Call yourself a super film fan? Daydream about being in your favourite movie? Then you’ll want to add these movie locations you can actually visit to your travel plans.
From off-the-beaten track destinations to world-famous landmarks, otherworldly desert terrain that has doubled as planet Mars (but is actually rather closer to home in the UAE), unassuming locales that remain unchanged by fame and towns that have cashed in on their dalliance with Hollywood, these are the real-life movie locations you can actually visit.
The film: Amélie
The location: Café des 2 Moulins
Amélie is a film that charmed all who watched it, made everyone fall that bit more in love with the dreamy Pairs that director Jean-Pierre Jeunet depicted, and saw thousands of women sporting super-short fringes à la Audrey Tautou. Café des 2 Moulins, the cute café where kooky heroine Amelie worked as a waitress is a real place. Far from being a tourist trap, it remains popular with locals. Head there for coffee and the signature “Amélie” salad.
cafedesdeuxmoulins.fr/en.
The film: Forest Gump
The location: Chippewa Square, Savannah, Georgia
The seat from which Forest recounts his life story while waiting for the bus has made Chippewa Square in the historic district of Savannah famous all over the world. While the bench itself was actually a movie prop that was later donated to the Savannah History Museum (where it can be viewed today), there are many other benches in the park should visitors wish to pose for a commemorative photo, as well as a roped off section where the original bench itself one was and Tom Hanks once sat. It’s one of the movie locations film fans should have on their lists.
Savannah History Museum, chsgeorgia.org/SHM.
The film: Ghostbusters
The location: Hook & Ladder Company 8 fire house, New York
Easily recognisable as the home base for the Ghostbuster team in the three original movies (it also appears in the 2016 remake), the Hook & Ladder Company 8 fire house in Tribeca, New York was built in 1903 and has been in service ever since. Who you gonna call?
The film(s): the Harry Potter franchise
The location: various UK locations
There are many movie locations from Harry Potter fans can visit, from taking a steam train ride along the 30-metre-high Glenfinnan Viaduct in the Scottish Highlands (the track on which the Hogwarts Express famously chugged) to snapping a selfie at Platform 9¾ at London’s Kings Cross Station. Then there is day-tripping from London to Oxford and taking a jaunt around Christ Church Cathedral (which featured as Hogwarts in all eight films), Potter-heads have plenty of options when it comes to seeing set locations in real life.
visitscotland.com/info/towns-villages/glenfinnan-p236571, kingscross.co.uk/harry-potters-platform-9-34, chch.ox.ac.uk/plan-your-visit/tickets.
The film: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The location: Al Khazneh, Petra, Jordan
The 1989 installment of the blockbuster action movie series sees adventuring archaeologist Indiana in pursuit of the Holy Grail, which according to film lore is housed in the Canyon of the Crescent Moon.
For the purpose of filming, though, it was the elaborately carved sandstone temple of Al Khazneh (The Treasury) in the ancient hidden city of Petra (a UNESCO Heritage Site and one of the new seven wonders of the world), that masqueraded as the resting place for the special artefact. The scene when Indie finally sets eyes on the Canyon is regarded as one of the most memorable in the entire franchise. This is one of the most locations for your travel list.
international.visitjordan.com.
The film: Jaws
The location: Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts
It’s well over four decades since thriller Jaws gripped the world and terrified a generation. Yet much of Martha’s Vineyard, the island south of Cape Cod that portrayed the seemingly idyllic town of Amity, remains unchanged.
For the ultimate fan experience, book a place on the Edgartown Tour Company’s “Amity” Tour of Jaws, and prepare to be transported back in time as you stroll past the Town Hall (the setting for that nail scraping scene), the Amity Island Police Department and the Amity Gazette Building.
edgartowntours.com.
The film: Jurassic Park
The location: Hanapepe Valley, Kauai Hawaii
The air arrival scene in the original Jurassic Park movie, which sees Dr Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), being escorted onto Isla Nublar by John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) was filmed in the Hanapepe Valley, Hawaii. You too can experience what it’s like to view the geological wonder that is Jurassic Falls (official name Manawaiopuna Falls) from the air. Additionally, you can even explore this otherwise inaccessible area of Kauai by booking a Jurassic Falls Helicopter Landing Tour.
islandhelicopters.com/falls.html.
The film: Lawrence of Arabia, Prometheus, The Martian, Dune
The location: Wadi Rum, Jordan
Thanks in no small part to its spectacular rock formations, prehistoric inscriptions, chiselled canyons, archaeological sites and fierce, jutting ridges, Wadi Rum is quite the popular choice for movie locations.
Jordan’s Valley of the Moon made its big screen debut in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia, and after that appeared in both Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (2012) and The Martian (2015) where it made a hugely convincing doppelgänger for Mars. Most recently, Wadi Rum served as the sandworm-invested planet Arrakis in last year’s blockbuster Dune (shooting also took place in Abu Dhabi’s Rub’ al Khali desert). Located around four hours south of Amman, you can easily book into a Wadi Rum tour and go exploring for the day or even stay overnight at the Wadi Rum Bubble Luxotel glamping resort.
hwadirumbubble.com.
The film(s): Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies
The location: Matamata, Waikato, New Zealand
While Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic tales made numerous New Zealand beauty spots famous, it’s the rural town of Matamata with its thatch-roofed cottages and bucolic, flower-filled pastures that is one of the favourites and is instantly identifiable as home to young Frodo and Bilbo Baggins.
For the full fan experience, visitors can book onto a guided Hobbiton Movie Set Tour and have their very own Middle Earth encounter, passing by various Hobbit Holes (including Bag End) and stopping off at the Green Dragon Inn for a restorative drink.
Hobbiton Movie Set Tour, hobbitontours.com.
The film(s): Mamma Mia 1 & 2
The location: Skopelos, Greece
It may not have done wonders for Pierce Brosnan’s singing career, but you know who really did benefit from the Mamma Mia films? The Greek tourist board.
Kalokairi, the island where the action in the rom-com action musical was said to take place is fictional but the stunning architecture, characterful tavernas, cobbled streets, fabulous beaches and roadsides dotted with pine trees are all very real and can be found on the picture-perfect island of Skopelos, where much of the movie was filmed.
Whether you choose to warble your heart out on the small stretch of sand where Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Copper sang or not is entirely up to you.
greeka.com/sporades/skopelos.
The film: Notting Hill
The location: various London-based locations
One for the rom-com-lovers. From Portobello Market to William Thacker’s house with the blue door on Westbourne Park Road, to the world-famous Savoy Hotel (the location for that Horse & Hound interview), London is dotted with spots where fans can relieve moments from the hugely successful movie. (When Notting Hill was released in 1999 it became the highest-grossing British feature ever made.)
Perhaps most popular of all though is a visit to the Notting Hill Travel Bookshop on 13 Blenheim Crescent where Julia Robert’s Anna Scott uttered those famous lines (all together now): “I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy…”
The film: Rocky II
The location: the steps outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art
There are so many memorable moments in the Rocky series – Rocky defeating Apollo, Apollo’s death, that “Yo Adrian, I did it” yell for a start– but for those who want to recreate one of the most iconic scenes of all, running up the 72 steps that lead to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (the exact steps that Sly himself triumphantly ascended) is a must. Cue the music.
philamuseum.org.
The film: Star Wars Episode IV, A New Hope
The location: Hotel Sidi Idriss
Otherwise known as “the Star Wars Hotel”, Hotel Sidi Idriss in the small arid town of Matmata in southern Tunisia was the original film set for Luke Skywalker’s childhood home, the Lars homestead on planet Tatooine.
The hotel is open year-round, Star Wars decorations are still in place and you can even spend the night in one of the adobe caverns. It’s not often you can stay in movie locations, so this promises to be an experience for fans.
hotel-sidi-idriss.com.
