The most popular filming locations to visit worldwide

From exploring the Parisian backdrops of Emily in Paris to living out our Bridgerton fantasies at the real life home of the Duke at Castle Howard, there are plenty of filming locations around the world TV lovers can visit in real life. But which popular locations that feature on the small screen are the most popular of all?

To find out, 888 Casino analysed over 100 TV show filming locations, looking at Google search volumes, social media data and Tripadvisor reviews to reveal the most popular spots for TV fans.

The most popular filming locations worldwide

1. Cáceres, Spain - Game of Thrones / The House of the Dragon

Taking the crown (or Iron Throne) for popularity is the fictional city of King's Landing from House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones. The city Cáceres in Spain has been used for various areas to portray King’s Landing, and has been awarded the best Tripadvisor average rating of 5/5 with 3,086 reviews.

Cáceres is also the most popular on this list for social media mentions with 419,193 posts under the location’s hashtag on Instagram, and 41,600 on TikTok.

2. Grouse Mountain, Canada - Virgin River

3. Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, Canada - Virgin River

Virgin River’s beautiful, natural backdrops are popular with tourists, causing the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park to also rank in the top three locations. The view of the suspension bridge opens up season two of Virgin River and is seen several times throughout the popular TV show.

It shares a 4.5 Tripadvisor rating with Grouse Mountain, but it has the most reviews in the top 10 most popular filming locations at over 10,000. With fans needing to wait until 2025 for series six, taking a pilgrimage to these stunning locations is a great way to fill the void whilst waiting for the wholesome show to return to screens.

Other recent filming locations popular with tourists that we’ve seen on our screens recently include No 1 Royal Crescent in Bath which is the real life home of Penelope Fetherington before she becomes a Bridgerton. Gaztelugatxe, an islet on the Bay of Biscay which serves as the iconic path up to Dragonstone also features, walked by Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones and Rhaenyra Targaryen more recently in The House of the Dragon.

Other film locations appearing on the list include the Four Seasons Maui, used for the majority of The White Lotus’ Season one. Overlooking Wailea Beach, the hotel has appeared on 23,132 Instagram posts and 391 TikTok videos. The Hawaiian attraction boasts an impressive 4.5 rating on Tripadvisor, so those wanting to walk in the footsteps of Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya McQuoid won’t be disappointed.

The most popular filming locations on social media

1. Canmore, Canada - The Last of Us

In top place for the most popular filming location by social media alone is The Last of Us’ Canmore in Alberta, Canada. The real-life Jackson in Wyoming “has become a tourist town” according to the show’s production designer, John Paino, leading the team to choose Canmore to set the community of survivors Joel and Ellie visit. Despite not being the genuine Jackson in the US, fans still visit Canmore, with almost a million posts on Instagram under the location’s hashtag and 37,300 on TikTok.

2. Fisherman’s Wharf, USA - Big Little Lies

In second place is Fisherman’s Wharf, a regular filming location featured in Big Little Lies. Located in San Francisco, Madeline, Celeste and Jane are regularly seen discussing their personal dramas at the fictional Blue Blue’s Cafe, inspired by the real life family owned Italian restaurant, Paluca Trattoria, which can be found on the wharf. With over half a million posts on Instagram and almost 7,000 TikTok videos, the spot is popular with tourists on social media.

3. Snoqualmie, USA - Twin Peaks

The fictional town of Twin Peaks was filmed across Snoqualmie and North Bend in Washington (which comes in seventh place as social media’s favourite TV show filming location), with both seeing their fair share of the fandom wanting to walk in the footsteps of FBI Agent Dale Cooper. With beautiful waterfalls and breathtaking mountains, it’s easy to see why many fans are eager to go on the pilgrimage and take in the sights, documenting their travels on social media.

Other spots popular on social media we’ve seen on screens recently include Teide National Park which has recently featured in season two of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The stunning national park, located in the Canary Islands, serves as the rugged and harsh landscape, named fictionally as Rhûn, journeyed across by The Stranger where he comes into contact with Tom Bombadil.

Top restaurants used as filming locations

Although our research identified the most popular filming locations, it also brought attention to the food enthusiasts among TV fans.

When we combined social media data with Tripadvisor research, the diner location of the final scene of The Sopranos came out on top. Despite the series ending in 2007, die-hard fans of the iconic show still flock to the restaurant to sit where the famous mob boss once sat. Mulberry Street Bar from The Sopranos also features, which served as The Averna Social Club in the show, a popular meeting place for Tony Soprano and his crew.

In second place is The Watershed Grill in British Columbia, which is used to film the exterior shots of Jack’s Bar in Virgin River nestled in amongst the stunning mountains.

Bistro Terra Nera also makes the top five, regularly featured in Emily in Paris. The Italian restaurant, which doubles up as Gabriel’s restaurant in the Netflix show, has the highest number of Instagram hashtag mentions on the list with 10,138 posts. The restaurant has gained an average rating of four out of five.

In fifth place is the Dog House Drive In, which features in both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. A real restaurant in Albuquerque, the spot is popular with fans of the incredibly popular series.

So, whether you're a foodie, a TV series enthusiast, or a serial social media poster, these popular film locations have something for everyone.

Methodology and Sources

Casino 888 sourced a list of ‘beautifully shot TV shows’ before sourcing the locations they were filmed at through numerous online articles. These locations were then ranked based on their popularity through various metrics.

A monthly, global Google search volume was noted for each location. This was then noted and indexed as the higher the rating, the higher the score.

For locations with a Tripadvisor rating, the number of reviews were also scored in the index. The rating out of five was included for context, however it wasn’t included in the final score.

Using hashtag data, each location was noted on how many posts appeared under its corresponding hashtag on the social media platforms Instagram and TikTok. This metric was also isolated to determine which film locations are the most popular based on social media engagement alone.