The Best Setjetting Trips You Can Take with Culture Trip

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.