4 Fascinating Film & TV Settings That Will Make You Want To Travel

When it comes to Hollywood movie magic, what you see is never what you get.

Filmmakers travel to a variety of different locations to get that perfect atmosphere or to save some money on production costs. So with the Emmy Awards wrapping up last weekend, we decided to highlight 4 of the most fascinating spots where TV shows and movies have been filmed.

Game of Thrones

The HBO series ‘Game of Thrones’ didn’t take the top spot for best drama series at the Emmys last weekend (that honor went to ‘Breaking Bad’), but there’s no questioning this show’s popularity.

Part of the show’s draw is its stunning fantasy settings. Most of GoT is filmed in Northern Ireland, where sweeping emerald landscapes and picturesque spots like Ballintoy Harbour create a perfectly surreal ambience for the show. Tourism leaders in Northern Ireland are hoping that the show will drive scores of travelers their way. But scenes are also shot in in Morocco, Iceland, Croatia and Malta.

When season four starts up next year, fans will no doubt be treated to even more epic scenery.

The Dark Knight Rises

The dark and eerie settings for this film range from Los Angeles and New York to India, Scotland and London. But the most fascinating scene for the ‘Dark Knight Rises’ was the prison-pit, where Batman spent a big part of the movie.

Although the prison footage was captured on-set, the stairs and walls were based on a structure outside of Jaipur, India called Chand Baori. A fort that could be seen in the movie, located just above the prison pit, is actually called Mehrangarh Fort. Legend has it, this place was cursed by a hermit during construction after he was forced out of the area.

Skyfall

In this popular James Bond flick, the villain operates out of an abandoned city on an island. The actual scenes pertaining to this bad guy’s hideout were shot on-set, but the movie does feature distant shots of the Japanese island of Gunkanjima, which once housed over 5,000 people.

The island city was home to coal miners for nearly 100 years. The mine operators used to operate a boat between Nagasaki and the island so the workers could dig for coal, but determined that relocating the employees would save them money. When the coal dried up, so did the mini-city.

The Princess Bride

This movie takes place in an array of glorious Old World locations in England and Ireland. But the most noteworthy scene in this flick is the “Cliffs of Insanity,” which the main characters scale in a nerve-wracking scene. Surprisingly, those cliffs were actually real in the movie – no play-it-safe replicas this time. The location: the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.

Resting at the top of the cliffs is a ruined tower that dates back to the early 1800s. A sword fight in the movie was filmed on-location as well. There’s just something to be said for authenticity.

Images of locations for Game of Thrones, The Dark Knight Rises, Skyfall and The Princess Bride

Did we miss one?

Do you know of a stunning location where a Tv show or movie was filmed at? Tell us about it in the comments below and make sure to follow us on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.