Cinematic Escapes from windswept moors to desert moonscapes, offer a real adventure in the foot steps of your hero’s and icons.
Cinematic escapes are when the most talked-about films are quietly doubling as your ultimate travel moodboard.
Each release invites you to step through the screen and into a real-world landscape – to swap the cinema aisle for Yorkshire heather, Chicago skylines, Sicilian coves, or a Hawaiian lagoon at sunset.
Think of this as your new way to plan a holiday: follow the locations, not just the plot.
Brooding romance on the Yorkshire moors
Emerald Fennell’s bold new adaptation of Wuthering Heights swaps West Yorkshire for the dramatic valleys of North Yorkshire, and the scenery is reason enough to book a ticket north.
Elordi and Robbie may have wrapped filming, but their ghostly footprints linger on the trails around Richmond, Swaledale, Arkengarthdale and the tiny village of Low Row, all set within the rolling, cinematic expanse of Yorkshire Dales National Park.
The region delivers exactly the mood this story promises: big skies, solitary walks, and just enough wild weather to make a cosy country hotel feel like a reward, not an indulgence.
To complete the fantasy, check into Simonstone Hall in Hawes – the historic bolthole that hosted cast and crew. With stone walls, crackling fires and sweeping valley views, it’s the sort of place that makes you want to order a nightcap, pull on cashmere, and pretend you, too, are hiding a scandal in your past. This is “main character energy” in its most quietly luxurious form: slow days, long walks, and the space to think.
High heels and high rises in New York
If your idea of escapism leans more towards stilettos than storm clouds, The Devil Wears Prada 2is your cue to book a Manhattan escape. Follow Andy Sachs’ path straight to Midtown, where glass towers and sharp tailoring frame the city’s fashion heartbeat.
Start at 1221 Sixth Avenue, the fictional home of Runway magazine, then wander the surrounding streets for a real taste of editorial New York: glossy lobbies, power-lunch spots and the feeling that everyone is on their way to a meeting that matters.
For a film-inspired evening, slide into a leather banquette at Smith & Wollensky, the legendary steakhouse forever linked to Miranda’s lunch order.
Afterwards, retreat to an icon like The St. Regis New York and make your own version of the King Cole Bar moment – martini in hand, phone on silent, and the city’s glow just beyond the windows. Think less frantic assistant, more editor-in-chief of your own life.
Dune dreams in the desert (and beyond)
Science fiction doesn’t get much more transportive than Dune: Part 3, and the locations behind its endless dunes are very real – and remarkably varied. Canada’s Athabasca Sand Dunes offer a surreal, otherworldly landscape that feels closer to another planet than the northern hemisphere. Here, wind-sculpted ridges meet open sky in a way that naturally slows your breathing and quiets the mind.
Further afield, the Liwa Oasis in Abu Dhabi reveals a more opulent side of the desert: towering dunes, date palms and secluded luxury resorts where you can spend days moving between infinity pools, guided dune drives and stargazing sessions that rival any special-effects sky.
Add in Kazakhstan’s Bozzhyra Valley, with its pale cliffs and eerie rock formations, and Jordan’s Wadi Rum – the so-called “Valley of the Moon” – and you have a full itinerary of cinematic deserts, each offering a slightly different flavour of solitude, adventure and stillness.
Island magic in Hawaii
The live-action Moana brings the story back to the Pacific, with cameras capturing the luminous shores of O‘ahu. This is no filtered fantasy – the island really does deliver turquoise shallows, velvety green peaks and golden light that looks like it was graded by a Hollywood colourist.
Base yourself near Pokai Bay to soak up the same west-coast scenery used on screen, then explore further: sail at sunset, hike to panoramic lookouts, or simply spend long, languid afternoons on the sand with a book and a spritz.
O‘ahu pairs tropical ease with world-class hotels, making it an ideal place to lean fully into comfort: think breakfast on the balcony, spa afternoons and dinners that stretch late into the evening, soundtracked by the ocean. For anyone craving a reset that doesn’t compromise on style, this is a film location that translates beautifully into a restorative, joy-filled holiday.
Ferris Bueller’s Chicago, reimagined
The 40th anniversary of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off offers the perfect excuse to turn Chicago into your own grown-up playground. Start at Wrigley Field, where game day energy still crackles through the stands, then trade teen rebellion for a more refined cultural fix at the Art Institute of Chicago.
The galleries are as impressive as you remember from the film – but this time, you can linger as long as you like in front of the masterpieces.
Elevate the experience with a stay in a polished downtown hotel, ideally one with skyline views and a chic cocktail bar for post-museum debriefs. Add in a private architecture cruise, reservations at buzzy restaurants, and perhaps a visit to the Skydeck if you fancy recreating that “I think I see my dad” moment – only now, you’ll be looking out over a city that feels like yours to claim for a few indulgent days.
Riviera intrigue and Alpine glamour
With The White Lotus heading to France, the next season promises a fresh wave of set-jetting inspiration. The show’s creator is known for favouring Four Seasons properties, which makes Paris’ Four Seasons Hotel George V, the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat on the Riviera, and the alpine-chic Four Seasons Hotel Megève particularly intriguing. Picture yourself swapping tense poolside conversations for long, languid lunches, vineyard visits or spa days overlooking snow-capped peaks.
Whether the action unfolds in the City of Light or along the Mediterranean, these hotels offer exactly the blend of beauty and drama that defines the series – minus the chaos.
Think flower-filled lobbies, art collections, Michelin-starred dining and the kind of service that anticipates what you want before you ask. It’s escapism with an impeccable wardrobe and a late checkout.
Myth, marble and Mediterranean light
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey invites you to trace an ancient story through thoroughly modern luxury. Favignana, the Sicilian island thought to be the inspiration for Homer’s “Goat Island”, remains blissfully under the radar – a place of rocky headlands, glass-clear coves and slow, salt-scented days.
It’s the sort of destination made for long swims, seafood lunches and strolls through sun-drenched piazzas.
From there, you can hop to the Aeolian Islands for more volcanic drama and luminous water, or detour to Morocco’s Aït Benhaddou, the fortified ksar that has played host to epics from Lawrence of Arabia to Gladiator. Each stop offers a different expression of mythic beauty: terracotta ramparts, whitewashed villages, bougainvillea-draped terraces and the sense of stepping into a story that started long before you arrived.
Magic doors in London
Greta Gerwig’s The Magician’s Nephew brings Narnia back to life, but its gateway is very much rooted in London. Recent filming around Tower Bridge, Whitehall and Westminster hints at a cityscape that feels at once familiar and fantastical.
Wander past the Clive Steps, detour into hidden courtyards, and imagine the rustle of 1950s coats as extras hurry between takes.
To deepen the magic, visit St Bartholomew the Great, one of London’s oldest churches and a filming location in its own right. Afterwards, retreat to a grand hotel where history is built into the walls, and watch the city glitter from your window. London in this guise becomes both a backdrop and a character – a place where every alleyway might conceal a portal and every evening can end with a perfect martini at the bar.
As the 2026 release slate proves, the best travel inspiration might just be flickering in the dark of your local cinema. The only question left is simple: which credits will you roll straight from – and where will you land next?
