The best movies do such an effective job in transporting us to a different time and place that it’s almost impossible to imagine visiting there in real life. However, the truth is that some of the most iconic film settings are easier to see IRL than you might think.
Play a Game in the Casino in Monte Carlo
Casino Royale, GoldenEye and Never Say Never Again are among the James Bond adventures where the suave agent plays casino games like baccarat, blackjack and poker. The growing prominence of online casino sites has led to many new players discovering games like roulette, blackjack, and other variants without having to leave their home. This can be a highly convenient approach to feeling one step closer to James Bond, with the addition of live-streamed technology adding human dealers from a genuine casino setting in some cases, for added immersion.
However, anyone who wants to step into the same lavish, sophisticated atmosphere seen in GoldenEye and Never Say Never Again can visit the Casino de Monte Carlo, where these scenes were filmed. You just need to dress smartly to meet their fairly strict dress code, while there’s an option of taking a guided tour if you don’t wish to buy chips and actually play.
A Banquet in the Shire in New Zealand
Few movies have created a unique, otherworldly setting as well as the Lord of the Rings trilogy did. The town of Hobbiton played a hugely important role in the Shire, as the comfortable place where the Hobbits live. Director Peter Jackson pointed out the advantage of building the set a year in advance, as it had an authentic lived-in feel before the first movie was filmed there.
Located in rural New Zealand near Matamata, it’s easy to get here from Auckland. You need to join a guided tour to visit the set, so booking online in advance is strongly recommended. Options for activities once you’re there include an evening banquet inside the Green Dragon Inn and a behind-the-scenes tour.
Visit Godfather Sets in Sicily
Most of the Godfather franchise is set in the US, but there are some iconic scenes in Italy, when Michael Corleone is sent to hide out in Sicily in the first movie. This sequence helps us understand the character better, as well as explain his future personality. The scenes in Sicily were filmed in 1971, so it’s interesting to see that we can still visit some of the landmarks.
The town of Savoca was used for much of the action in Sicily. Bar Vitelli and the Church of San Nicolò are two of the places the Godfather fans will want to visit as they soak up the atmosphere here. Many tourists carry out the Godfather wedding walk by retracing the route taken by Michael and Apollonia.
If you enjoyed any of these movies, heading to where they were filmed and soaking up some of the atmosphere can make for a memorable trip. Best of all, it doesn’t involve any sort of trip into the unknown since there is solid tourism infrastructure in place in each of these locations.
