orome, an Ainur (kind of like kings of Arda, an they were created by Eru Illuvatar, God). The West is where almost all Elves live and Arwen was also traveling to the West. It is pretty much like heaven for they have the Silmaril made by Feanor.
You can try reading the book Silmarillion which can help you understand the history of Arda better.
Anonymous
So basically Frodo Bilbo and Galadriel were all ring-bearers at one point in time. Frodo and Bilbo had a hard time adjusting. The "undying" lands were supposed to be a place they could go to finally be at peace. Gandalf goes because his work in Middle-Earth is finished, and Galadriel goes because, well, I am not quite sure. Elrond goes because the elves don't need him and I guess he thought it was time for him to start "a new adventure", quoting Frodo for the movie.
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Gandalf And Bilbo