JUST LIKE IN THE MOVIES! WHERE POPULAR MOVIES AND SERIES WERE FILMED

  • 4238

We arrange a real journey in the wake of fictional characters!

Traveling to places where your favorite movie or series is filmed can make your vacation truly special. Fortunately, cinema tourism today is not limited by anything - if you have money, and most importantly desire, you can easily go to the places where “The Shining”, “Game of Thrones”, or even “ The Grand Budapest Hotel ” were filmed.

•"Pirates of the Caribbean"

•"Lord of the Rings"

• "The Shining"

•"Harry Potter"

•"Game of Thrones"

• “The Grand Budapest Hotel”


“Pirates of the Caribbean” (2003 - present)

Did the “Pirates” directors think how popular their films about the adventures of pirate losers would be? No! The original goal of the first part was to draw attention to the new attraction at Disneyland. Therefore, the film was produced by the film company Walt Disney Pictures. But the creators overdid it a bit, and the movie became an unprecedented success.

Where was it filmed?

The first episode called “The Curse of the Black Pearl” was filmed on the island of Grenada in the Caribbean and on the Samana Peninsula in the Dominican Republic. Landscapes of the second part of “Dead Man's Chest” can be found in the Bahamas, and the ones of the third episode(“At World's End”)-in California and Hawaii. The fourth continuation of the saga "On Stranger Tides" added Puerto Rico to the geography of the film. And for the filming of the fifth part, the crew had to go to Australia, Queensland.


The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)

After the release of films based on Tolkien’s novels, even a new direction in tourism appeared in New Zealand - Tolkien-tourism. Every year, more than 2 million fans of “The Lord of the Rings” come to the "kingdom of hobbits and wizards." The locations of Middle-earth in New Zealand, where the shooting took place, are about 150, and in some of them the scenery is remaining the same. They can be reached on one’s own using the “Middle-earth map” or joining an organized sightseeing trips. Such, for example, regularly holds the company Film NZ. There are no low seasons when there are few tourists - not only you want to see legendary places! The main thing, do not forget to prepare well - traveling to the picturesque places of New Zealand, especially to the mountains, requires good physical training.


Where were they filmed?

In the vicinity of the capital of New Zealand - Auckland - you can recognize the Old Forest and Trollich Grove. The national park of Tongariro, Lakes Rotorua and Tuapo became the Mordor. The Black Gate of Mordor is actually the Rangipo Desert. The Waiau River in the Fjordland National Park became the Anduin River - the largest in Middle-earth, the border between the possessions of Sauron and Lothlorien - the home of the Elves. The latter, by the way, is actually located in a birch forest near Queenstown.


The swamps through which Gollum led the "hobbits" really exist and are called Kepler Mire (named after the astronomer Johannes Kepler). They stretch over 900 hectares and are located on the South Island in the Fiordland National Park. The fateful mountain-volcano Orodruil, where the hobbits finally managed to destroy the omnipotence ring - in fact, the mountain peaks of Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe in the Tongariro National Park.

The Shining (1980)

The idea to describe a gloomy hotel with frightening events taking place in it came to Stephen King’s mind when he was on vacation at the “Stanley” hotel in Colorado.

Where was it filmed?

But Stanley Kubrick shot the thriller on this novel at the Timberline Lodge in northern Oregon in the United States. The hotel is still operating and is located in a picturesque place full of ski resorts and other tourist activities. But Kubrick used only the facade of the Timberline Lounge in ”The Shining”, and everything that happened inside was shot in the scenery. But they weren’t just invented - Kubrick was inspired by the Ahwahnee hotel in Yosemite National Park. From there, the director copied almost the entire interior: chandeliers, windows, red columns in the lobby, the lobby and a large reception room, red elevator doors, from which blood flows in the film.


The initial panoramic shots of nature were shot in the Glacier National Park in Montana. The lake in the very first scene is Lake St. Mary in the same park.


It is unlikely that anyone will go to the United States just to look at two hotels. But to look into these places while traveling in America is quite worth it. You can also go to Maine, the town of Bangor - there lives Stephen King. His cottage is a local attraction, also because it resembles a typical haunted house from a horror movie.


Harry Potter (2001-2011)

Potterheads need to go on vacation to England. For starters, it's worth taking a ride on the Hogwarts Express, which we saw in every part of the famous epic. In reality, this train walks along the routes of the North Scottish Highlands instead of Hogwarts. The train sets off twice a day and runs between Fort William and Mullay. The trip lasts about four hours, and the ticket costs about $ 80. But places must be booked months in advance.


Where were they filmed?

The Gloucester Cathedral, built in the 11th century, turned into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the movies. Admission is free. Once inside, you can easily recognize the scenery of Hogwarts in these walls: stained-glass windows, high ceilings, fan arches.


“Game of Thrones” (2011-2019)

The series, based on the series of George Martin’s novels “A Song of Ice and Fire”, can compete with “The Lord of the Rings” in terms of popularity! Although it has not entailed the formation of a separate “game-of-thrones-tourism” yet, fans of the series are already actively visiting where the key moments of the saga were filmed.

Where were they filmed?

The shooting took place in Morocco, Ireland, Iceland, Malta, but the most famous locations were in Spain and Croatia. For Croatia, the success of Game of Thrones has even become onerous. If in 2010, 8 million tourists arrived in the country annually, now there are already more than 18 million of them. The Dubrovnik authorities even decided to restrict entry. Many scenes were filmed here. For example, in the second season of Game of Thrones, you can see the fortress of St. Lawrence, where they filmed the battle of the Blackwater.


Sibenik, Kastel, Krka River, Minchet Tower, Lokrum Island (authorities even bought the original iron throne from the series, and now it can be seen in the monastery on the island), Diocletian's Palace - all these places are in Croatia, and you can get there on your own or in composition of excursion groups.

The ancestral estate of the royal Targaryen dynasty is actually located in Spain - on the beach of Playa de Itzurun, in the city of Sumaya.

Another iconic place is the Almodovar del Rio Castle, which played the role of Highgarden - the home of the Tyrell family. The castle was built in the XVIII century and is located in the same city in the province of Cordoba, near the Guadalquivir River.


In the sixth season of the “Game of Thrones” you can see another attraction of Spain: Almeria Fortress. In the series, that is in the possession of the Martell dynasty. Plaza del Toros in Osuna, Seville Alcazar, Roman Bridge in Cordoba - all these places also appear in the television series.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Director Wes Anderson is known for his manner of making films: geometric symmetry, a vibrant color palette, unusual characters. He also chooses unusual locations for filming - what a huge hotel is worth from his most famous film “The Grand Budapest Hotel”!

Where was it filmed?

The famous hotel is not located in Budapest at all, and not even in Hungary. And it’s not a hotel at all! The shooting took place in the old building of one of the German department stores in the easternmost city of Germany - Görlitz, in Saxony. Görlitzer Warenhaus has never become a sightseeing, admission there is free. And you will hardly meet competitor tourists there - after all, Wes Anderson is not such a massive director.