I love going to the movies. It’s always nice to sit in a theater with a bucket of popcorn on your lap and get transported to another time and place.
That’s why it’s no wonder some of us know everything about our favorite movies. It should also come as no surprise that we can visit the real locations featured in classic films, like these 15 famous spots.
1. Dazed & Confused‘s Top Notch.
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Top Notch, located at 7525 Burnet Road in Austin, Texas, served as one of the teen hangouts in the film.
2. Robocop‘s OCP Headquarters.
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Though the movie took place in Detroit, it’s actually a combination of filming in Dallas and Pittsburgh, using Dallas’s city hall as the OCP headquarters.
3. Xavier’s School from X-Men.
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Used in the X-Men trilogy, Hatley Castle in British Columbia, Canada served as the exterior for Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.
4. The Overlook Hotel From The Shining.
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This was a combination of two hotels: the interior (filmed on a soundstage) was inspired by The Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, California, while Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood in Oregon was used for exterior shots.
5. The B&B From Groundhog Day.
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Although the film took place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the movie was filmed in Woodstock, Illinois. The bed and breakfast where Bill Murray stays is the Royal Victorian Manor, located at 344 Fremont Street.
6. Camp Towanda From Wet Hot American Summer.
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This movie was shot at Camp Towanda, a sleepaway summer camp in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. To get permission to film, producers lied to camp staff and said it was a romantic comedy. The camp was NOT happy when they later saw the movie in theaters.
7. The Ghostbusters Firehouse.
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Sitting at 14 North Moore Street on the corner of Varick Street in TriBeCa, New York, this place is home to a fully working (and operational) New York Fire Department firehouse. Although the interior scenes were shot back in LA at the now historic Fire Station #23 at 225 E. 5th Street, we’d much rather get our slime on back in NYC.
8. The Field From Field Of Dreams.
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After Universal built this field in Dubuque County, Iowa, they left ownership in the hands of two neighbors. One owned the house, infield, and right field. Another owned center and left. Visitors couldn’t step on the other’s property, so eventually all the rights were sold to a holding company, who plans to develop a new $74 million complex called Baseball Heaven.
9. The Grand Budapest Hotel’s Hotel.
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The Görlitzer Warenhaus department store in Denmark was scheduled for demolition until it was saved at the last minute by the movie. Now it’s being renovated for a 2016 re-opening.
10. Nakatomia Plaza from Die Hard.
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The film was shot at the real life corporate headquarters for Twentieth Century Fox (the same company that made the movie). You’ll find it at 2121 Avenue of the Stars in Los Angeles, California.
11. Underground Pool from 127 Hours.
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In 127 Hours, James Franco meets two girls and takes them diving into this awesome cave…from 55 feet up! The pool is actually a natural hot spring located at the Homestead Resort in Midway, Utah. Don’t get your hopes up of dropping in, as the resort doesn’t allow it.
12. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’s Tribute Training Center.
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Stay at the Marriott Marquis Hotel at 265 Peachtree Center Avenue NE in Atlanta, Georgia, and you could stay where Katniss did (the 10th floor, to be exact).
13. The House From A Christmas Story.
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At 3159 W. 11th Street in Cleveland, Ohio, the original house was bought by an admirer of the movie and turned into an exact replica museum. There’s even an “official” Chinese restaurant down the street.
14. Yavin IV From Star Wars.
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Shooting for the Massassi Outpost rebel base on the fourth moon of Yavin took place on location at the Mayan temple ruins in The Tikal National Park, Guatemala.
15. Hogwarts From The Harry Potter Series.
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Filming took place in a number of old English buildings, but a majority of Christ Church College and Durham Cathedral’s architecture inspired the design of the numerous Hogwarts movie sets at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, England.
(via Mental Floss)
The Baseball Heaven concept alone sounds promising. Now I know where I want to visit on my next long vacation. I won’t even have to get set access to be at any of these places.
