Top 10 film set locations
Immerse yourself in the scenery that featured in some of the most popular films of our generation and shaped the vision of some of Hollywood’s most successful directors. With these holidays you can write your own epic adventure.
1. Malta
Film: Gladiator
Most of the exteriors for the hit Roman epic Gladiator were shot in Malta. Its narrow cobblestone streets of its towns are crowded with Norman cathedrals and baroque palaces. The countryside is littered with the oldest known human structures in the world. The island offers some excellent watersports. The food's good and winters are warm.
2. Tuscany
Film: The English patient
The Oscar-winning The English Patient (starring Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas) was partly shot here. Locations included Pienza, some 50km south of Siena. The beautiful pinkish light in this area of rolling countryside, warm, stone buildings and vineyards provided the perfect backdrop. Must-sees in Tuscany include Florence, Siena and the hilltowns of San Gimignano and Montepulciano.
3. Edinburgh
Film: Braveheart
Much of Braveheart was shot in and around Glencoe, Glen Nevis and Mamore Montains in western Scotland. Glencoe, scene of one of Scotland's bloodiest battles in 1692, is also one of its most beautiful glens. For really rugged country and wildlife, strike out west of Fort William to Ardgour and Ardnamurchan.
4. Phuket
Film: The Beach
Based on Alex Garland´s acclaimed novel The Beach (starring Leonardo De Caprio) was filmed on location on the islands of Phuket, Krabi and Phi Phi. The story is about a perfect stretch of sand hidden away from the world on an island off the coast of Thailand, where the only people who know about it are those who have been there or had the information passed on to them by someone who has. The film shows off the sublime beauty and purity of the untouched Thai beaches as well as the bustling exotic city life.
5. Tenerife
Film: Planet of the Apes
Tenerife has sun soaked beaches to spare, but further from the usual tourist track it is the volcanic landscapes, dramatic mountains and subtropical forests captured in the the film that bring the primeval world of the ape civilisation to earth.
6. Buenos Aires
Film: The Motorcycle Diaries
The inspiring mororcycle journey filmed in argentina, chile and peru follows a youthful Che Guevara as he travels into magnificent landscapes of dessert, mountains & ancient cities which evoke feelings of exploration, loneliness and adventure all at once.
7. Auckland
Film: Lord of the Rings
Since the first screening of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001, New Zealand has become the embodiment of Middle-earth to millions of moviegoers and Tolkien readers the world over.
8. Los Angeles
Film: LA Confidential
Despite being set in the 50's this film was shot almost entirely on real locations around Los Angeles and shows the city at its most stylish, at the same time exposing the dark underbelly often hidden by the glamour & glitter.
9. North Carolina
Film: Last of the Mohicans
The beauty of this US state provided the backdrop for Last of the Mohicans. Locations included Lake James, areas around the Blue Ridge Parkway and Chimney Rock, with its spectacular rock spire and 400ft waterfall.
10. London
Film: The World is Not Enough
James Bond known throughout the world as the famous secret agent with 007 behind his name. Although James Bond jets off around the globe to all the exotic places, while saving the world from mass destruction, his base is still in London. In 'The World Is Not Enough' London features heavily with the explosion at MI6 and the river race.
