Movie Motivations

[sengsational]

Has anyone planned a trip based on somewhere a movie was shot? DW wants to go to NZ (Lord of the Rings). Unfortunately, she's not really a hiker, and I'd like to do a lot of that if I went there.

Last night I thought maybe going to Skellig Michael might be something.

Anyone get travel inspiration from movies?

 

[H2ODude]

Well, as much as I enjoyed The Martian I'm a bit hesitant to book that trip! NZ has always intrigued me, especially from LoR as well as others, but we're just a bit worn out on long plane rides having had two kids overseas to visit. Seeing NZ in person would be amazing I'm sure, but bear in mind they sought the most photogenic of vistas I'm sure, and getting to them might be challenging. Or not. National Geographic pics have been intriguing for places like China, it's just a matter of the cost and hassle to find those particular locales.

 

[DrRoy]

I have never planned a trip based on a movie. I have been to places where movies were shot. On Kauai I saw Jurassic Park falls. Over 30 movies have been shot there. This Sept. I was in Monument Valley where a lot of westerns were shot, and later in Kanab, Utah that calls itself 'Little Hollywood'. I love the LOTR movies and want to visit NZ, but would go for its merits and not because a movie was made there.

 

[Meadbh]

I am not a movie groupie, but there is no doubt that seeing interesting places in movies makes me consider going there. The movie of James Michener's Hawaii, which I saw many, many years ago, put Hawaii on my bucket list. I finally made it in 2013 and was not disappointed!

 

[Beldar]

Portmeirion has always intrigued DW & I. No 6's apartment is a gift shop.

I would run along the gravel beach and shout "I'm not a number, ...!" and probably not get a second look from anyone.

Seriously, we live in Apache country and a lot of westerns (and some scenes from the 1st Star Wars and Planet of the Apes) were filmed here. Scenic, but not trip inspiring. The real Tombstone anyone?

_B

 

[bingybear]

Has anyone planned a trip based on somewhere a movie was shot? DW wants to go to NZ (Lord of the Rings). Unfortunately, she's not really a hiker, and I'd like to do a lot of that if I went there.

Last night I thought maybe going to Skellig Michael might be something.

Anyone get travel inspiration from movies?

Nope, not based on movies. But NZ is worth the trip.
We did a short trip a few years back (while still working). It was only 2 weeks (way too short for the travel time) We hiked Kepler and Milford tracks, kyacked Milford Sound and did some typical tourist things.
And some of LoR sites are along Kepler.

We will go again. Maybe next winter.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I can't think of any movies, but I did hear a great NPR story years ago about Mongolia that inspired our first trip to that country.

And another one, a travel podcast that sent us packing to Peru for the mototaxi race a few years ago.

Ditto on NZ--I went once, for a couple of weeks, and it was amazing! Want to go back when I can spend more time!

 

[truenorth418]

Monument Valley after seeing Stagecoach and The Searchers.


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[Nemo2]

I'd always wanted to go anyway, but Out Of Africa just added a little more incentive.

 

[Free To Canoe]

When you've lived in LA, you kind of run into the old movie sets as you are hiking in the mountains or driving around.


Many from Europe come to the US to visit the Close Encounters movie set: Devil's Tower.


I would like to look around in the desert for where Cecil B DeMille buried the 10 Commandments movie props.

 

[Fedup]

I was planning to go to NZ for this specific reason. But I've been to NZ before, this time I just want to incorporate the movie location for my kids.


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[harley]

I've talked often about going to Ireland and doing the walk following the fight scene in The Quiet Man, with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. One of my favorite movies. I'm always telling DW I need to go over there so someone can give me "a good stick, to beat the pretty lady." Luckily she likes the movie too. I know they do tours for it, but I've never seriously looked into them.

 

[Alan]

When we have actually been in or close to a place from a famous movie we often make the effort. When in NZ last year we did take a day trip out to the Southern Alps to see where some of the Lord of the Rings scenes were shot. They took detailed photos beforehand and after the movie sets were torn down they replaced every boulder and rock back into their original positions.

While in Tunisia in 1981 I took a camel ride out to the area of troglodytes where scenes from Star Wars were shot and saw the below ground hotel where the major stars stayed.

 

[Nemo2]

When we have actually been in or close to a place from a famous movie we often make the effort.

In 1983 my late wife and I drove for a day to Rorke's Drift after watching Zulu several times...............(not that the movie was actually filmed there.)

 

[Alan]

In 1983 my late wife and I drove for a day to Rorke's Drift after watching Zulu several times...............(not that the movie was actually filmed there.)

When in Wales we visited the Welsh Guards' museum in Canaervon Castle and saw at least one of the Victoria Crosses awarded in that battle. (There were more VC's awarded in that single battle than any other battle in history).

 

[Nemo2]

When in Wales we visited the Welsh Guards' museum in Canaervon Castle and saw at least one of the Victoria Crosses awarded in that battle. (There were more VC's awarded in that single battle than any other battle in history).

I was at Canaervon, also in 1983, but somehow missed the VC's...bummer......IIRC the movie's closing credits mentions the number awarded.

(Do love those Welsh castles though!)

 

[Free To Canoe]

Saw the Predator and Night of the Iguana movie sets when we visited Puerto Vallarta.

 

[athena53]

We loved the Welsh Guards' museum; we stumbled on it accidentally after visiting the castle.


We did visit Salzburg, Austria partly because it was the scene of "The Sound of Music". Visiting all the sites where the movie was filmed is pretty involved; they used the front of one mansion and the back of another. There's a day tour that goes to all of the sites, but we skipped that and enjoyed the rest of the city. The park where they sang "Doe, a Deer" was very close to our hotel so we went through it a lot.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We hope to see the British Isles in the next couple of years and would love to see the Princess Bride locations: Film locations for The Princess Bride (1987). And those in the more recent Pride and Prejudice movie.

A few recent movies plus the Jurassic Parks franchise made us more interested in Hawaii (the Descendants, Forgetting Sarah Marshall).

 

[Meadbh]

I am going to Florence in 2016. Hopefully I will have a room with a view!

 

[Ronstar]

Monument Valley after seeing Stagecoach and The Searchers.

+1. It was fun sitting on a horse in the same spot as John Wayne.

 

[yakers]

Dw made me take her to Tahiti, Fiji & Rarotonga to celebrate her surviving cancer surgery some years back, cause of trip selection was watching South Pacific too many times.


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[CherylGrrl]

In early October my husband and I traveled to Lone Pine, California specifically to attend their annual film festival celebrating the hundreds of films and TV shows made in the spectacular Alabama Hills at the foot of Mt. Whitney. The area is mainly known for Westerns, but was also used for Gunga Din, Tremors, Gladiator, Django Unchained, and Star Trek Generations. The film festival included a number of tours to sites used for famous scenes. The area is just spectacular, but the film angle added another dimension to this trip.

On a trip to the UK, we set our itinerary to allow us to visit Highclere Castle, the location of Downton Abbey. Couldn't get enough of it, we were the last people to leave! Of course, Stonehenge and Bath are close by.


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