The Best Setjetting Trips You Can Take With Culture Trip

From Harry Potter sets to Game of Thrones tours, setjetting is a travel trend on the rise, as more and more travellers choose to follow in the footsteps of their favourite movies and TV shows. Here are some of the best film locations you can visit while on a Culture Trip adventure. The worst thing about the Harry Potter series is that the magic is so hard to recreate in real life. There is the studio tour in London and multiple Wizarding Worlds in the US, China and Japan, all of which do admirable work, but there is one real-life location that trumps the lot – the Jacobite steam train. In many ways the Hogwarts Express acts as a gateway to the world of magic, and stands as one of the most beloved pieces of iconography from the film series. The Jacobite brings it to life, not just a visual reference point for CGI artists, they actual used these trains in the films. Even the most iconic sequence in the whole franchise – the car flying scene in Chamber of Secrets (2002) – crosses the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct, which you can also do on the Jacobite journey from Fort William to Mallaig, which is included in our week-long Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands by Train trip. Game of Thrones has arguably been the leading light in the growth of the setjetting industry, and to say it put Dubrovnik on the map is an understatement. The beautifully preserved medieval fort city, with its domineering city walls, red terracotta rooftop and spectacular coastal views, was the perfect embodiment of King’s Landing. There are a bunch of specific locations within the city worth visiting, too, from the lush gardens of Trsteno Arboretum to Lovrijenac Fortress and Mineeta Tower, which acts as the House of the Undying, where Daenerys attempts to retrieve her dragons. The GoT heritage extends all the way to Split, with Diocletian’s Palace and Klis Fortress also featuring throughout the series. Our eight-day Croatia trip starts in Split and end in Dubrovnik, so you’ll have plenty of time to visit Diocletian’s Palace and stroll the streets of King’s Landing. The cinematic landscape of this Middle Eastern gem is quite remarkable, dating as far back as Lawrence of Arabia (1962), a film mostly shot in Jordan and featuring a major sequence in Aqaba. The ancient city of Petra, meanwhile, is a classic Indiana Jones location, forming the setting for the climax of The Last Crusade (1989). Wadi Rum, however, has become modern Hollywood’s favourite sandbox. This giant desert valley, characterised by huge natural orange-red structures, carved into the regions sandstone and granite rock. It’s a truly otherworldly place, which is why it was perfectly cast as Mars in The Martian (2015), the Star Wars planets of Jedha and Pasaana respectively in Rogue One (2016) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019), and the desert planet of Arrakis in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2021). You can follow in the footsteps of Peter O’Toole, Matt Damon, Harrison Ford and Timothée Chalamet on our eight-day Jordan adventure, which takes in Amman, Petra, Wadi Rum, Aqaba and the Dead Sea. One of the most striking examples of good location scouting in recent blockbusters came in Daniel Craig’s last outing as Bond in No Time to Die (2021). One of the film’s first major action sequences takes place in the surreal town of Sassi di Matera, an incredible hilltop town originally formed by cave dwellings built directly into the region’s rugged rock-face. Its blend of ancient and unique makes it the perfect Bond location, and the thrilling car chase – and rope-swinging bridge sequence – are arguably the best bits of the whole movie. There’ll be less evil henchmen to dodge on our 10-day trip through Southern Italy, which stops off in Matera on day four, as we cross from west to east coast. You’ll get a guided walking tour of the town, including the most familiar shooting locations from the movie.

The Best Setjetting Trips You Can Take with Culture Trip

From Harry Potter sets to Game of Thrones tours, setjetting is a travel trend on the rise, as more and more travellers choose to follow in the footsteps of their favourite movies and TV shows. Here are some of the best film locations you can visit while on a Culture Trip adventure.

Read Next

From Harry Potter sets to Game of Thrones tours, setjetting is a travel trend on the rise, as more and more travellers choose to follow in the footsteps of their favourite movies and TV shows. Here are some of the best film locations you can visit while on a Culture Trip adventure.

Become a Culture Tripper!

Sign up to our newsletter to save up to $1,058 on our unique trips.

Read Next

Sign up to our newsletter to
save up to
$1,058
on our unique trips.