You’ve seen the movies and shows — now step into the real-life places that were used as sets.
Here, we showcase the European spots that threaten to upstage some of TV and cinema’s most famous productions. And in many instances, they’re pinpointable locations where you can follow in the footsteps of the characters — and put yourself exactly where the cameras were positioned.
In Scotland, there is a railway bridge that stars in fantasy movies about a boy wizard, and a castle and mountainous valley that appear in blockbuster spy thrillers.
Head to Paris, and you can stand in locations graced by Lily Collins and Tom Hanks, while in Rome, we show you where Tom Cruise filmed an exhilarating car chase.
On Italy’s Amalfi coast, you can recreate scenes from an acclaimed movie starring Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow, while Dubrovnik reveals itself as one big set for one of HBO’s all-time greatest hits.
1. Scottish Highlands, UK — Harry Potter, Skyfall, The World is Not Enough and Highlander
The vibe: Rugged, dramatic, mysterious. The Scottish Highlands is a world of brooding mountains, ethereal mist-shrouded lochs and ancient storybook castles.
Top filming locations: The most instantly recognizable Scottish filming location is Glenfinnan Viaduct on the Fort William to Mallaig railway line. The 1,250ft-long bridge makes a scene-stealing appearance in 2002’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, when we see Harry and Ron Weasley flying above it in a magical car and being chased by the Hogwarts Express. The celebrity concrete structure returns in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (for a “dementor” attack), The Goblet of Fire and The Half-Blood Prince.
To visit, take the train from Fort William and disembark at Glenfinnan Station, a 15-20-minute walk away, or drive to the nearby Glenfinnan Visitor Centre on the A830.
To the south is the spellbinding scenery of Glen Etive, which upstaged Bond’s classic Aston Martin DB5 in 2012’s Skyfall. In the movie, we see Daniel Craig’s 007 drive along the A82, with pyramid-like mountain Buachaille Etive Mòr on the left, then head along a lonely spur deep into the valley, where he stops to admire the scenery with Judi Dench’s M. You won’t have trouble finding this exact spot — it’s marked on Google Maps as “Skyfall scene.”
Head north and you’ll discover another Bond movie location — Eilean Donan Castle, which is perched on a tidal islet by the A87 at the meeting of three sea lochs (Duich, Long and Alsh), to the east of the Isle of Skye. It appeared in The World Is Not Enough as a stand-in headquarters for MI6, though its star turn was as the isolated ancestral home of Clan MacLeod in cult 1986 film Highlander.
Extras: Visit vast Loch Ness and keep your eyes peeled for the legendary Loch Ness Monster, and after touring Eilean Donan Castle, carry on to Skye, home to some of the UK’s most poetically beautifully landscapes.
Great place to stay: Inverlochy Castle Hotel (rooms from $500), just outside Fort William, is in a magnificent setting (there’s a loch out front) with a superb restaurant and opulence at every turn.
Read more: My epic journey to the remote Scottish island that looks like the Maldives
2. Paris, France — Emily in Paris, The Da Vinci Code and Midnight in Paris
The vibe: Elegant and deeply romantic — a living work of art.
Top filming locations: Emily in Paris fans have multiple pilgrimage options: place de l’Estrapade in the Latin Quarter (on the Left Bank) is where they’ll find Emily’s apartment, Gabriel’s restaurant (Terra Nera in real life), and Emily’s beloved bakery Boulangerie Moderne.
In nearby Saint-Germain-des-Prés is Café de Flore, where Lily Collins’ Emily meets Thomas in season one of the Netflix hit.
Over on the Right Bank is Emily’s office (Savoir). It’s right next to the Place de Valois, with Emily frequently meeting Mindy on the park benches in the palace gardens (Jardin du Palais Royal).
Bridges Pont Alexandre III and Pont des Arts are also framed frequently by the show’s camera crew and the Louvre Museum, with its famous glass pyramid, appears in season three.
This landmark also appears multiple times in The Da Vinci Code. A 10-15 minute walk away across the Seine, just west of the Latin Quarter, is the Church of Saint-Sulpice, the exterior of which features in the Tom Hanks blockbuster. The church denied permission for filming inside, so the production crew created a replica at Shepperton Studios in England for interior shots.
Any set-jetting themed visit to Paris should also include the steps of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont in the 5th arrondissement, where Owen Wilson’s character in Midnight in Paris was transported back to the 1920s.
Extras: Wander the medieval streets of Le Marais, gaze upon world-class impressionist paintings in the Musee d’Orsay and explore Notre-Dame Cathedral, an 850-year-old masterpiece of Gothic architecture restored after a devastating fire in 2019.
Great place to stay: Hôtel Molière (rooms from $390) is just a two-minute walk from the Louvre and 10 minutes by foot from the Musee d’Orsay.
Read more: I thought I hated Paris – this is what changed my mind
3. Rome, Italy — Roman Holiday and Mission: Impossible 7
The vibe: One big movie set.
Top filming locations: The Spanish Steps, an 18th-century Baroque-style staircase connecting the Piazza di Spagna with the Trinità dei Monti church, have been a tourism landmark for over 200 years, but were given a boost in popularity by 1953’s Roman Holiday — Audrey Hepburn eating ice-cream on the steps is an enduringly classic scene — and more recently by Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One.
In the 2023 hit movie, Tom Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt drives a yellow Fiat 500 down the steps during a chase sequence while handcuffed to Hayley Atwell’s Grace (though replica steps were used for shots of the car’s actual descent to protect the monument).
Other Rome locations that feature in the movie’s chase sequence include Piazza Venezia and Via dei Fori Imperiali. Viewers will also have seen cars are seen hurtling along particularly narrow streets, including Via Panisperna, Via Nazionale, and Via dei Serpenti in the Monti District.
Extras: Behold the magnificence of the Colosseum, where gladiatorial combat was watched by up to 65,000 people 1,900 years ago. And don’t miss the Pantheon, a beautifully preserved 2,000-year-old Roman temple with just one source of light, a hole in the center of the dome called the oculus.
Great place to stay: Hotel Condotti (rooms from $370) is less than 200 feet from the Spanish Steps and offers elegant rooms with free wifi.
Read more: 72-hour escapes to Europe: Six itineraries to see the best sights
4. The Amalfi Coast, Italy —The Talented Mr. Ripley and No Time To Die
The vibe: Sun-drenched, picture-postcard coastline.
Top filming locations: Step into The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) with a trip to the beautiful village of Atrani, a five-minute walk east of Amalfi town.
Amble into Piazza Umberto I, and you’ll be standing in the exact spot where Jude Law’s Dickie Greenleaf socialises at café tables as Gwyneth Paltrow’s Marge crosses the square.
The piazza’s arches and passageways — along with the Church of San Salvatore de’ Birecto — are clearly framed as Matt Damon’s Ripley watches from the periphery. Dickie and Marge are also seen sunbathing and swimming at the beach below, with the village’s arched arcades and pastel houses forming the backdrop.
James Bond has a moment on the Amalfi coast, when he drives his Aston Martin DB5 across the Fjord of Furore to a waiting Madeleine (Léa Seydoux) in No Time to Die (2021).
The dramatic cleft in the cliffs is about 20 minutes west of Amalfi by car, and there’s a signed viewpoint where you can stand where the camera was positioned.
Extras: Visit the “Terrace of Infinity” cliffside balcony 1,000 feet up in the gardens of Villa Cimbrone, in Ravello, for a jaw-dropping coastline panorama. And walk the “Path of the Gods” trail between Bomerano and Nocelle for more heartstopping vistas.
Great place to stay: Palazzo Ferraioli (rooms from $270) is located in the heart of Atrani. It’s just a few hundred feet from the village’s sandy beach and features a rooftop terrace with panoramic views.
Read more: The under-the-radar Amalfi Coast town that’s surging in interest
5. Dubrovnik Old Town, Croatia — Game of Thrones
The vibe: Pristine medieval city that has always felt like a step back in time, but now also a step into a very famous HBO TV show.
Top filming locations: Dubrovnik Old Town for fans of Game of Thrones goes by another name: King’s Landing.
The walled location more or less served as the set for the fictional capital city of Westeros in the hit HBO drama.
To follow in the footsteps of the characters, visit Fort Lovrijenac, which doubled as the exterior of the Red Keep. Characters including Tyrion and Cersei Lannister were often framed against this, and the view from the upper terrace was repeatedly used as an establishing shot of King’s Landing.
The walkable city walls were also used for procession and fight scenes, while Cersei’s ‘walk of shame’ from the finale of season five can be recreated step by step from the top of the staircase outside St Ignatius Church.
Extras: Ride the cable car to the top of Mount Srd for eye-popping views of the city and the islands that pepper the coastline, and hop on a boat to Lokrum Island for tranquil beaches and botanical gardens.
Great place to stay: Hotel Lapad (rooms from $100) occupies a quiet, leafy waterfront location, with a seasonal outdoor pool and easy bus access to the Old Town.
Read more: The 12 most beautiful places to visit in Dubrovnik, from the city walls to magnificent monasteries
