I haven’t ever felt much of an urge to visit the real-life locations where my favorite movies and TV shows were shot, but then, I live in the heart of Sopranos country in New Jersey and I work in the middle of the film set that is midtown Manhattan, so I pass sites every day that I’ve enjoyed on screen. But if you’re from elsewhere — say, the U.K. — you might be tempted to visit North America just to drive to famous movie spots, like the author of this Observer article, who recommends a road trip to Marfa, Texas, where both No Country for Old Men (pictured) and There Will Be Blood were shot (at the same time, in fact). He also suggests trips to Boston (The Departed, Good Will Hunting, Mystic River), Canada’s Banff National Park (Brokeback Mountain), and the Mississippi Delta (O Brother, Where Art Thou?).
Tell us, tourists, have you ever planned a trip around a movie location you wanted to visit? Which sites have you been to, and did they live up to your expectations, or did they seem smaller-than-life?
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I never want away especially for a movie location…but I have visited my share!!! When I was in New Zealand, let’s just say that I coordinated one of my stop just to go and do a trek next to Mt Doom! And one time in Rome, I did a pretty detour to find la Boca della Verita from Roman Vacation. And so much more, I can’t even began!
when i was in high school i loved Fame. i was going on a trip to NYC and begged my mother to take me by the School of Performing Arts… she said no
but it’s the only time i’ve really tried to see a movie site!
The only movie site I can think of that I’ve been to wasn’t on purpose. I was in Minnesota visiting my dad and we just happened upon the restaurant that Sophia Loren and her mom owned in the blockbuster sequel “Grumpier Old Men”…so I took a picture there.
I haven’t done it yet, but if I had the time and resources, I think it’d be fun to visit famous movie sites. I would definitely have to have at least one other person with me because I’d probably insist on recreating famous shots at the famous movie sites with me standing in for the movie character.
I went to a wedding once at the resort in Virginia where the exteriors for Dirty Dancing were filmed. Totally unintentional. Very pretty place, though, and I would recommend it highly.
Sorry about that I meant Roman Holiday (My bad with my french translation!).
I completely forgot about a tour I took in Thailand to an island shown in The Man with the Golden Gun, even pose as a Bond girl…
I’ve never actually been tempted to go on holiday just to see a movie or tv sight. However, I did seeing the sights in Manhattan last summer and actually found the apartments that were used as file footage of the main apartments on Friends. Also, my town square is the one feaured on October Road, so it is sort of surreal to see it every Monday–especially this past year’s Christmas episode, when they digitally added in snow (I live in Newnan, Georgia, so the square is NEVER covered in snow)
How is Chicago not on this list? Between the fun of a Blues Brothers tour (complete with hitting some of Chicago’s awesome blues bars, and maybe visiting the Billy Goat Tavern, inspiration for the “Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger…” SNL skit); all the locales utilized in The Sting and The Untouchables; riding the El (made famous in Risky Business and While You Were Sleeping, and less famous by On the Line); and other recent hits filmed here (Fred Claus, The Breakup, both new Batman movies, Angelina Jolie’s new Wanted movie), Chicago deserves film tourism.
Oh yeah, and don’t forget the ultimate “turning a movie into tourism” idea: you can LITERALLY have a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in Chicago – Sears Tower, Art Institute, fancy lunch, and Cubs game….by far the best city for a movie-themed visit.
I live it every day too, Gary… in Fargo, although I am pretty sure 0% of the movie by the same name was actually filmed here, and almost none of it is set here, either.
I live in Manhattan and pass sites every day (my block has been in multiple movies) but on one trip to Paris my friend and I did an Amelie tour of Montmartre. You can visit the grocery store, the cafe where she works, Sacre Couer – it was a lot of fun!
While I was visiting family in NJ, I of course had to make a stop at the Quik Stop to see the store where “Clerks” was filmed. Totally worth it.
I live very close to Banff/Ft. McLeod where they filmed Brokeback and I try to go as much as possible. It’s more beautiful up close then it is on screen. I also watched Brad Pitt’s Jesse James movie the other night and was happy to see the entire movie was filmed in historical parks I visted as a child.
I also had the chance to spend a few days exploring China’s Hollywood, Hengdian, last year. They filmed Jet Li’s Hero there and it was neat to see the buildings… especially since we were the only people in the park at the time!
No I haven’t done this and wouldn’t plan around a movie, but if I happened to be visiting a famous spot, I would probably check it out, take a pic. When I went to LA I did get a pic of me going up the staircase of the Kodak Theatre, just so I that every year, when I watch the Oscars, I can say I walked those same steps as the stars. Yes I’m lame.
LONDON. 28 Days Later just made it seem so charming.
We didn’t plan on it, but when I was in Oxford for a summerterm class we toured Christ Church College where they shot scenes from Harry Potter. It was pretty sweet. I’d love to visit Scranton Pennsylvania though just because of The Office. I know they don’t actually shoot there but they incorporate a lot of the area into their show and I think it’d be fun to see what they all talk about. Or just go on the set in LA, but I don’t think that counts for this blog haha.
I’d love to see the town where TWIN PEAKS was filmed!
I want to go to Alaska after seeing INTO THE WILD. Such beautiful locations.
On our trip to New Mexico, I sought out the Very Large Array (the field of radio telescope dishes) from Contact; and the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge near Taos where Mickey & Mallory exchanged vows in Natural Born Killers.
When you go to Salzburg, Austria it seems mandated that tour bus drivers take you past the house used for the Von Trapp family’s residence in The Sound of Music (and play the soundtrack on the bus too). I didn’t book my bus tour just for this, but everyone enjoyed seeing the locations (and singing along to all the tunes)Several decades on it looked the same and cast its magic spell all over again.
And to JillyRo: No,you are not lame. Both my sister and I, on different occasions, have stood at the Kodak Theater and had our photos taken exactly the same as you.
I’ve never actually planned a trip around seeing where someplace was filmed (though I have always wanted to go to Tunisia to visit where the Tattooine scenes of Star Wars was filmed. I heard they actually sell bits of the set.) However, as I went to grad school in Scotland I saw a lot of the locations for the Harry Potter movies (King’s Cross in London, that one railroad bridge that the name is escaping me, some random moor that was used in Azkaban). I also lived in a place where a movie was set. My undergrad study abroad program was based in this manor in England where we both lived and had classes. While I was there they used it as the setting for the movie The Haunting. I think the BBC has used it a couple of times too for tv movies. I’ve done enough travelling that I’m sure I’ve been to others too. Not going to mention the obvious ones like Eiffel Tower, Times Square, etc.
I went to the Griffin Observatory partially to see the location from ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ -it was much smaller than what I thought it would be, but still a fine building to visit.
Monument Valley near the Arizona/Utah border is fantastic, as are the Alabama Hills in Lone Pine, Calif. for fans of Westerns.
I also passed through Las Vegas, NM where Red Dawn and No Country were partly filmed. The best though is Hope , British Columbia where they filmed First Blood.
I’ve been to Petra in Jordan – where they filmed the exterior shots for the scene in Indiana Jones where they actually find the grail. The inside is just a cave, but that really is the outside and it’s cared into the side of the mountain, which is pretty awesome. I was already in Israel on a trip with my family, so it’s not like we went all the way to Jordan just for that.
I made it a point to drive through Iowa to see where “the field” from Field of Dreams (and believe me, it takes a lot of will power to drive through Iowa). I wasn’t too smart in my planning though. I went in May and the corn wasn’t growing yet. It’s just not the same without the large cornstalks. But there were some people playing baseball which made the whole trip worth it.
I’ve never planned a trip around a movie location. But I was visiting a friend in Paris last November and while walking around, we walked right into the cafe where Amelie was filmed. I think we enjoyed the place more because it was an unexpected find on our part. And I must say they do have excellent croques madames.
During high school (and even still today) one of my favorite movies was “Footloose.” It was filmed in Utah, in various towns, about an hour south of Salt Lake, not in the midwest as portrayed (it’s hard not to notice the mountains in the background). A friend and I made it our mission to find as many filming locations as we could. The Rollermills where Ren works are an easy one since they’re right off the freeway. But we also found the church Rev. Moore preaches in, the high school Ren attended and the drive-in where Ariel gets caught listening to music. Since this search took place about 10 years after filming and a lot of the surrounding area had changed, we were pretty proud of ourselves for finding what we did.
Although this is TV-related instead of a movie location, my wife and I went to Hawaii and visited the survivor’s beach used for Lost. All the tents and the kitchen were there and we got to walk right up to it for pictures(a security guard was there to keep a watch). It was so cool to be there in person because we are huge fans of the show. We also went to the Others village which is really a YMCA camp close to the north-western point of Oahu.
1. Last month, while visiting my brother in NYC, I took one of the three-hour Movie tours all around Manhattan. We got out of the bus a few times for pictures and was able to see all kinds of locations over the years!
2. I have wanted to visit Marfa, TX since I saw Giant last year (I heart James Dean). When I found out earlier this year about No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood being filed there (and after having seen both films), that has been added to my list of places to visit. Not that there’s anything to see, but to know what was done there is amazing. (My vote was vote was for There Will Be Blood to win but alas…)
3 of the top spots I have been to AFTER seeing these movies were: Austria (Sound of Music), Salzberg (Amadeus) and Lake Tahoe (Things Change). All 3 were exactly as I pictured. I am leaving work now to go pick up “No Country for Old Men”. Even being a Native Texan, I haven’t been to Marfa but may plan a road trip this summer!
Before “The Lord of the Rings” came out, I was barely aware of the existence of New Zealand (I WAS 14 at the time) It looks like a beautiful country that I wouldn’t mind visiting one of these days.
Before “The Lord of the Rings” came out, I was barely aware of the existence of New Zealand (I WAS 14 at the time) It looks like a beautiful country that I wouldn’t mind visiting one of these days.