Movie Travels

This weekend's post is something a little different! As the title suggests, I'm going to be writing about a few places I've visited that were used as settings in famous films. Although I've visited plenty of filming locations (being based near the Cotswolds makes that an inevitability!), this post will specifically focus on locations that were also the setting of the films in question.

The following three films all have a strong sense of place, and actually inspired my travels in the places where they're set. And as a bonus, they're also great movies which I would highly recommend watching!

Movie: The Sound of Music

Setting: Salzburg, Austria

Clockwise starting from top: Mirabell Palace, Hellbrunner Allee and Schloss Leopoldskron (all located in Salzburg)

When it comes to films set in Austria, the Sound of Music is definitely the first one that comes to mind for most people. This classic musical is well-loved, not just for its memorable songs, but also for its scenes featuring beautiful mountain landscapes and architecture in and around the city of Salzburg. 

I spent a couple of days in Salzburg at the start of the Austrian part of my Year Abroad, and as I've always been a big fan of musicals, I took the opportunity to go on the Sound of Music bus tour! This was a really fun trip around all the filming locations in the city, as well as in the nearby town of Mondsee. During the tour, we learnt about the real story of the Von Trapp family (which, unsurprisingly, isn't exactly as it's depicted in the film!) and also sang some karaoke!

Read more about Salzburg and Mondsee here!

Movie: The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta)

Setting: South America

Clockwise starting from top left: Valparaíso, Chile; the south of Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and the Atacama Desert, Chile

The Motorcycle Diaries follows the journey that a young Che Guevara took with his friend Alberto Granado across South America, during which he forms the political views that he became known for. The film mostly takes place in Argentina, Chile and Peru, though there are a couple of short scenes in Colombia and Venezuela at the end. Che and Alberto's journey starts in their home city of Buenos Aires, and they then travel down through Argentina and cross over the border into the south of Chile. They make their way up the country, passing through Valparaíso and the Atacama Desert, before crossing into Peru and visiting Cusco, Machu Picchu, Lima and the Amazon.

I first saw this film as part of a module I studied in my second year at university. At the time, I was planning my Year Abroad, and was still a bit undecided about the Spanish part of the year. But seeing all of the amazing places featured in the Motorcycle Diaries inspired me to want to travel to South America, and definitely influenced my choice to spend a semester studying in Chile, which was probably the best decision I've ever made! During the semester, I ended up visiting two of the destinations in the film (Valparaíso and the south of Chile), and on subsequent trips to South America, I visited the Atacama Desert and Buenos Aires. When I'm back living in Chile again (which should be very soon), I hope to go on a trip to Cusco and Machu Picchu to complete my Motorcycle Diaries bucket list!

Read more about Buenos Aires here!

Read more about the south of Chile here!

Read more about Valparaíso here!

Read more about the Atacama Desert here!

Update: 12th November 2022

It's been 11 months since I published this post, and I'm very happy to update it by saying that I have completed my Motorcycle Diaries bucket list, by visiting Cusco and Machu Picchu! Cusco is a beautiful city, and it was a dream come true to finally visit the incredible Inca citadel of Machu Picchu.

But, to be honest, my trip to this part of Peru gave me even more Wanderlust to explore the country, and now I'd also like to visit the other two Peruvian places in the film: Lima and the Amazon!

Read more about Cusco here!

Read more about Machu Picchu here!

Movie: Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain)

Setting: Paris, France

Clockwise starting from top left: Notre-Dame de Paris, Sacré Cœur, Café des 2 Moulins, and a view of Montmartre (all located in Paris)

Paris is one of my favourite cities in the world, and it's also the setting of many great films, including the Aristocats, Ratatouille, Anastasia, the Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Les Misérables, and Moulin Rouge, as well as the polarising but fun TV series Emily in Paris. But my favourite of all of the films set in Paris has to be Amélie, or Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain, as it's known in French. It's such a funny and magical tale that really draws you into its little world, and I'd say it's probably my favourite film of all time. I've even been to the theatre to see a musical version of it!

When I was in France for the final part of my Year Abroad, I spent a short amount of time in Paris, and used that time to visit some of the locations from the film. Most of the action takes place in the pretty neighbourhood of Montmartre, where you can find the beautiful Sacré-Cœur basilica and Café des 2 Moulins, the café where Amélie works. It's a lot smaller than it looks in the film, but it has lots of memorabilia inside, which is very cool!

Read more about Paris here!

Travelling to movie locations is a lot of fun, because it's so interesting to experience the places we've seen on screen in real life. These three movie destinations are the ones that have been the most memorable for me so far, but I'm sure I'll discover some more in the future!