Movie location vacations can be the best
Bill Spencer / WXYZ Channel 7 Action News
Have you ever watched a fantastic movie and said to yourself, “I’ve just got to go there”? For me, the movie was “Summer of ‘42″ and the place was Mendocino, Calif. I was so caught up by the romance in that film and the hauntingly beautiful scenes shot along the rugged California coastline that at 15 years old, I vowed to myself that I would one day visit Mendocino.
It took me 20 years to realize that dream, but when I finally made it, it was 200 times more beautiful than anything I remembered from the movie. Now, I go back every year.
A new poll by movie ticketing service, Fandango, confirms I’m not alone — 4 out of 5 moviegoers say they would like to visit a movie location while they travel. And that is spawning a whole new trend called Vacations on Location.
In fact, there are organized movie location tours available at many international travel destinations and dozens around the United States.
If you’ve always wanted to visit Austria, and you are a huge Rodgers and Hammerstein fan, why not take the “Sound of Music” tour where the hills are alive with the sound of music?
Is New York more your style? Then check out one of several tour companies that will gladly take you to the restaurant where Meg Ryan demonstrated what good actors women can be for Billy Crystal in “When Harry Met Sally,” where Will Smith first put a whoopin’ on that giant bug in “Men in Black” and where Tobey Maguire scrambled up the side of a building in “Spider-Man.”
If you’re one of those people who likes to plan ahead, rent your favorite movie on DVD before booking your trip. Some DVDs have actual location tour information on the DVD in the extra features section.
Would you believe it? This year, 20,000 tourists have come to little Preston, Idaho, population 4,035, just to walk the streets where “Napoleon Dynamite” was shot. And travel to New Zealand has skyrocketed every since a hobbit named “Mr. Frodo” made his home there.
David Fishman, who owns Cadillac Travel in Southfield, says “The DaVinci Code” has given birth to several tours aimed at art lovers. He also says it’s easy to find a tour within your particular budget.
“You can go the range on any of these tours. Really, it just depends on your comfort zone, the level of hotels you are willing to stay at, the restaurants you are willing to eat at.”
One of the tour sites you might check out online is: seeingstars. com. Movielocations.com is another, but there are many, many others. Just Google the words “movie location.”
Remember, you can pay to take a guided tour, or simply do what I did. My wife Veronica and I showed up in Mendocino without so much as a hotel reservation, and we had one of the best vacations ever.
