From Aladdin to Tarantino, China to LA, we pick the locations from upcoming movies that are worth a visit

Aladdin: the landscapes of Jordan

A live-action remake of Aladdin, directed by Guy Ritchie, comes to the big screen next year, with Mena Massoud as Aladdin and Will Smith as the Genie. It is set in the fictional kingdom of Agrabah, and was filmed in Wadi Rum in Jordan, where the protected desert landscape, sandstone and basalt mountains, canyons and otherworldly rock formations – such as Burdah Rock Bridge, one of the highest natural arches in the world – create a dramatic landscape.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Guy Ritchie’s live-action Aladdin was filmed in Jordan

Exploring by 4x4 is recommended, and visitors can also stay in a Bedouin desert camp, go camel riding, and visit the 4,000-year-old rock drawings at Khazali Canyon. Booking directly with the Jordan visitor centre on arrival is advised, or with a tour company in advance (such as Jordan Tracks, 1 day 1 night, camel/jeep tour from £90).

• Released May 2019

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: vintage Los Angeles

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood features classic LA locations

Quentin Tarantino’s ninth (and supposedly penultimate) film has a stellar cast including Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie and Al Pacino. Full details of the crime drama have yet to be unveiled, but last April the director told the CinemaCon convention: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood takes place in 1969, at the height of the counterculture, hippy revolution and the height of new Hollywood. Street by street, block by block, we’ll transform Los Angeles into the Hollywood of 1969.”

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Photos and videos have surfaced showing a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard, between Las Palmas and Cherokee, transformed with period cars, shop fronts and cinemas. But while most of the sets are temporary, it is possible to visit some permanent fixtures featured in the film, including Hollywood’s oldest restaurant, Musso & Frank Grill, which opened in 1919 and whose reputation was set during the golden age of Hollywood, visited by stars such as Charlie Chaplin.

Other Hollywood locations for reliving the retro vibe include Dan Tana’s Italian in West Hollywood, the city’s first late-night restaurant, where stars would dine in anonymity: it celebrated 50 years last year. Next to the art deco Pantages Theater, there’s Hollywood’s oldest dive bar, Frolic Room (which originally opened as a speakeasy in 1930, was a bolthole for Barfly writer Charles Bukowski, and featured in LA Confidential). And the Hollywood Museum in the restored art deco Max Factor building, has tons of memorabilia and a historic pink lobby.

• Released July 2019

The Lion King: Kenya’s Hell’s Gate national park

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Like the original animation, the new Lion King was inspired by Hell’s Gate national park in Kenya

Almost 25 years after the animated classic hit the screens, a CGI version featuring the voices of Beyoncé, Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Seth Rogen is being released. Research trips for the original animated film took place in Kenya’s Hell’s Gate national park in Kenya – though Pride Rock was a fictitious element added by the animators.

Hell’s Gate national park,90km from Nairobi, is named for the intense geothermal activity within its boundaries. The spectacular landscape includes deep, twisting gorges, volcanic rock towers and plumes of steam. ABig cat numbers here are low, which means that, uniquely in Kenyan parks, pedestrians are allowed full access. But other wildlife is abundant, with more than 103 species of birds, buffalos, zebras, gazelles, hyenas, antelopes and baboons. Hire bikes and local guides (for hiking and walking safaris) are available at the entrance; those wanting to explore by car can hire 4x4s at Nairobi airport). If a distant hyena lullaby sounds appealing, there are three campsites in the park (Endachata, Naiburta and Oldubai) and more options at nearby Lake Naivasha.

• Released July 2019

Downton Abbey: Highclere Castle and more

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The public can visit Highclere Castle, where the TV series and the new Downton Abbey film were shot

Following on from the finale of the television series in December 2015, the film continues to chart the lives of the Crawley family, their friends and servants. Although set in Yorkshire, filming largely took place at Highclere Castle in Hampshire (where Jeeves & Wooster, starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, was also shot). The 17th-century Jacobethan castle, with landscaped grounds by Capability Brown, offers special winter tours (January-March, £120), tours with afternoon tea (daily April-September, from £51), and a live Downton concert by the chamber orchestra of London with narration by Carson (Jim Carter) on 22 June 2019.

Scenes in the fictional Yorkshire village of Downton were filmed in Bampton in Oxfordshire, including at 11th-century St Mary’s Church. Further scenes were shot in Lacock in Wiltshire, a village owned almost entirely by the National Trust, including many of the historic cottages and Lacock Abbey, which has featured in Harry Potter and Pride and Prejudice.

• Released September 2019

Wild Rose: Glasgow’s country music scene

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nashville on Clyde … Glasgow’s Grand Ole Opry. Photograph: Alamy

Jessie Buckley stars as a Glaswegian ex-con and single mum who dreams of breaking into the country music scene in Nashville. But Glasgow has its own Grand Ole Opry, a country and western club started in 1974 in a former cinema and still putting on gigs every Friday and Saturday. In March, the city, along with London and Dublin, will co-host Europe’s biggest country music festival C2C: Country to Country (8-10 March at SSE Hydro) with Keith Urban and Lyle Lovett on the bill. Glasgow is also a Unesco city of music, putting on more than 150 gigs a week in around 40 venues across the city. Music hotspots include King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Broadcast, Bloc+, SWG3, Stereo, Maggie Mays, and Mono, which is also a record store and vegan cafe.

• Released April 2019

Abominable: walking in the Himalayas

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Not so abominable … Trekking routes have been developed in the Indian Himalayas

The original film title – Everest – might have given a clue to the location of this animated film from DreamWorks. Although story details have yet to be disclosed, it is thought to follow a group from the streets of Shanghai who trek 3,000 miles to reunite the mythical Yeti with his family at the highest point on Earth, in the Himalayas.

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Since the first successful ascent to the summit of Everest in 1953, the Himalayas have become more accessible, with walking routes across Nepal, India, Pakistan, Tibet and Burma, and varied options depending on season, budget and ability. Trekking in China more specifically includes a multitude of routes around Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan province, taking in deep ravines, snow-capped ranges, rivers, forests and remote rice terraces. Alternatively, there are routes at Sichuan’s Gongga Shan, the King of Mountains, passing glaciers, temples and views over the Tibetan meadows; or in the far north-west of China in Kanas national park, in the Altai mountains that creep in from Siberia.

Tours of the Himalayas in Nepal, India, Pakistan, Tibet and Burma, range from self-guided trekking suitable for families (World Expeditions, £990pp, 11 days B&B), to trekking up to an altitude of 5,364 metres to Everest Base Camp (£1,740, 17 days, including all meals and accommodation).

• Released September 2019

The House by the Sea (La Villa): Coastal Provence

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The House by the Sea was shot in Calanque de Méjean, near Marseille

Calanque de Méjean, an picturesque inlet near Marseille in southern France, was the location for this family drama by veteran director Robert Guédiguian. The tiny port beside the towering arches of a large viaduct sets the scene for the reunion of several siblings, who return to the family home when their father suffers a stroke.

Guédiguian said Méjean had always reminded him of theatre: “The colourful little houses built into the hills seem to be no more than facades ... A viaduct overlooks them and its trains look like child’s toys; the openness towards the sea transforms the horizon into a backdrop ... like painted canvases ... especially with the winter light, when everyone has gone. It becomes an abandoned set – melancholy and beautiful.”

Méjean is one of several coastal hamlets along Provence’s Côte Bleue, with a picturesque railway route hugging the shore.

• Released January 2019

Everybody Knows (Todos lo saben): Torrelaguna, near Madrid

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Everybody Knows (Todos lo saben) was filmed in Torrelaguna, north of Madrid

Another homecoming film, this time from Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, following Laura (Penélope Cruz), who travels from Buenos Aires back to her childhood home in a village near Madrid to attend a wedding. Abduction, threats and former lovers (namely Paco, played by Javier Bardem) play out in this Spanish drama filmed in the village of Torrelaguna 40 miles from the capital.

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Torrelaguna has a beautiful traditional plaza, atmospheric 15th-century church, a Roman bridge, a 10th-century watchtower, and other historic buildings mixing gothic, baroque and neoclassical architectural styles. Restaurants serving Spanishspecialities include Alfoli de la Sal and Casa Moraleda; there are horse riding and walking routes in the surrounding meadows and hills; and the views from the nearby black-slate village of Patones de Arriba are worth a trip too.

• Released March 2019

Fisherman’s Friends: Port Isaac, Cornwall

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Based on a true story, Fisherman’s Friends was shot in Port Isaac in Cornwall

Set in Port Isaac, Cornwall, this feelgood British comedy drama is based on the true story of a group of fishermen who were given a record deal after singing sea shanties in their local pub. On the Atlantic coast of north Cornwall, the tiny village of Port Isaac is a popular filming spot, already featuring in Poldark, Doc Martin and Saving Grace.

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During the making of Fisherman’s Friends, the original fishermen worked on the boats with the film crew, helped with singing coaching and consulted on accents and dialects. If visiting the area, expect a bit of a sing-song in the local pubs, or during the summer (depending on the weather) you might be lucky enough to catch the Fisherman’s Friends giving a performance of sea shanties on the platt (dock). These shows are free, with donations going to charity. There are boat and fishing trips from the port depending on weather and season, and Polzeath beach, one of the best surfing spots in north Cornwall, is five miles away.

• Released March 2019

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