10 Movie Location Sites You Can Visit

From Harry Potter to Mamma Mia — Here are 10 places to go on your next vacation

There is Magic when you go to the theater and sit in a dark place watching some romantic or adventure movie. The plot, the music, and the actors make you drift from the cinema to a faraway place.

While you enjoy the film, deep inside your head, a little voice tells you, “Wow, look at that place. I wish I could visit it someday.”

If you love going to the movies and traveling, here are some great ideas for your next vacation inspired by famous movies. From Mediterranean beaches to faraway places in New Zealand, jungle trips, or luxurious hotels.

1.- Alnwick Castle, England

Every Harry Potter fan dream of assisting Hogwarts. The famous school for wizards, somewhere in what seems to be the United Kingdom, but the actual location is never disclosed.

If you want to visit the real place, I mean the castle where the first two movies were filmed, all you have to do is fly to London and take a bus that will charge you between £12 and £16 to take you on an 8-hour, 41-minute journey to Alnwick Castle.

This is where “Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets,” “Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone,” “Transformers: The Last Knight,” and “Downton Abbey” were filmed. They have a special tour that costs about £20 per person.

For more information about Alnwick Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland, NE66 1NQ, call 01665 511 100 from 9 am to 4 pm daily, email [email protected], or visit their webpage at Alnwick Castle.

2.- Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Angkor Wat is a temple complex in Cambodia and the world’s largest religious monument, spanning 162.6 hectares (1,626,000 m2; 402 acres). It was originally built as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu, but by the end of the 12th century, it had been transformed into a Buddhist temple.

This fantastic place has been a filming location in over 40 movies, but the most famous are “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” and “Lord Jim.”

For more information about Angkor Wat, you can visit the Office of Tourism of Cambodia, or if you plan to make a trip, there are several plans from 2 to 4 days visiting the temple and its surroundings at Cambodia Tours.

3.- Bali

Bali could be described as the ideal paradise to visit on your vacation. Besides its ancient culture, cities, and marvelous beaches, there are plenty of palaces and temples to visit, like the Lempuyang Temple, the Jungle swing & giant bird nests. Also, visit a coffee plantation and have a Kopi Luwak coffee tasting or go on a scuba diving trip in the clear waters.

Many movies used this place for locations, but the one that made Bali the “it place to go” was 2010’s Julia Roberts’s “Eat Pray Love.” Last year The Rock, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds traveled to film “Red Notice,” and in 2022, Julia Roberts returned with George Clooney in “Ticket to Paradise.”

For more information about Bali, you could visit the Bali Government Tourism Office for information about visas and post-pandemic requirements. There is a “Bali Instagram Tour” with the most famous spots you can go to for $129 and then post on your Tik Tok or Instagram account.

4.- Colorado, The Stanley Hotel

In 1903, Freelan Oscar Stanley, a millionaire inventor, arrived at the Estes Valley, also known as a “sportsman’s paradise,” looking for retreat and rest from work. After feeling better, he decided to visit the place every year.

The plan was nearly impossible because he wanted to share this magical place with his wife, Flora, who was used to East Coast society’s standards. Hence, they decided to build a grand hotel with all the amenities they and their friend were used to. In 1909, the Stanley Hotel opened its doors to its wealthy customers.

With electric lights, telephones, en-suite bathrooms, and uniformed staff at their service. The place was a hit until the owner died, and by the 70s, it was almost going out of business.

The hotel’s fortune changed when during a one-night stay, a famous writer by the name of Stephen King found his muse and wrote his bestseller “The Shining.”

In 1980 Stanley Kubrick directed the movie starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, which made us nervously move in our seats, watching how Jack Torrance became insane and chased his wife and son with an axe.

For his version, Kubrick used The Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in the Hood River as the exterior of the ‘Overlook Hotel.’

It’s 45 miles east of Portland, just east of Zig Zag on Route 26, and was built during the Great Depression. The Timberline does not have a maze.

For more information about your visit to the Stanley Hotel, go to 333 Wonderview Ave Estes Park, Colorado 80517 USA, or call +1 (800) 976–1377 to make a reservation, and ask for room 217 if you are a Stephen King fan or room 237 if you are a Kubrik fan. But remember that at night Jack Torrance might try to break into your room with an axe, saying, “Here’s Johny!!”

5.- Guatemala Tikal National Park

The Mayan Temples in the Tikal National Park are located in Guatemala’s jungle. George Lucas decided to use this place to represent planet Yarvin’s fourth moon after he saw a poster at a travel agency while filming in London.

If you go to the park, you can visit the ruins, the temple, and one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, where you can spot a great diversity of birds and primates.

The tour costs around $120 per person, including the trip, park entrances, and meals. Also, a visit to the place where you can take a selfie with the two towers, and with a little luck and imagination, the Millenial Falcon will fly while you take the picture.

For more information about Guatemala’s Tikal National Park, you can visit UNESCO’s website or plan your trip at Tripadvisor. For information about post-pandemic requirements, you can visit the U. S. Embassy in Guatemala site.

6.- Michigan, Mackinac Island, Grand Hotel

Among the most famous romance movies of all time, few have more fans than “Casablanca,” “The Notebook,” or “Somewhere in Time.”

Each year around October, the Grand Hotel has an event called the “Somewhere in Time Weekend,” with special events. It’s the ideal opportunity for film buffs to learn the cinematic secrets of the timeless romantic classic and meet many of the cast members.

You can dress up and join some cast members during the event at the cocktail receptions and costume promenade. If you book this weekend, breakfast and dinner are also included, and you are encouraged to dine in elegant costumes in the Grand Hotel’s Main Dining Room.

For more information about Mackinac Island, Grand Hotel, located at 286 Grand Avenue, Mackinac Island, MI 49757, please contact Grand Hotel Reservations at 1–800–33GRAND or Email: [email protected].

7.- New Zealand

New Zealand, located in the middle of the Pacific and the second largest piece of land in Oceania, is almost only reachable by expensive airfare or ship. However, thanks to many famous film directors, it has become one of the most popular filming locations in the world.

Films like “Wolverine,” “The Last Samurai,” “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe,” “Prince Caspian,” “The Piano,” “Avatar,” and “King Kong,” among many others, used its beaches, mountains, and valleys to represent magical lands or out-of-this-world places.

Nevertheless, no director has exploited this iconic landscape like Peter Jackson, who not only used it to film J.R.R. Tolkien’s books and made many Lord of the Rings fans travel to New Zealand. But he created the ultimate Hobbit experience so they could enjoy the multi-day Lord of the Rings tour.

Called Hobbiton, it is like a time capsule into Tolkien’s Shire. The 1,200-acre sheep farm in Waikato, New Zealand, remains just as it was used to film his movies.

For more information about Hobiton, where you can visit the movie set and enjoy breakfast or a banquet feast fit for a Hobbit inside the Green Dragon, you can go to 501 Buckland Road — Hinuera Matamata 3472, New Zealand, call for details at +64 (7) 888 1505 or visit the website Hobiton Tours.

8.- Petra, Jordan

The “Lost City of Petra” was carved directly into the sandstone cliff face of the Jordanian mountains in the middle of the desert. The once thriving capital of the Nabataean empire between 400 B.C. and A.D. 106. Stood hidden from the world for centuries.

The city was under the Roman empire for centuries and was also a place where the crusaders built fortresses until they were forced to abandon Petra.

This place was empty for centuries till the Swiss traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt disguised as a Bedouin and under the alias of Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah, found it in1812.

Petra is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites and one of the world’s new seven wonders. Also the perfect location for movies such as Disney’s “Aladin,” “The Mummy Returns,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” among other 50 films

For more information about Petra, you can call 0096232156044, email [email protected] at 28 Wadi Mousa — Jordan, or visit the official site “Petra, One of the seven wonders.”

9.- Salzburg, Austria

To movie fans, when we think of Salzburg, the first thing that comes to our mind besides Mozart is Jullie Andrews singing “The Hills Are Alive” in the Sound of Music on the Austrian mountains.

But besides the movie being based on a true story of the real-life Von Trapp Family who lived there, according to IMDB, there have been over 600 movies filmed there.

Ee can recall Tom Cruise’s “Knight and Day,” Nicholas Cage’s “Season of the Witch,” Ashton Kucher’s “Just Married,” and Romy Schneider’s “Sissi” movies.

However, neither of those played such an important part in putting Salzburg on the map as the “Sound of Music,” On your trip, you can visit many famous film locations, like the Leopoldskron Palace or the Nonnberg Convent.

For more information about Salzburg, you can visit the “Salzburg Stage of the World” site.

10.- Skopelos, Greece

Legend says that Staphylos, one of the sons of Dionysos, the god of wine, founded the city, and Cretans introduced viticulture to the island. Hence, in ancient Greece, the place was known for its wine.

White houses, Mediterranean weather, beautiful beaches, and scrumptious dishes could be reasons enough to visit this place.

Skopelos became famous after the Mamma Mia! movie made the public sing ABBA songs. Thre are no cars in the town center, and you can walk through its alleys and stairways flanked by traditional white houses dressed with bougainvillea.

You can visit many churches besides Agios Iannis, where Mamma Mia’s main character Sophie’s wedding took place. Skopelos clear blue ocean is the perfect place for snorkeling, fishing, or scuba diving if you like water sports.

And after a long day relaxing at the beach, you can relax on a terrace enjoying a cold drink or an aromatic coffee, experiencing the most amazing sunset, and watching the sun dive into the sea before you walk through the traditional narrow street of the island to dine.

For more information about Skopelos, you can visit the “Official website of the Greek National Tourism Organisation.”

Take Away

Whether you are a Harry Potter or a Lord of the Rings fan, I hope the information about these vacation places helps you decide where to go on your next family trip.

There is no wonder why movie producers spend millions of dollars looking for the perfect location for their next blockbuster. After watching Bilbo Baggins come out from the round door at his home, you couldn’t imagine the Shire elsewhere.

And what about de long corridors at the Shining’s hotel? To this day, every time I stay at a place with long corridors with rooms on each side, I can’t stop imagining the sinister little twins holding hands and looking towards me.

I had to leave many other places out, but I’m determined to include them in my next article. In the meantime, please share what other movie locations you remember from your favorite films.

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign”

— Robert Louis Stevenson

© Copyright Jose Luis Ontanon, 2022