10 incredible film sets worth putting in your bucket list

This new year, we bring to you the top 10 must-see film sets to add to your bucket list! Movie locations sometimes turn into instant tourist attractions, whether the place is already a thing of beauty to begin with or just plainly worth visiting, movie lovers would love to say that they had been where a popular movie was shot. Sometimes, real life sets don’t depict their milieu. These real-life settings sometimes become adaptation of fiction such as in sci-fi and cartoons. Here are 10 must-visit destinations bought to you by Fayyaz Travels for all you movie-loving travellers out there..

1. CHRIST CHURCH COLLEGE

Location: Oxford, England

Seen in: The Harry Potter Saga

You might have seen this one coming. Everyone who has seen the Harry Potter series has definitely asked where the actual location of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is. Reality check: the entire school’s campus was shot in many different locations. The most recognizable one, however, is the Christ Church College in Oxford, England. The school is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The most notable locations used in the movie are the many banquets they made at the Great Hall and the sixteenth-century staircases that Harry, Ron and Hermione used to creep on in their many after-hour escapades in school.

2. BANAUE RICE TERRACES

Location: Ifugao, Philippines

Seen in: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

It should come as a surprise as to why the “Eighth Wonder of The World” which is located in a country where US Dollars multiply by 50 isn’t used that much in Hollywood films. als. Tourism has boomed in the area as well when it got included in the list of the world’s wonders. Expect to see the Banaue Rice Terraces in more Hollywood films in the future now that Thanos has set a throne there in Avengers: Infinity War. Located in Ifugao, Philippines, the site is home to the most beautiful layer of rice paddies you can see in the entire planet. Rice production is the main source of income for the locals.

3. AÏT BENHADDOU

Location: Morocco

Seen in: The Mummy (1999), Gladiator (2000), and Prince of Persia (2010)

The Aït Benhaddou is a popular location for films shot to depict ancient civilisation. Located at the heart of a caravan route that connects Sahara and Marrakech, the place has seen a number of Jesus Christ adaptations done there, as well as the filming of The Mummy and Prince of Persia. What the Aït Benhaddou is best known for, however, is the movie “The Gladiator” in 2000 where Russell Crowe played the role of Maximus Decimus Meridius, a high ranking officer-turned-slave rebel whose cosmic heroism was set in the Roman period.

4. FIREHOUSE, HOOK & LADDER COMPANY 8

Location: Neighborhood of Tribeca in Manhattan, New York

Seen in: Ghostbusters (1984)

There might be no other iconic building for the geeks and cosplayers than the Hook & Ladder Company’s Firehouse number 8. The building located at 14 North Moore Street is known as the famous headquarters of Peter, Ray, Egon and Winston in Ghostbusters. In real life, Firehouse number 8 serves as an actual fire station. It was built in 1903 and is still in use today except that the people who work there are fighting fire and not monstrous ghosts.

5. THE AMITYVILLE HOUSE

Location: Amityville New York

Seen in: Amityville Horror (1979, 2005), The Conjuring 2 (2016))

Speaking of iconic, the Dutch colonial house on 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville New York is one of the most famous haunted houses in the world. The story is that Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed his entire family in the house after claiming that he heard voices which urged him to commit the mass murder. It wasn’t until George and Kathleen Lutz bought the house and moved in with their three children in 1975 that a series of strange events happened inside the house. The entire ordeal is documented in Jay Anson’s book “The Amityville Horror: A True Story” which has then been turned into film adaptations such as the titles in 1979 and 2005, as well as The Conjuring (2016). The house was put in the market in 2016 by Coldwell Banker Harbor Light owner and broker Jerry O’Neil for $850,000.

6. TIMBERLINE LODGE

Location: Mount Hood, Northern Oregon

Seen in: The Shining

Since we are on the topic of iconic, this huge mountain lodge located at the south side of Mount Hood, Oregon was the location of one of the most iconic horror films in history, “The Shining”. In the movie, the hotel was named the Overlook Hotel, located in Colorado. Jack Nicholson played the role of Jack Torrance, a writer and recovering alcoholic who accepted a job as an off-season caretaker who went crazy and tried to kill his family. The lodge has experienced financial difficulties at some points but has then recovered and still operates to this day.

7. VATICAN CITY

Location: Vatican City, Rome in Italy

Seen in: Angels and Demons

The Vatican City in Rome is actually a country within a country. Their head of the state is the Pope of the Catholic Church.There are countless religious and non-religious films shot in the location. The most iconic of them all is the movie adaptation of Dan Brown’s book entitled Angels and Demons. What makes it interesting is that Symbologist Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks helps expose a conspiracy regarding the hidden secrets of the microstate’s history.

8. HÔTEL SIDI DRISS

Location: Matmata, Tunisia

Seen in: Star Wars Series

The locals of Matmata, Tunisia live off the revenue generated by tourism in the area thanks to the Star Wars Series. If you do not know what Star Wars is, you might be living inside a metal bubble buried underground. The Hôtel Sidi Driss has been used as a location in several of the Star Wars films. The hotel has undergone some renovations for movie purposes during the years and is still open for daytours till this day.

9. SAVOCA, SICILY

Location: Island of Sicily, Southern Italy

Seen in: The Godfather (1972)

Here lies the origin of the Corleone Family, a New York Crime Family from the 1972 movie “The Godfather”. Being the biggest island in the Mediterranean sea, Sicily is already going to be a tourist spot with or without the movie due to its beautiful beaches. The island’s village of Savoca is where Michael Corleone, played by a young Al Pacino took refuge when the other crime families in the tristate area came after the Corleones.

10. AL-KHAZNEH

Location: Petra, Jordan

Seen in: Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade (1989)

The Al-Khazneh in Petra, Jordan speaks Greek Architecture because it really is. The construction of this mausoleum involved the hiring of Greek architects. It is believed to be the mausoleum of King Aretas the IV of Nabatene but in the 1989 Indiana Jones movie, it is the “Canyon of the Crescent Moon” which is said to house the Holy Grail. Its design tells a lot about how much influence the Greeks had in Ancient Middle Eastern civilization. This makes the Al-Kazneh one of the more famous tourist attractions in the area.

Fancy a memorable trip to any of these destinations, with fun activities and all? Get our team
at Fayyaz Travels to help you outline it in no time!